Students participate in the Inaugural HBCU/MSI Chesapeake Bay Summit

UDC students from various academic backgrounds participated in the Inaugural HBCU/MSI Chesapeake Bay Summit hosted by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. 

A total of 50 students and 11 faculty members from Maryland and DC HBCUs and Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) attended the summit, which took place on September 9 and 10. 

The summit had three goals: to foster student-faculty connections at HBCUs in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, to build the capacity of students to pursue environmental careers and address environmental challenges in their communities and to highlight ecological initiatives on HBCU campuses in the watershed. 

Students and faculty heard from 11 speakers – most of whom were people of color – representing experience in policy and advocacy, ecosystem restoration, education and interpretation, birding, storytelling and research.  

Students participated in team-building exercises, like lighting talks where they gave elevator pitches on environmental topics of interest, and shared their poetry, photography, paintings and mixed media during an art showcase. 

They enjoyed guided outdoor activities like climbing, ziplining, fishing on a boat, kayaking, bird watching and monitoring water quality on Washington College’s research vessel.