Scientists Serving Communities 2026

Final Summary

Overview

• Thank you to all panel moderators, panelists, note-takers and attendees for your work!
• The following slides are a collective effort to summarize ideas from each session:
• Findings - What was unearthed in the conversation? Did people understand the issue in the same way?
• Recommendations - How are the panelists responding based on what they're hearing? What kind of reflections/observations are emerging?
• Potential Actions - Potential action and/or outcome out of this exchange from all parties involved (including UMD, county, etc.) What are the priorities?

Flooding and

Extreme Events

Findings

• Changing drivers of flooding with climate – Even if the mean annual precipitation remains constant, more intense rain events in urbanized small catchments may lead to increased flash-flood risk.
• Need for more data and observations along with standardized platform from mesonets and hydronets to assess community-level flooding.

Recommendations

• The importance of communication between multidisciplinary scientists and stakeholders was stressed.
• Projections ranging out to 20-30 years are needed for building codes and for reinsurance and mortgage purposes.

Requests for scientists:

• Real-time or near-real time data and short-term projections with effective visualizations (e.g., raster data)
• High resolution model outputs are required for analysis at community scale.

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Potential Actions

• Adapt multidisciplinary approaches to solve hard problems.
• Perform cost-benefit analyses on adaptation action (to stress the importance of financial considerations).
• Develop predictive methodology for new application areas (e.g., power outages during wind storms).
• Make effective use of data to design updated building codes and standards.

Moderator: Mike Maddox, Climate Resilience Network Outreach Coordinator

Panelists: Tim Canty, Associate Professor, UMD AOSC Marine Estuarine Environmental Science Director; Jeremy Geiger, Senior Service Hydrologist, National Weather Service; Karen Prestegaard, Associate Professor, Department of Geology; Jen Merritt, Grant Writer and Manager, City of Crisfield; James Hyde, Manager, Maryland Mesonet

Notetaker: Malar Arulraj

Health Impacts of Climate Change

Moderator: Katharine Stover, Faculty Assistant, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center�Panelists: Amy Sapkota, MPower Professor and Chair, Department of Global, Environmental, and Occupational Health; Stephanie Schollaert Uz, Applied Science Manager, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; Robyn Gilden, Associate Professor, UMD School of Nursing; Director, Environmental Health Certificate; Jennifer Stowell, Assistant Professor, Department of Global, Environmental, and Occupational Health�Notetaker: Emily Faber

Findings

• The panel discussed the diverse health impacts of climate change and challenges in applied research, collaborating with end users, and shaping the narrative.

Recommendations

• Communicating climate change health impacts in locally-focused, personalized terms helps connect with general audiences.
• Actionable, transdisciplinary research can help to bridge the “valley of death”.
• Economic framing is an increasingly useful context for decision-makers.
• Local and state-level action and capacity-building is a great focus in the current context.

Potential Actions

• Discussion of collaboration on framing climate and health actions in ways that are relevant to policy-makers and the general public.
• Future research opportunities include exposure mixtures, equity, and workforce impacts.
• Increased collaboration across disciplines and institutions to broaden the impact of research.

Best Practices for Resilient Infrastructure

Moderator: Karen Prestegaard, Associate Professor, Department of Geology�Panelists: Michelle Bensi, Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering; Allison Reilly, Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering; David Wood, Executive Director, Chesapeake Stormwater Network; Laura Mondragon, Senior Director of Climate Resilience and Adaptation, Montgomery County Green Bank; Cliff Rossi, Professor-of-the Practice, Director, Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium�Notetaker: Kate Cooney

Findings

• Data indicate that rising sea levels increase flooding, which affects roads, homes, water treatment infrastructure, etc.
• Decisions to raise roads, etc. rely on complex economic analysis, not necessarily based only on the number of people affected (e.g., the tax base supplied by wealthy communities may impact decisions to save roads).
• Septic systems do not work if the ground is saturated, but building sewage systems to replace them is expensive and will lock in a community that perhaps would be better off moving due to continued sea level rise.
• The availability and cost of home-owners insurance is a major economic forcing function in land use planning and adaptation.

Recommendations

• Funding green and resilient infrastructure involves both market- and non-market based economic considerations.
• There does not seem to be an integrated framework for such decisions – it could be beneficial for insurance companies and local authorities to jointly discuss planning e.g. about roadways and investments in green infrastructure.

Potential Actions

• Transition from reactive to proactive best management practices.
• Expand financing opportunities for energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate resilience, and clean energy investments.
• Consider repayment drivers.
• Increase outreach to affordable housing developers.

Emergency Management Preparation and Response

Moderator: Louis Uccellini, Visiting Research Professor, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences�Panelists: James Hyde, Manager, Maryland Mesonet; Joey Krastel, Risk Analyst, Maryland Department of Emergency Management; Matt Miziorko, Emergency Management Specialist, Montgomery County, Maryland; Jeremy Geiger, Senior Service Hydrologist, National Weather Service�Notetaker: Katie Lehman

Findings

• Valuable environmental data are routinely acquired obtained, e.g. by the Mesonet, HydroNet, and UMD Micronet, but the data are currently available only on scattered, single-purpose platforms.
• There remain translational gaps between the data dissemination efforts of the monitoring networks and the ability of local communities or decision-makers to receive and use the data in real-time.

