Event name: SERC Field Trip
Event time and place: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center on October 4th, 2025
The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center(SERC) works extensively alongside the Chesapeake Bay. One of their main focuses, of course, is research on coastal ecosystems. When I arrived at the SERC institution in Edgewater, MD, I expected an isolated, maybe even static, work environment, but I was instead greeted by a giant-sized, colorful painted butterfly hanging outside one of their facilities. From the rows of classroom-like oriented seats near their trails to the bright room with all sorts of creatures and ecosystems in tanks one doesn’t see every day(besides our incredible diamondback terp), charisma was abundant here. It was clear that the SERC aimed to make a global impact through research, and also a local impact through education of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem and how they’re continuously exploring it.
Research here is done on a local level, but has broader, even global, implications. Take the trees that surround the area, while walking down SERC’s trail, you might spot a few skinny alloy rings wrapped around trees. SERC measures the growth of these trees. Nonetheless, given its local scale, it still helps us draw information about how trees may behave or grow worldwide. By understanding forest productivity and monitoring them as carbon sinks, we can also understand our growing need for them in the face of climate change. Additionally, consider the nighttime behaviors of otters recorded by SERC within a local marsh. By monitoring the nighttime behavior of these small mammal friends, we can better understand how different habitats in our ecosystem help facilitate different species' lives. SERC’s nighttime monitoring illustrates how marshes, despite specific plant species being invasive, can serve as safe spaces for small mammals. Moreover, this research can also speak to climate change. That is, as temperatures increase worldwide, animals are inclined to be more active in cooler/later hours. Additionally, rising sea levels are rising so quickly, as described by SERC interns, that invasive species are becoming increasingly imperative to preventing erosion and maintaining coastal habitats.
SERC actively conserves its land and makes great use of it for research. On this trip, I witnessed a great plethora of coastal habitats, each unique in its own way. The marshes, as described earlier, provide habitats to many insects, fish, and mammals, to name a few species. Their crucial as habitats of the Chesapeake, but also to protect our other coastal habitats from destruction by rising water levels, erosion. These rising water levels, among a variety of other detrimental effects, are a product of indirect human activity. The food we make in excess, the gas we burn, the fast fashion we might entertain. It all comes at a cost, not only money, but the cost of our climate. However, that’s not all; rising sea levels are often an effect of thermal expansion in water. Rising sea levels often indicate that sea temperatures are also increasing, affecting aquatic habitats globally. At SERC, the impact of increased temperatures is highlighted to visitors through the education of oysters, creatures that keep our Chesapeake Bay clean. Our unsustainable practices indirectly cause increased temperatures, disrupting oyster reproduction, leaving our waters polluted, reducing sunlight in water(killing plants), and contributing to a butterfly effect that doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
Nonetheless, SERC isn’t going down without a fight. SERC reaches out to the community by providing hands-on and inquiry-based learning(like learning what saneing is!) paired with advocacy for environmental literacy. As you take a walk down one of the SERC trails, the staff and volunteer will point you in the direction of an incredible variety of plant species and explain each of their roles. Once you make it to the coast or an extra cool new habitat, they’ll tell you about the fascinating local the abundant biodiversity. SERC sparks imagination in visitors, I mean, imagine all of the little creatures you fail to recognize in your day-to-day life; you’ll think twice about your actions, because they’re not just about us, but the environment around us as well. Moreover, SERC makes it a point to recognize how far climate change has gotten; I vividly remember discussing things like rapidly increasing marsh water levels and erosion in places where marshes fail to adapt to changes; SERC, in my experience, covers the majority of bases. That being said, in general, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center’s means of outreach to the community through education about environmental concerns are effective to a majorly significant extent, all while being very engaging at that.