On Thursday, September 26, Maryland State Senator Sarah Elfreth visited Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) and the Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth System Studies (CISESS) to learn about the Center’s work and identify opportunities for collaboration. Senator Elfreth is currently campaigning for Congress to represent the 3rd District, and is especially interested in protecting the Chesapeake Bay and leading on climate change. The 40-minute visit was tightly scheduled with informative presentations from Ralph Ferraro, Mike Maddox, Jennifer Collins, Hugo Berbery, Kate Cooney, and Guangyang Fang.
ESSIC Interim Director Ralph Ferraro introduced the Center and where it lies in the university research hierarchy. He explained ESSIC’s research funding and its important partnerships with federal and state institutions. He also presented on the breadth of ESSIC’s research, from its many research groups to individual work centered around important earth science topics. He also touched on how ESSIC homes both junior and senior scientists as they start or continue their careers.
Next, Mike Maddox, CRN Project Manager, and Jennifer Collins, ESSIC/CRN Education Innovation Coordinator, spoke about the Climate Resilience Network, ESSIC’s Grand Challenges-supported project in collaboration with UMD’s Departments of Atmospheric Sciences, Geographical Sciences, and Geology. The project focuses on bringing UMD’s research to local stakeholders and decision-makers and ensures that Maryland remains a resilient state in the face of climate change. Maddox presented several different CRN projects, including the HydroNet, a network of low-cost water sensors that provide real-time monitoring of coastal flooding. He also discussed CRN’s ongoing work towards Scientists Serving Communities 2025, an upcoming CRN workshop that will bring these stakeholders to campus to foster new collaborations and research opportunities.
Jennifer Collins shared details about CRN’s first summer internship program as well as her efforts towards creating experiential learning opportunities. One ongoing project she spoke about is a card game inspired by Gin Rummy to teach environmental issues specific to MD/Chesapeake Bay watershed to middle and elementary schoolers. She also shared her collaboration with the Annapolis Maritime Museum, where she is working to revitalize existing field trip programs to focus more on weather and climate.
Afterwards, Senator Elfreth and her team went downstairs to the CISESS Visualization Lab/Proving Ground & Training Center for a more immersive look into CISESS work. CISESS Director Hugo Berbery spoke about the main themes of CISESS as well as their research philosophy. He then handed it off to CISESS Outreach Coordinator Kate Cooney, who presented on CISESS’s robust internship program. Finally, Guangyang Fang introduced the Senator to the Mid-Atlantic Lightning Mapping Array (MALMA), a combined network of lightning activity monitoring over the Mid-Atlantic region. The network is a collaborative project involving NOAA, NASA, the University of Maryland College Park, and a number of institutions/universities contributing as site hosts for antenna stations. Fang spoke about how MALMA Data can be used as a near-real-time operational forecasting product to monitor the intensity of convection in the D.C. area. MALMA measurements are also used for long-term validation studies of lightning detection from satellite platforms such as the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) on the GOES satellite.
At the end of the visit, Senator Elfreth was presented with a UMD-branded goody bag that contained handouts about ESSIC, CRN, and CISESS. It also contained business cards of the ESSIC, CISESS, and UMD scientists and staff that she spoke to, as well as fun ESSIC-branded stickers and office supplies. Kate Cooney also gifted a binder of the 2024 CISESS intern reports.