Recommendations

• Prioritize disseminating/marketing existing real-time data and share through clear communication, trusted messengers, and connected platforms.

Potential Actions

• Develop multi-tiered data accessibility - images to Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).
• Improve access and awareness through APIs, centralized data efforts, direct partnerships with local governments, and direct sub-county level engagement.

Green vs. Gray Infrastructure

Moderator: Taryn A Sudol, Coordinator for the Chesapeake Bay Sentinel Site Cooperative, Maryland Sea Grant�Panelists: Ariana Sutton-Grier, Program Coordinator, Ecosystems Land Change Science Program, USGS; Stacy Schaefer, Executive Director, Resilience Authority of Charles County; Lorie Staver, Associate Research Professor, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science; Wes Gould, Shoreline Conservation Service, Maryland Department of Natural Resources; Nicole Carlozo, Center for Coastal Planning, Maryland Department of Natural Resources�Notetaker: Qing Ying

Findings

• While there is a growing interest in green infrastructure, there is a lack of funding to pursue green projects.

Recommendations

• When doing green/hybrid approaches, start by listening to community needs/wants.
• Avoid pushing green infrastructure without understanding the local community.

Potential Actions

• Find a way to connect researchers with local communities and governments.
• Connect communities with both state and local funding opportunities, so they have the resources to proceed with green/hybrid infrastructure.

Maryland Air Quality and Emissions

Moderator: Tim Canty, Associate Professor, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Marine Estuarine Environmental Science Director�Panelists: Xinrong Ren, Physical Scientist, NOAA Air Resources Laboratory; Edward Strobach, Postdoc Associate, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences; Ray Mosley, Team Leader, Environmental Justice Action Team; Julia Mosley, Team Leader, Environmental Justice Action Team; Andrea Molod, Physical Research Scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center�Notetaker: Annika Jersild

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Findings

• There is strong interest amongst both scientists and community-members to increase data monitoring, accessibility, and communication particularly related to information on particulate matter concentrations.

Recommendations

• Increase observational data coverage to better understand local environmental impacts.
• Increase public awareness/education about the need for data, understanding how air quality impacts health and the economy.
• Improve communication to make data “actionable” by policy makers.

Potential Actions

• Create an online dashboard for freely-available data.
• Explore the possibility of UMD developing dashboard and act as a clearing house of information to serve our community partners, policy makers, and scientific community.
• Facilitate collaborations to inform about the use of data (e.g., ammonia sensors) and their impacts on agriculture and farming in addition to human health.

Maryland Agriculture and Changing Environmental Conditions

Moderator: Kara Mobley, Senior Faculty Advisor, Department of Geographical Sciences�Panelists: Harrison Palmer, Chief of Staff, Maryland Department of Agriculture; Adel Shirmohammadi, Professor, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources; Michael Humber, Associate Research Professor, Department of Geographical Sciences; Becky Epanchin-Neill, Associate Professor, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources�Notetaker: Jennifer Kennedy

Findings

• Support farmers - connect them with existing resources and conservation programs, help transition to alternative land uses where needed, and bring in new farmers.
• Balancing act between “leaning into” adaptation vs. not overinvesting in soon-to-be unviable land.

Recommendations

• Align programs/policies with best practices and emerging needs; integrate existing data and practices.
• Involve farmers in discussions around land transitions: they have innovative ideas for agrotourism and other transitions.
• Work towards sustainable profitability; without profitability, the system will not be sustainable.

Potential Actions

• Communicate and listen empathetically; listen to farmer needs and develop a shared narrative around sustainability that includes farmer priorities.
• Frame issues around shared values (like soil health) rather than polarized concepts (like “climate change”).
• Make high-resolution data available on lower-tech platforms (e.g. smartphones).

Monitoring and Improving Water Quality

Moderator: Madeleine Youngs, Assistant Professor, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences�Panelists: Ron Vogel, Senior Faculty Specialist, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center/CISESS; Matt Pluta, Director of RiverKeeper Programs, ShoreRivers; CJ Canby, Captain of the Fishing Vessel Miss Paula�Notetaker: Emily Faber

Findings

• Two main water quality issues were identified:
• Poorly treated wastewater due to mismanagement of treatment plants.
• Agricultural run-off, both from livestock and fertilizer.
• There’s a real disconnect between scientists and farmers and watermen.
• More help is needed for the science translation and communication between the scientists trying to drive policy and farmers and watermen.

Recommendations

• Encourage discussions of changing management of wastewater treatment plants.
• Create/combine data streams and advertise them better.
• Investigate new funding mechanisms for the infrastructurel changes required for improved water quality.

