Chesapeake Uncharted

The Pennsylvania 4-H chapter has named Grace Ziegmont as one of its state project ambassadors. These are members who provide guidance to 4-H staff statewide on programming and projects. The 16-year-old York County resident also serves as the president of the Governor's Youth Council for Hunting, Fishing and Conservation. And we haven't even gotten to her role in making historic change happen within a federal agency.

Jay Fleming has devoted his life to documenting a dying way of life on the Chesapeake Bay. He has compiled his photographs of watermen into two popular books. His photographs, more than anyone else's, tell the tale of of the estuary's seafood industry.

Helping others fall in love with nature is one of Maya Alexander's main passions. She is African American and has experienced first hand the challenges of engaging with the outdoors, a pasttime that has traditionally been associated with the white middle class. Yet, Alexander, a community engagement manager for Virginia's Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley, finds a way to keep moving forward in the face of adversity. We talked about her strategies for encouraging more diversity in outdoor pursuits. And she offered glimpses into how environmental organizations can take up causes for marginalized communities … without alienating them.

Noah Bressman, a Salisbury University researcher, has quickly made a name for himself as a marine biology researcher and a science communicator. He's active on social media. He organizes fishing tournaments that incorporate environmental education. He envisions a world with fewer invasive fish in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries -- a world made possible by people making subtle shifts to their diets.

In early 2023, Carmera Thomas-Wilhite joined the Chesapeake Bay region's most influential environmental group, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, as its first vice president for diversity, equity, inclusion and justice. How'd she get there? What's her mission? Find out in our conversation.

Anna Killius is a political wrangler. Her formal title: executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission. She occupies a space with few peers in American politics: a regional influencer of environmental policy with her sights set on a single watershed. Here, she discusses how she builds consensus -- and steers clear of infighting -- to drive better results for the cleanup of America's largest estuary.

If anyone has the word "mentor" written all over them, it's Randy Rowel. He coordinates the Chesapeake Research Consortium's C-StREAM (Chesapeake Student Recruitment, Early Advisement, and Mentoring) program, helping to guide people of color into green careers. He talks with us about how the environmental sector can bring more diversity into its ranks and, in turn, be more effective in underserved communities.

Within three years, Luke McFadden has built a mini-empire on social media, accumulating 1.6 million followers on TikTok and hundreds of thousands more on other sites. He simply shows what life is like as a crabber on the Chesapeake Bay. No one has been more surprised with his success than the unassuming 27-year-old from Pasadena, Maryland.

Imani Black founded Minorities in Aquaculture in 2020. In doing so, she set out to help people of color, especially women of color, enter the growing field of aquaculture. Aquaculture is the technical name for fish farming or, in this case, oyster farming. This is a story about seismic shifts in an industry, a Chesapeake Bay way of life. But it's also a story about the power of one person trying to make a difference.

The federally led campaign to save the Chesapeake Bay is officially 40 years old. This season, we turn to movers and shakers in the Bay sphere who weren't born when the effort got started. With the cleanup facing a critical inflection point, these younger voices -- we call them "wave makers" -- offer a tantalizing glimpse into what the future may hold.