By james art 
Cambridge, MD – the University of University of Science for the University of Maryland has reached a significant moment, marking 100 years of work. Founded in 1925, Umces is devoted to dealing with the challenges of the environment and the development of solutions for the Bay of Chesapik, Forests and other vital ecosystems.
One of the six Umces places, the Horn Point lab, plays a key role in this mission.
“The big operation here is the restoration of oysters. And Chesapeake Bay, you know, many, many years were really exhausted by oysters, and this caused a giant imbalance throughout the bay. We are working very hard, leading the research enterprise to restore the bay at this level, “said Fernando Mirales-Wilhelm, president and professor at UMCES.
In the Horn Point laboratory, a continued project involves growing oysters under controlled conditions to increase their performance.
“So we grow them here under unnatural conditions to increase their productivity so that we can restore the Bay Stride population,” says Michael Sieratsky, director and professor at the Horn Point lab.
The laboratory uses techniques as a gradual change in water temperatures in tanks full of oysters to simulate the spring season. This process encourages early reproduction and supports the wider efforts to restore oysters.
Umces’s history traces its founder Reinald V. Truit, a pioneer scientist who recognizes the exhaustion of oysters in the Bay of Chesapik and takes action.
“He was alone, a lonely man with a busy microscope in an unheated laboratory, before moving to the parish, I think it was, a house on Solomons Island and eventually made the state recognize,” said Trudi Gutri, the daughter of Truit. She added: “They had agricultural land and the ecology they practiced in maintaining their lands and oysters beds was important. Suddenly oyster beds were diminishing and no one knew what was wrong with oysters.”
As UMCES reflects on a century of achievements, its scientists are looking forward to cope with new challenges, including the impact of climate change on ecosystems.