Potential Actions

• Approach farmers/watermen with respect.
• Change regulations to close loopholes involving water/waste treatment.
• Collect more frequent water quality measurements, particularly in problem areas.
• Develop mobile-ready dashboards for the data, potentially with color coding of key metrics.

Decision-Support Tools

Moderator: Jennifer Kennedy, Post-Doctoral Associate, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center�Panelists: Michael Humber, Associate Research Professor, Department of Geographical Sciences; Kara Mobley, Senior Faculty Specialist, Department of Geographical Sciences; Mike Maddox, Senior Faculty Specialist, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center/Climate Resilience Network; Dean Hively, Research Physical Scientist, USGS�Notetaker: Malar Arulraj

Findings

• Decision support tools evolve through iterative interactions between developers and users
• Long-term viability of decision support tools in academic contexts remains uncertain: develop transition pathways or identify future funding?

Recommendations

• Develop clear metrics to assess how well tools meet user requirements.
• Recognize that users have expectations and requirements around data quality and that it is important to both share and contextualize the expected uncertainty.

Potential Actions

• Provide reliability of the past forecasts and observations to the users to help them make informed decisions.
• Respond to ongoing desire for spatial resolutions that match different user needs and decision contexts.

Freshwater Salinization

Moderator: Louis Uccellini, Visiting Research Professor, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences�Panelists: Sujay Kaushal, Professor, Department of Geology; Kate Tully, Associate Professor, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources; Rebecca Epanchin-Neill, Associate Professor, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources�Notetaker: Ralph Ferraro

Findings

• Panelists want to make this “invisible” problem more visible!
• Problem is global - road treatment, fertilizers, waste water, tidal intrusions, aquifers, expanding marshes, etc.
• Impacts include drinking water, health, agriculture, ecosystems.
• Messaging, esp. to landowners, remains a challenge.

Recommendations

• Educate both those directly impacted and policy makers.
• Continue to develop and evolve mitigation strategies:
• Alternative crops and associated cost trade offs,
• Forest buffers along streams,
• Etc.

Potential Actions

• Develop a UMD Grand Challenges 2.0 Proposal to facilitate closer UMD-wide collaboration.
• Develop tools and frameworks that facilitate small-scale decision making to promote large-scale resilience.

Agriculture Barriers to Climate Adaptation

Moderator: Tim Canty, Associate Professor, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Director, Marine and Estuarine Environmental Sciences�Panelists: Adel Shirmohammadi, Professor, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources; Mike Maddox, Climate Resilience Network Outreach Coordinator; Joseph Sexton, Chief Scientist, terraPulse; Nancy Nunn, Assistant Director, Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology Inc.�Notetaker: Emily Faber

Findings

• Barriers were grouped into four broad categories: Financial, cultural, technical, and regulatory. All are important, many are intertwined and more complex than they may initially appear.

Recommendations

• Financial aspects are often mixed with other barriers and are complex in MD because of the high rate of rental farms.
• It takes 20 years to build trust and can take 20 seconds to destroy it.
• Sticks and carrots might fail because of the margins that farmers operate on.
• Keep in mind that information is power, and institutions hold lots of information.

Potential Actions

• Cultivate trust person to person (first!)
• Word choice matters (especially now!) change academic or politicized language to language people will engage with.
• Explore new ideas for sticks and carrots.
• Institutions should find ways to recognize this kind of work for decisions on promotion and tenure.
• Use every available method to engage with farmers - what works for some might not work for all.

Ecological Uplift, Ecosystem Services, and Resilience

Moderator: Kayle Krieg, Coastal Climate Specialist, University of Maryland Extension�Panelists: Lisa Wainger, Research Professor, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science; Scott Knoche, Director, Patuxent Environmental and Aquatic Research Laboratory; Colin Vissering, Graduate Research Assistant, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science; Andy Baldwin, Professor and Extension Specialist, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources; Lorie Staver, Associate Research Professor, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science�Notetakers: Jennie Mullen

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Findings

• There is concern about prioritizing short-term profit over ecological gain.
• There is a balancing act between the cost and benefits of restoration projects and their long-term value.
• Need to have more discussions about connecting ecosystem services to their economic value.

Recommendations

• Be mindful about the effectiveness of restoration and ecological uplift projects – think of this like an economist would.

Potential Actions

• Bring awareness and outreach to the effectiveness of ecological restoration.
• Bridge the gap between natural resources to their economic value.
• Best responses are often through incentives.

Final remarks

• As a major public research university, UMD has a duty to use its research to support the public good in our state.
• Communities need science-based decision support for critical mitigation and adaptation actions.
• This workshop provided a unique opportunity for discussions between researchers, state and local stakeholders and community representatives.
• It has been a fantastic learning opportunity for many of us!
• Strong interest in and support for the CRN and related UMD efforts, and many request for information and support and suggestions for new application areas for us to pursue.
• Request for data and decision-support on a variety of timescales, ranging from minutes (e.g flash flood prediction) to decades (infrastructure, zoning, building codes).
• Plenty of homework for us at UMD to do!

Thank you!

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