Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Encyclopedia
The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) is a 2800 acres (11.3 km²) environmental research and educational facility operated by the Smithsonian Institution
. It is located on the Rhode
and West River
s near Edgewater
in Anne Arundel County, Maryland
, near the western shore of Chesapeake Bay
. The center's focus of study is on the ecosystem
s of coastal zones, particularly in the Chesapeake Bay estuary
and nearby wetlands.
, ecology
, environmental education
, biology
, chemistry
, mathematics
, microbiology
, physics
, and zoology
. The Center trains interns and graduate students, including pre-doctoral and doctoral students. Annually, the Center receives over 10,000 students, teachers, and families who come to visit. It also gives advice, consultation, and testimony to local, state, federal, and international governmental agencies, natural resource managers, policy makers, and conservation organizations.
Additionally, it serves as a center of research and education on human impacts in land-sea interactions of the coastal zone. Their laboratory focuses on being a model of human interaction with the environment. The Center receives $20,000,000 in current extramural grants and contracts funded from governmental agencies, foundations, and industry.
, the national standard for monitoring solar radiation. The Center has also developed a model for testing estuarine water quality and watershed nutrient discharges.
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
. It is located on the Rhode
Rhode River
The Rhode River is a tidal tributary of the West River in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. It is south of the South River.These are its named tidal creeks and coves starting at the upper end and going clockwise, with a lower-order tributary listed after the "&" symbol: The locations of all of...
and West River
West River (Maryland)
The West River is a tidal tributary of Chesapeake Bay in southern Anne Arundel County, Maryland. It is south of the Rhode River, which is one of its tributaries, and north of Herring Bay....
s near Edgewater
Mayo, Maryland
Mayo is a census-designated place in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 3,153 at the 2000 census. Its beach was formerly a popular weekend resort.-Geography:Mayo is located at ....
in Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Anne Arundel County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is named for Anne Arundell , a member of the ancient family of Arundells in Cornwall, England and the wife of Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore. Its county seat is Annapolis, which is also the capital of the state...
, near the western shore of Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
. The center's focus of study is on the ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
s of coastal zones, particularly in the Chesapeake Bay estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
and nearby wetlands.
Summary
The SERC conducts research on a wide variety of topics that include terrestrial, atmospheric, and estuarine environmental research within the disciplines of botanyBotany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
, environmental education
Environmental education
Environmental education refers to organized efforts to teach about how natural environments function and, particularly, how human beings can manage their behavior and ecosystems in order to live sustainably. The term is often used to imply education within the school system, from primary to...
, biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, microbiology
Microbiology
Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are defined as any microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters or no cell at all . This includes eukaryotes, such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes...
, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, and zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
. The Center trains interns and graduate students, including pre-doctoral and doctoral students. Annually, the Center receives over 10,000 students, teachers, and families who come to visit. It also gives advice, consultation, and testimony to local, state, federal, and international governmental agencies, natural resource managers, policy makers, and conservation organizations.
Additionally, it serves as a center of research and education on human impacts in land-sea interactions of the coastal zone. Their laboratory focuses on being a model of human interaction with the environment. The Center receives $20,000,000 in current extramural grants and contracts funded from governmental agencies, foundations, and industry.
Technical innovation
The Center has been an innovator of unique biotelemetry to track behavior, habitat use, and movement of blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus), a marine predator and a valuable crustacean fishery in North America. They are the patent holder for the Spectral RadiometerRadiometer
A radiometer is a device for measuring the radiant flux of electromagnetic radiation. Generally, the term radiometer denotes an infrared radiation detector, yet it also includes detectors operating on any electromagnetic wavelength....
, the national standard for monitoring solar radiation. The Center has also developed a model for testing estuarine water quality and watershed nutrient discharges.