January 21
"Who Killed Crassostrea virginica? The Fall and Rise of the Chesapeake Oyster," a film by Michael W. Fincham for the Maryland Sea Grant College
The film chronicles the bewildering demise in recent decades of the native Chesapeake oyster. It re-evaluates the usual suspects – overharvesting, pollution, disease and mismanagement – in the light of recent research coming from science labs, from the bottom of the Bay itself, and from long-forgotten historical archives. Assessing the damage of recent decades, the film confronts these key questions: Where did the diseases come from? How did they enter the Chesapeake? Can we rebuild any of the reefs that once were here? Can we save oysters – and oystermen? The documentary holds lessons of hope, and lessons of caution. Recent signs of disease resistance in native oysters suggest that oysters may eventually stage a comeback. An earlier version of the film premiered last spring at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History as part of the annual Environmental Film Festival.

January 28
Fight for the Bay
by Dr. Howard Ernst
Dr. Ernst, who currently serves as an associate professor of political science at the United States Naval Academy and as a Senior Scholar at University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, will be discussing his latest book, Fight for the Bay: Why a Dark Green Environmental Awakening is Needed to Save the Chesapeake Bay. Ernst is best known for his work in the area of environmental politics and is considered a leading authority on the Chesapeake Bay restoration program. His new book pulls no punches. Fight for the Bay describes the Chesapeake as “functionally dead,” an ecological zombie that has succumbed to a “light-green” environmental movement that too often adopted a philosophy of compromise over confrontation. Dr. Ernst reveals a “political dead zone” where elected officials posture but fail to make the hard decisions necessary to achieve real environmental improvement, where polluting industries get what they want, and where the environmental community is left with hollow promises that things might get better in the distant future. While blunt in his evaluation of past and present failures to restore the Bay, Ernst believes that there is still time to turn the restoration effort around, and he sets out a new “dark green” strategy to do just that. This challenging book provides a wake-up call for everyone concerned about the future of the Chesapeake Bay and other ecological treasures. Copies of the book will be available for purchase after the seminar, but the public is warmly encouraged to read the book before coming to the talk, the hallmark of which is a lively discussion of strategies and problems associated with Bay restoration efforts. Other books by Dr. Ernst include Chesapeake Bay Blues: Science, Politics, and the Struggle to Save the Bay (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003).
Followed by a Green Drinks Extra reception. Car bar.

February 4
Maritime Annapolis -- A History of Watermen, Sail & Midshipmen
by Rosemary Williams
Through her new book, Maritime Annapolis -- A History of Watermen, Sail & Midshipmen, (The History Press, 2009), Ms. Williams “chronicles the maritime history of Annapolis and reveals its residents’ deep connection to the ever-shifting waters.”

February 11
“Smart” Buoys and the Captain John Smith Trail
by John Page Williams
POSTPONED TO APRIL 1 DUE TO WEATHER FORECAST

February 18
An Artist’s View of the Battle of the Chesapeake Bay
by Patrick O'Brien
POSTPONED TO APRIL 8 DUE TO CONDITION OF STREETS

February 25
From this spot, you can see 400 years
by Phyllis Saroff and John Damm
POSTPONED TO APRIL 15 DUE TO WEATHER FORECAST

March 4
Of Crabs and Crabbers
by Mick Blackistone
Local author, editor and Bay spokesman Mick Blackistone will speak on current efforts under way to restore the blue crab population on the Bay. The editor of the Watermen’s Gazette and longtime spokesmen for Bay’s commercial and recreational boating industry, Mick Blackistone has most recently been involved with the Blue Crab Advanced Research Consortium, focused on efforts to replenish and preserve the Chesapeake Bay blue crab population.

March 11
Baltimore’s Free Black Caulkers and the Riots of 1858
by Shawn Gladden
Baltimore historian Shawn Gladden will speak on “Baltimore's Free Black Caulkers and the Riots of 1858.” In the decades leading up to the American Civil War, the bustling town of Baltimore may well have encompassed the largest population of free black Americans in the U.S. Hard-working enterprising laborers, they were highly regarded in the burgeoning shipyards of Fells Point, where they helped build and launch the clipper ships that came to dominate the trade routes of the Atlantic seaboard and beyond. Gladden will examine the role of these freemen in the shipbuilding industry during its peak years.

March 18
Go Terps! Terrapin Institute Restores Maryland’s Official State Reptile
by Jeff Popp
Terrapin Institute Co-Director Jeff Popp and his colleagues have taught more than 1000 students first-hand about their State Reptile and what it needs to survive. They have raised more than 1200 hatchlings and released them to the wild through their Terrapin Headstart Program. Working with waterfront property landowners throughout the Chesapeake Bay region, they are restoring terrapin nesting habitat one beach at a time and educating the public on terrapin friendly beach erosion control measures. Jeff will introduce three terrapins that Museum students have been raising this school year, and discuss the many threats that face this iconic bay symbol.

March 25
Meet Chief Winterhawk of the Nause-Waiwash Tribe
Chief Sewell Winterhawk Fitzhugh is head of the Nause-Waiwash (nah-soo WAY-wash) people, a group of more than 250 based in Dorchester County, Maryland, who are descendants of the original Nanticoke whose home is the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Their name is a reference to two Nanticoke ancestral villages. “We know we’re here,” he says. “We’ve never left. . .We want the state of Maryland and all to acknowledge they didn’t kill us all, that some of us managed to survive." 

April 1
“Smart” Buoys and the Captain John Smith Trail
by John Page Williams
ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED FOR FEB. 11
John Page Williams, author and naturalist for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, will discuss NOAA’s new “smart” buoys that mark the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail. The latest “smart” buoy was recently anchored off of Greenbury Point, within view of the Maritime Museum. The “smart” buoys are loaded with sensors to help track Bay restoration progress. The information is relayed in near real time from the buoys to the Internet using wireless technology. Visitors can use a cell phone or any internet device to hear John Page narrate a “virtual trip” to any buoy location to learn about the Bay in Smith’s time and to plan their own trip along the trail.

April 8
An Artist’s View of the Battle of the Chesapeake Bay
by Patrick O'Brien
ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED FOR FEB. 18
In this illustrated lecture, Patrick will discuss how he brings maritime history alive in paint, including the step-by-step process of recreating the Battle of the Chesapeake Bay, a turning point in the Revolutionary War. O’Brien will bring some of his original paintings for closer examination.

February 25
From this spot, you can see 400 years
by Phyllis Saroff and John Damm
ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED FOR FEB. 25
Unveiling the Museum’s new interpretive panel project, illustrator Phyllis Saroff and graphic designer John Damm have created six original works of art that show the view from the Museum’s docks as it would have looked in 1608, 1672, 1774, 1887, 1919, and 1998, interpreting how these waters and the vessels that sailed on them have shaped Annapolis’ history, from the dugout log canoes of the Native Americans to the round-the-world-race fleet that established Annapolis as “America’s Sailing Capital.”