Chesapeake Modeling Symposium 2014
Chesapeake Frontiers: Modeling the watershed, estuary, living resources and the socio-economic system

Brought to you by: the Chesapeake Community Modeling Program

Dear Colleagues:

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Chesapeake Modeling Symposium 2014 will take place May 28 & 29, 2014 in Annapolis, MD. This is a call for proposals for special sessions to take place during the Symposium. The Symposium theme is "Chesapeake Frontiers: Modeling the watershed, estuary, living resources and the socio-economic system". A description of the Symposium Scope and Aims is detailed below. It is our sincere hope that you will consider putting together a proposal for a session. All topics that fall within the workshop theme will be considered. We are particularly interested in sessions devoted to interactions between the watershed and estuarine water quality and living resources.

Deadline for submission of proposals is November 15, 2013. Please limit proposals to 1000 words or less. Email proposals to - dave@communitymodeling.org.

The CCMP Steering Committee


Scope and Aims:

The Chesapeake Community Modeling Program (CCMP) seeks to improve modeling tools and related resources specific to the Chesapeake Bay, its watershed, and connected environmental systems by fostering collaborative open source research. Toward this end, the CCMP is convening the fourth bi-annual Chesapeake Modeling Symposium as a venue to identify and showcase existing modeling efforts as well as communicate how models are used as decision support tools by different developer and user groups.

Environmental models are increasingly taking on higher profile roles in the management process. Numerical models have been used extensively to guide management efforts in Chesapeake Bay. These models include simulations of the airshed, watershed and estuary and have included living resource components such as submerged aquatic vegetation and fish. Although these models are some of the most advanced in the world, many challenges remain. These include the need for higher spatial resolution and better mechanistic representations of physical, biological and chemical processes in the airshed, watershed and estuary. More flexible approaches are also needed for representing management impacts on living resources and particularly higher trophic levels. Linking these models to human impacts and socio-economic systems is another challenge that has not yet been addressed. More flexible (modular) approaches could also facilitate the use of multiple models. However, the development of increasingly complex end-to-end models that are difficult to validate, understand and diagnose also points to the need to develop alternative simplified empirical and mechanistic models for specific management applications.

By bringing together modelers, managers, scientists, and stakeholders for a series of plenary talks, panel discussions, and special sessions, the 2014 Chesapeake Modeling Symposium will highlight recent progress, challenges and prospects for the next generation of Chesapeake Bay research and management models.