Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Edgewater, MD
04 October 2025
A view of the Chesapeake Bay
On the early morning of October 4th, after sleeping through a van ride, I laid my eyes upon Edgewater, MD’s Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. Throughout the initial hike on one of the park’s trails, the importance of the park and its researchers/workers became clear. The team at SERC takes advantage of their natural laboratory to research and educate about the modern environmental challenges of the Chesapeake Bay and beyond through volunteering and outreach programs.
Being located right next to the Chesapeake Bay provides the researchers at SERC with a perfect opportunity to get hands on, firsthand data about various points of interest. During my time there, I got to help the SERC team by sifting through the shallow bay shore (~ <15ft out) habitat using massive nets that agitate the ground to lift all sorts of critters from the floor into the net. Near the wood, where I would expect to catch a larger amount of floor creatures, I found small killifish (around one to four inches), countless clear comb jellies, and several jumping grass shrimp, all typical of the area. Occasionally, while sifting through the nets, I would find what looked like a very tiny baby mud crab. The scientists at SERC often look through the waters the same way I did to get a sample of what is living in the Chesapeake. Their initial data from their research can be used to quickly react to major changes in the Bay shore’s composition. Large changes in life found in the critical area I searched may suggest major changes in salinity, supply of food, or concentration of predators. Data with significant deviations from the average could signal more funding to be put towards research in the larger Chesapeake watershed. Even data that doesn’t have major change is still useful. Data taken over extended periods help build stronger representations of averages of wildlife in the Chesapeake Bay so when there is a major change in wildlife concentration, there will be proof that the change is (or isn’t) significant.
A little bit further down the coast, research at the center’s dock strings together important microhabitats with baseline data to analyze the Bay. Literally boxed shell strings are marked off all over the dock. During my stay in the park, these boxed shells were lifted from about 10 feet underwater and brought back for cleaning. On the oyster shells, I found several slimy worms and tiny crabs living as if the oyster shells were their own habitat. One of the most important current points of research at SERC is studying the habitats of manmade oyster reefs. Oysters around the Chesapeake Bay have historically been prone to overharvesting, leading to decreased oxygen levels in the water, which affects all sea life, and seafood supply around the area. Combined efforts to create these oyster habitats have multiple benefits to the Bay. Large quantities of tough oyster shells, through friction, naturally slow waves before they hit fragile swamps. These shells also create the perfect nooks and crannies for helpful microbes and biofilm to grow, helping filter the water for more life, like worms and crabs to develop. This filtered water will also help the swamps around these boxes by stabilizing the widely varying water of estuaries. Through the data collected by taking out the boxes and cleaning them, keeping track of all the various life forms found, I directly proved that engineered oyster habitats are successfully diversifying and nursing small creatures of the Bay. The technique of creating and monitoring mini manmade oyster reefs is applied to locations all over the Bay and coastlines around the world because like most ocean features, oyster reefs are on a decline around the world. The valuable data I helped SERC researchers collect during my excursion could help encourage more of these boxes to be set up worldwide.
A view of the swamps meeting the Chesapeake Bay
Along with research, I was also guided around the many different habitats around the Chesapeake Bay within Edgewater. However, the Chesapeake Bay is probably most famous for its swamps. The swamps of Edgewater are home to countless plants that help filter water and slow waves, which prevent erosion at the shore. However, with settlers from the 1700’s, phragmites were brought to Maryland. Phragmites are common reeds that explode in swamps due to them being nutrient-rich, specifically in Nitrogen and Phosphorus. Phragmites completely take over swamps, suck all the nutrients out, then die and leave empty space where swamp plants used to be. Without the normal swamp plants, waves from the Bay could easily erode the shore, and the oxygen content in the water significantly drops due to no photosynthesis from aquatic plants.
Building on the research I mentioned earlier, the Chesapeake Bay shore was another habitat presented to me by the SERC team. The shore has a vast collection of killifish, grass shrimp, and jellies right below the surface. Interestingly, parts of the shore close to a swampy area were less eroded than, for example, the island in the middle of the park. Humans specifically contributed Nitrogen and Phosphorus pollutants to the Bay itself. While dead zones are usually in deeper waters, the predators of the deep Chesapeake aren’t there anymore; they’re in the shallow waters along with the creatures I found during research. And while I didn’t encounter any during my trip, if dead zones become more common, I’m sure predators will start feeding on the beach side buffet.
SERC, as a public institution, needs government or public funding to operate. The best way for them to get funding is by making a name for themselves, which is best done in the field of education. SERC will host tours and research expos for several K-12 groups, even undergraduate groups like SGC, to gain public interest in natural science and attract potential volunteers. Another more passive approach that SERC takes is keeping the park open for public use, mainly hiking. The idea behind this approach is that people will grow attached to the park that they have hiked and made memories on, so they will support it by volunteering or donating, even telling others about the park. I personally find this approach to be effective because the park has stayed afloat for decades through donations, which I assume is largely through outreach methods, and government funding. I personally found the park to be stunning and serene, and just like the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, I hope to someday return.