Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

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The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) is a global leader in the study of ecosystems in the coastal zone, where land and water meet and where human populations and their impacts are most concentrated.

Contents 1 Achievement Highlights 2 Research Excellence 3 Technical Innovation 4 Professional Training 5 Public Service and Outreach 6 Mailing Address 7 External link

[edit] Achievement Highlights

From Prince William Sound, Alaska to the Antarctic Ocean, and from the farmlands of Chesapeake Bay to the mangroves of Central America, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) has a demonstrated record of scientific achievement with far-reaching impact on important issues of environmental management and sustainability in the development of the United States.

• 40-years of excellence in research and education on human impacts in land-sea interactions of the coastal zone
• 1,100 scientific publications in technical journals and books.
• $20,000,000 in current extramural grants & contracts funded from governmental agencies, foundations, & industry
• Stewardship of a modern laboratory & unique 2,800 acre site on the shore of Chesapeake Bay, serving as a dynamic model of human interaction with the environment at the threshold of the Nation's capital
• The Smithsonian leader in development of the Marine Science Network for comparative coastal studies along the western Atlantic Ocean

[edit] Research Excellence

• The world's longest running field experiment on atmospheric increase in CO₂ affecting plant communities
• The world's longest data record on the increase in ultraviolet (UVB) solar radiation impacting the Earth
• The national center for research on biological invasions in marine ecosystems, including the establishment of the National Ballast Water Information Clearinghouse at SERC
• International leader in watershed research on the flow of nutrients through coastal landscapes, especially Chesapeake Bay, the nation's largest estuary
• The world's largest and most active research team analyzing mangrove forests, the vital tropical ecosystems at the land margin
• Center of excellence in dynamics of estuarine plankton, coastal algal blooms, and water quality indicators
• A national leader in the analysis of wetlands and riparian ecosystems in land use management
• Longest record of acid rain and its chemical impacts in the mid-Atlantic region
• 26-year database on species composition and population dynamics of plants and animals in the Nation's largest estuary and watershed

[edit] Technical Innovation

• Innovator of unique biotelemetry to track behavior, habitat use and movement of blue crabs, a major marine predator and the most valuable crustacean fishery in North America
• Inventor and patent holder for the Spectral Radiometer, the national standard for monitoring solar radiation
• Model development for estuarine water quality and watershed nutrient discharges

[edit] Professional Training

Leadership center for training and development of the next generation of environmental scientists:

• 786 interns and 460 post doctoral, pre-doctoral, and graduate student fellows since 1971.
• National Science Foundation and National Sea Grant center for research training of undergraduates
• International network of world-class scientists: 150 U.S. and 60 international scientists visit SERC annually

[edit] Public Service and Outreach

• Nearly 10,000 students, teachers, families and seniors visit SERC each year on environmental field trips
• 400 public lectures on environmental science presented annually
• 200 teachers trained annually in environmental science and curriculum
• 10,400,000 hits per year to SERC's web site
• Distance Learning Programs: 80 video conferences reached 60 schools in 50 states and four countries last year, and Electronic Field Trips reach 20 million students per year.
• Advice, consultation, and testimony to local, state, federal, and international governmental agencies, natural resource managers, policy makers, conservation groups, and industry.

[edit] Mailing Address

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC)

P.O. Box 28

647 Contees Wharf Road

Edgewater, MD 21037-0028

443-482-2200

[edit] External link

• http://www.si.edu/redirect/hpres_serc.htm