The coastal flooding that resulted from Erin is past us now. Hopefully you didn’t have major damage. In my case, what remained on Saturday morning was just a bit of water to wade through and wet feet in order to get to an empty beach in time for sunrise. The sand was well packed and new areas cleared because of the high water. I am always amazed to see how much the beach changes following a storm event or even the seasons.
This week my schedule is a mix of time in College Park and time out across the state. Monday, I started the day on campus then headed out to join the Environmental Science and Technology department for their faculty retreat. It was a good chance to meet the faculty, who had a busy and productive morning brainstorming and deliberating strategies. I look forward to connecting with chair Paul Leisnham to hear how the day wrapped up. I headed off to the Maryland State Fair to attend the 4-H Livestock Auction before the faculty had completed their work.
Associate Dean Joe Sullivan and Director of Alumni Relations Amanda Clougherty helped me navigate the fairgrounds, meet some people, and support the 4-H Livestock Auction. It was a fun evening and a great chance to meet some future Terps and support Maryland agriculture. The youths’ showmanship skills were impressive, demonstrating the payoff of hard work and commitment to their program and their animals. I hope to see many, if not all, of the youth in AGNR some day!
On Wednesday, I head out to the research tour at the Wye Research and Education Center. I get the sense that trips in that direction will be somewhat regular, and I have no complaints about that! I am quite fond of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and opportunities to connect with the AGNR faculty and staff on the Eastern Shore. I look forward to learning more about their programs, meeting those whom I have not had the pleasure of meeting yet, and meeting event attendees and partners.
On Thursday I travel to the Central Maryland Research and Extension Center (CMREC) Upper Marlboro Facility to visit with the College Park Scholars - Environment, Technology, and Economy cohort. I am eager to engage with this talented group of students and learn about their experience as part of the program. Not only is the topic for this particular cohort of great interest to me, but the program itself aligns with my preferred learning approach. Imagine if we could tailor our entire curriculum around transdisciplinary experiential learning and offer it to every student! How exciting would that be to prospective students?
This promises to be a busy week. Much like the beach that changes regularly, each new week is quite different from the previous, leaving no chance of getting bored!