Innovative Environmental Management Models: Case Studies and Applications

Innovative Environmental Management Models: Case Studies and Applications

Case studies are the best means to analyze real world problems and assess viability of proposed solutions. We will explore a variety of ecosystems and determine how effectively they are managed given the specific challenges of each locale.

We will be analyzing how monitoring, modeling, research and resource management approaches are scaled across multiple dimensions such as size, population, complexity, and maturity gradients. For instance, Chesapeake Bay, located in the United States largely within the states of Maryland and Virginia, is the best-studied estuary in the world. Since European settlement, contravening forces (land use, eutrophication via phosphorus and nitrogen point and nonpoint sources, sediment runoff, and wetland degradation to name a few) have impacted the entire watershed of this highly productive ecosystem which falls under the jurisdiction of six different state governments and the local government of Washington DC. A comprehensive management approach involving the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies working under the umbrella of the Chesapeake Bay Program headquartered in Annapolis, MD, has resulted in measurable improvements in water quality. Lessons learned from the restoration efforts of the Bay have applications well beyond fisheries, agriculture, and conservation. Other large complex systems that we will be discussing are the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the implications of the 2010 Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and the transnational management of the Baltic Sea.