The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) is in Edgewater, MD right next to the Chesapeake Bay. Established in 1965, SERC’s funding, area, and mission have evolved a lot since its inception. SERC research is used globally to address environmental issues. The center is dedicated to researching issues that affect the environment, particularly coastal ecosystems. Their research includes a variety of topics including water quality, conservation, invasive species, toxic chemicals, and more. They then use what is found from their research to educate those who are willing to listen.
As mentioned previously, the center is involved in tons of different fields of research. One of those fields is biological invasions. Normally, biological organisms are separated by insurmountable geographic barriers such as oceans or continents. While invasions were possible, they would take thousands and thousands of years to occur (continental drift causing two landmasses to collide is an example) or occur very rarely (freak weather incidents). Thus, every species had adapted to survive within its environment along with the other organisms that shared that environment with them. However, human interference has subverted the natural barriers. Intentionally or not, humans have brought thousands of species into areas to which they do not belong, often to the detriment of the local environment. SERC itself has several invasive plant species (a non-native species that can spread rapidly due to having no natural inhibitors) on its very campus. These invasive species, while a pain to deal with, also give the center a local ecosystem where research surrounding the issue can be done. Their scientists study the center’s invasive species so they can learn how to control and stop the spread. This research can then be used around the world to help other environments deal with their invasive species. Their research also influences policy decisions surrounding biological invasions, both at home and beyond.
Another type of research SERC does surrounds biodiversity and conservation. Much of SERC’s energy goes into studying and trying to conserve the biodiversity of its own and other ecosystems. This can involve taking an in-depth look at a single species to an entire ecosystem. Through its research, SERC has come to the conclusion that healthy biodiversity makes the world a healthier place and makes ecosystems stronger. However, there are several types of ecosystems where biodiversity simply is not that well studied. SERC’s ecologists are leading researchers when it comes to understanding understudied ecosystems and their biodiversity. At a local level, SERC monitors its environment (especially the Chesapeake Bay) to understand how healthy and biodiverse the environment is. If something is wrong, either with the environment as a whole or with a particular species, SERC seeks to understand what is going wrong and what can be done about it. The strategies and research employed by SERC are used across the world to better understand and conserve the world’s biodiversity.
SERC’s 2,650-acre campus spreads across several different ecosystems from forests to marshes to swamps to the shoreline. Human activity, directly or indirectly, has greatly affected all these environments, mostly for the worse. The human effect on watersheds is a good example. Watersheds are incredibly important habitats. Not only are they very diverse, but they feed into larger bodies of water like lakes and rivers. This means that all the water they collect is transported into these larger bodies of water, thereby replenishing the world’s water supply. They also sift through water pollutants, making the world’s water cleaner. When watersheds are drained to make way for human development, the water that all organisms, including people themselves, need becomes harder to consume. Human activity along Earth’s shorelines can also be quite destructive. Shorelines are great for many recreational activities, especially fishing, but this comes with the consequence of polluting the ecosystem with human waste. Organisms that prey on translucent animals (such as jellyfish) may mistake a piece of plastic for their prey, choking them to death. Birds can get caught in cut fishing lines, rendering their ability to hunt/forage reduced or vanish entirely. Human activity surrounding many ecosystems can do those ecosystems great harm. However, those at SERC and others like them are seeking to reduce human impact and even help ecosystems recover from interference. Humans can harm these environments, but it is also human efforts that can heal these environments. SERC is leading the charge when it comes to the ladder.
All of this leads to the educational aspect of SERC’s mission. The issues SERC researches are far too important to only be known to a small group of dedicated scientists, and SERC understands that. The center has several outreach programs allowing an organization to come and learn about its mission. Through advertisements and reaching out to educational institutions (especially K-12 schools), those at SERC manage to engage the local community. On SERC field trips and public tours, educators take groups across the center’s beautiful campus to teach them about the ecosystems within. Some activities further educate individuals about the work that SERC does. SERC is also open to the public. If you do not want to book a field trip, you are still able to explore the campus on your own time at your own pace and learn independently. Personally, I believe that SERC’s outreach could be a bit more aggressive than it is currently. Getting younger children to come to the site and learn about these issues when they’re young is important because it could inspire many of them to work towards resolving these issues in their futures. However, this opinion comes from my limited point of view, as I had never heard of them when I was a kid despite only living an hour away. The work that SERC is doing is very important, and all publicity and outreach are good for the center and the environments around the world.