Exhibitors
External partners are a big part of Coast Day every year. While we still won’t be welcoming everyone to the University of Delaware College of Earth, Ocean and Environment’s Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes in 2021, we still have terrific partners in our work exploring and protecting Delmarva’s environment. Learn more about them in the online exhibits below.
Delaware Center for the Inland Bays
The Delaware Center for the Inland Bays is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to “preserve, protect, and restore Delaware’s Inland Bays and their watershed.” The Center is also part of the National Estuary Program, which is an ecosystem-based network of 28 organizations that are designated as estuaries of national significance. In 2003, the Center launched its Oyster Gardening Program, a restoration effort that brings scientists and residents together to restore local American oysters in the Inland Bays, and invites Coast Day participants to be among the first to watch a new video highlighting the Center's efforts to raise oysters for use in various restoration or research projects throughout the Inland Bays.
DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) is proud to be a part of Coast Day 2021, as it has been since the event's inception in 1976, to celebrate Delaware’s coastal resources and bringing together partners who are committed to preserving our beaches, waterways, tidal marshes, farmland, upland forests, bay, and ocean for future generations.
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. For more information, visit the website and connect with DNREC on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
Delaware Public Media
Delaware Public Media is the first and only public media news service founded in Delaware and dedicated to covering the unique issues, events, personalities, and culture of Delaware, including coverage of stories involving, science, health, medicine, technology and the environment. Check out some recent stories from Delaware Public Media below that focus on environmental and marine science topics:
Rescues and evacuations in northern Delaware as Ida remnants cause record flooding
Water quality, habitat and recreation projects announced in Delaware River watershed
Fuel spill at Millsboro power plant kills 90 birds
Proposed ordinance could shape future of electric vehicle charging in New Castle County
ECO Camp
Summer opportunity from the College of Earth, Ocean and Environment and SMArtSummer
The University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean and Environment and Cab Calloway School of the Arts/Charter School of Wilmington’s SMArtSummer camp are excited to announce our new ECO Camp! Formerly called TIDE camp, this new program consists of two separate weeks and is now open to students as young as rising 8th graders.
Just as Coast Day showcases how University of Delaware scientists, staff, and students are improving our understanding of ocean environments, our program offers a week of hands-on programing focusing on the atmospheric, oceanic, and biogeochemical processes at work in the Delaware Bay.
Students will gain an understanding of sea breeze, tides, habitat loss, species adaptation, saltwater marsh filtration, sediment transport, beach erosion due to storm activity and the use of robotics in a marine environment. The camp will also address regional/local climate change, mitigation/adaptation opportunities, local impacts and strategies, and alternative energy. Information about UD program offerings will also be included.
For more information please contact: Dana E. Veron, Associate Professor - Director, Climate Change Science and Policy Hub at dveron@udel.edu
or Nan Stidham, Executive Director SMArtSummer at nan@cabsummer.org
The Inland Bays Foundation
We are a grassroots environmental advocacy organization supporting restoration of Delaware’s Inland Bays — Rehoboth Bay, Indian River Bay, and Little Assawoman Bay — to “Swimmable and Fishableʺ condition. IBF advocates for clean water legislation, full funding of cover crops, and sustainable development as outlined by the Sussex County 2018 Comprehensive Plan. Our initiatives include establishing the Friends of Holts Landing State Park on the Indian River Bay (2015), the Austin/Moyer/Chin Citizens Advocacy Program (2019), and support for House Bill 200, the Clean Water for Delaware Act recently signed by Governor Carney. We also actively support citizen initiatives to limit the negative environmental impact of proposed developments impacting the Inland Bays.
Join the Friends of Holts and participate in Second Saturday Trail Days (October through May) to maintain the park's trails. In the summer months, come to Holts for its schedule of Tuesday evening concerts with local performers --generally accompanied by a fabulous sunset.
The Citizens Advocacy Program is a memorial to IBF members John Austin, Bill Moyer and Bob Chin, who were stalwart protectors of the environment and worked tirelessly for better water quality in the Inland Bays including as advocates at many public forums.
A Citizen's Guide to Environmental Advocacy in Delaware is the first project of the program. The Guide, by Kenneth T. Kristl, professor at Delaware Law School Widener University, focuses on the State of Delaware's processes for making decisions about environmental issues. Understanding how these state processes work, the general details of where, when, and how citizens can participate, and developing strategies for making that participation as impactful as possible, can help citizens be more effective advocates for their environment.
The recently released 2nd Edition of The Guide includes a chapter on Zoning and Land Development complete with roadmaps to county level decision-making in this crucial area.
We hope you will Download on the IBF site the Free Fall 2021 edition of The Guide and join us in working to restore the Bays.
Learn more at our official website
University of Delaware Citizen Monitoring Program
Since 1991, a dedicated corps of Citizen Monitoring volunteers have been taking water samples on a regular basis throughout Delaware’s coastal watershed to measure a broad range of important water quality characteristics. The data they gather provides scientists and resource managers with a clearer picture of the estuary’s health and the trend information needed to understand and manage the ecosystem. Check out the videos below for more on their work: