Cambridge, Md. (March 13, 2009) – The FY2009 Omnibus Appropriation Act passed by Congress and signed this week by President Barack Obama includes $2 million for the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science to rebuild the Horn Point Laboratory computer facilities destroyed by fire in 2007.
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| The Horn Point Laboratory's data center was destroyed by fire in 2007. |
“We are grateful to Senator Barbara Mikulski and the Maryland congressional delegation for helping secure funds to rebuild this piece of critical infrastructure,” said UMCES President Dr. Donald Boesch. “As a research institution, managing and protecting scientific data is an essential part of continuing the Center’s programs that guide state policymakers and natural resource managers.”
The new Environmental Information Center (EIC) will be an important storage node of Chesapeake Bay data collected through research and monitoring supported by federal and state agencies, as well as from private non-profit groups including community watershed associations. The management, storage and synthesis of these long-term data sets will provide researchers, students and the public better access to environmental information on Chesapeake Bay.
“This funding helps the Horn Point Laboratory develop a better understanding of how changing environmental conditions will affect the Eastern Shore and the Chesapeake Bay,” said UMCES Horn Point Laboratory Director Dr. Michael Roman. “The development of the EIC will also help us maintain and grow programs geared toward preserving, managing and restoring our nation’s largest estuary.”
“The Chesapeake Bay is not only Maryland’s greatest natural resource, it’s part of who we are as Marylanders – our heritage and our culture,” said Senator Mikulski (D-Md.). “The research students and researchers are doing at EIC is integral to understanding the effects of climate change and other natural and human-induced changes. I am proud to support them as they work to support the Bay.”
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science is the University System of Maryland’s premier environmental research institution. UMCES researchers are helping improve our scientific understanding of Maryland, the region and the world through its three laboratories – Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, and Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge – and the Maryland Sea Grant College in College Park.
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