Projects connect people to the natural and cultural heritage of the chesapeake BAY watershed through the chesapeake BAY gateways and watertrails network and support implementation of: identifying,…

This Project Grant award of $150,000 from the National Park Service's Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network program (CFDA 15.930) will support the Black In Marine Science (BIMS) nonprofit organization in advancing two key objectives:

1. Increase environmental DNA (eDNA) literacy in Black communities within the Chesapeake Bay watershed by collecting eDNA data and incorporating it into BIMS's long-term datasets.

2. Provide a platform to share and intertwine ecological data with storytelling from Black communities, creating a record that can be incorporated into classrooms and archives.

This award aims to merge social and environmental data and histories to educate community members about their regional environment and incorporate their stories into the conservation of the Chesapeake Bay region. The project period runs from September 25, 2023 to October 31, 2025.

Projects connect people to the natural and cultural heritage of the chesapeake BAY watershed through the chesapeake BAY gateways and watertrails network and support implementation of: identifying, conserving, restoring, and interpreting natural, recreational, historical, and cultural resources within the chesapeake BAY watershed identifying and utilizing the collective resources sites for enhancing public education of and access to the chesapeake BAY linking sites with trails, tour roads, scenic byways, and other connections developing and establishing watertrails comprising water routes and connections to sites and other land resources within the chesapeake BAY watershed and creating a network of sites and watertrails. This project will merge social and environmental data and histories to teach community members about their regional environment and incorporate their stories into the conservation of the region. The goals of this project are to 1) increase literacy on environmental DNA (edna) in the chesapeake BAY regions black communities by collecting edna data and incorporating IT into bocfs long-term data and 2) provide a way to share and intertwine ecological and storytelling data for black communities and create a record of this information that will be incorporated into classrooms and archives. Beneficiaries include the general public, states and or their political subdivisions, and non-profit organizations.