Poplar Island, a severely eroded remote island in the Chesapeake Bay, has been the site of a major restoration effort supported by CSS client, NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), and their partners, Army Corps of Engineers, and the Maryland Department of Transportation, Maryland Port Administration. This massive effort utilizes dredge sediment from the shipping channel that leads to Baltimore Harbor to restore land mass lost to sea level rise and erosion. The goal is to rebuild natural habitats including wetlands, uplands, and embayments that provide critical habitat for birds and fish of the Chesapeake Bay. NCCOS and CSS scientists are studying this restored habitat and species that use the environment to help inform this restoration effort.

CSS employee owners work alongside federal program staff and local partners to collect samples throughout the regions. In fiscal year 2024 CSS staff deployed to the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Ocean, which includes Alaska, Hawaii, and the West Coast. The team adds data they collect during these missions to the Coastal Pollution Data Explorer, a cloud-based ArcGIS platform that allows users to search by location or type of contaminant, generate a report, and download the data. A CSS employee owner serves as the lead developer for this online platform. Learn more about NOAA’s National Mussel Watch Program.

One person takes a selfie from a dock with people behind him in a boat.
Team prepares to travel by boat to Poplar Island.
Person stands in water next to a boat while cleaning equipment.
CSS scientist cleans the transmitter before deploying the equipment.

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1000 Samples of Lake Water Collected and Processed 

Congrats to our team supporting U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development for completing the processing and initial chemical analyses of 1000 lake water samples!  They received lake water samples from across the continental U.S. this past summer and have completed the initial chemical analyses as part of the U.S. EPA 2022 National…

Safety Support To First Responders

First responders put their lives on the line to help others, and our team helps safeguard their protection.  Our team on contract with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Respiratory Protection Program works with staff to test respirators and establish secure fits. Similarly, they provide these fit tests for fire department personnel on a regular…

Large-Scale Decontamination Proves Successful

In the spring of 2022, we worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard on a project called Analysis for Coastal Operational Resiliency-Wide Area Demonstration (WAD) which tests large scale decontamination following the release of surrogate bioagents. The team conducted a WAD at a military base in Virginia to test decontamination…