This project will provide support to the University of Maryland, Center for Environmental and Estuarine Studies (UM-CEES) for renovation of docking and shore-based ship support facilities at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, MD in preparation for the transfer of operations of the research vessel RIDGELY WARFIELD from the Johns Hopkins University, Chesapeake Bay Institute to UM-CEES. The Johns Hopkins University has announced the closing of its Chesapeake Bay Institute in December 1991. The R/V RIDGELY WARFIELD, a 106 foot shallow draft catamaran, has been operated by the Chesapeake Bay Institute since it was built with National Science Foundation funds in 1967. The relocation of the R/V RIDGELY WARFIELD at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Solomons Island, MD will provide a new, mid-Bay, central site on the western shore from which to launch scientific investigations. CEES, the environmental sciences research arm of the University of Maryland System, is a multi-laboratory institution with internationally recognized expertise in oceanography and estuarine ecology. CEES and other institutions of the University of Maryland System have been major users of the RIDGELY WARFIELD. The director of the project is Dr. Douglas G. Capone, Professor, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory. Oversight of ship operations will be the cooperative responsibility of a newly formed Chesapeake Region Oceanographic Consortium composed of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental and Estuarine Studies, the Academy of Natural Sciences Benedict Estuarine Research Laboratory, Hampton University, Old Dominion University, The Smithsonian Institution, The University of Maryland Eastern Shore, The University of Maryland System, and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
