Center for
Environment &
Society
Learn about the Chesapeake Semester
Shoreline Cleanup
A group of volunteers trekked out to Eastern Neck Island for a beautiful day spent cleaning up the shoreline.
Earth Day 2009
Earth Day 2009 featured puppies galore and plenty of sunshine.About the Center
The Center for Environment & Society (CES) promotes interdisciplinary learning, research, and exemplary stewardship of natural and cultural resources. It endeavors to shed light on the reciprocal relationship between humankind and the natural world. Our primary mission is to support the integration of ecological and social values.
The Center acts as a portal to one of the world's greatest estuaries—the Chesapeake Bay. We strive to connect our research with the people and problems of the region, recognizing that local methods and solutions may have wider national or international application. By managing precious resources over the long term, we can preserve the natural world—and opportunities to study it—for generations to come.
Washington College has a long tradition of exploring the natural world, embracing both a practical hands-on attitude to problem-solving and the more thoughtful approach of research science. This began with Charles Peales' instruction in navigation and surveying at the College's 18th century precursor, the Kent Free School, and continued with surprising and often prescient efforts that included: involvement through Prof. Peregrine Wroth in the founding of the American Medical Association in the 1840s; the introduction into the curriculum in 1873 of evolution and anthropology (only 14 years after Darwin published his Origin of Species in 1859); and a 1920 proposal for a chair and curriculum in rural living to counter the problem of young people fleeing rural areas in search of better jobs—an issue that resonates today.
Biodiversity
CES maintains a growing database of the region's natural, cultural, historical and archaeological resources. In the GIS lab, we analyze and visualize spatial data to better understand threats to biodiversity as well as the social, political and economic forces at play in the world. Mapping, predictive modeling and other decision-support tools help guide solutions that meet the needs of species and ecosystems, as well as society.
History
Established in 1999, the Center for Environment and Society grew out of a strategic plan that called for the College to take advantage of its location and access to the Chesapeake Bay. Under its inaugural director, Dr. Wayne Bell, the Center focused primarily upon issues of sustainable agriculture on Maryland's Eastern Shore, along with educational programs to enhance the College's environmental studies curriculum and to engage teachers in local school systems. In cooperation with archaeologists in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology, critical new data management and analytical technologies such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), were brought to campus. (A fully-equipped GIS Laboratory, operated under the Center, now serves the entire campus and offers both coursework and research support.) Also in cooperation with archaeology, the Center acquired remote sensing equipment such as side-scan sonar, marine magnetometers, acoustic seabed classification systems and hydrographic survey software, giving the Center the ability to expand its focus from the land into the water.
The Center's current director, Dr. John L. Seidel, served as interim director in 2006 and was named director in 2007 after a national search. While the mission of CES has remained the same since its inception, its capabilities have expanded significantly since 2006. Programs have grown from regional agricultural sustainability and environmental education to include estuarine studies and benthic habitat assessment, the latter focus drawing the attention and interest of the National Park Service. Staffing has expanded and solidified, with the Center's modest endowment augmented significantly through the implementation of grant-supported internship and research associate programs.
The Center continues to give Washington College students the opportunity to understand fully the relationship between the human and natural environments and provide them with the technical knowledge, practical experience, and aesthetic perspective needed to advance that relationship for the benefit of future generations.
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