19th ANNUAL ROTARY CHESAPEAKE BAY CONFERENCE
Focus: Should Asian oysters be introduced into the Chesapeake Bay?
This 5-day event will provide up to 24 rising junior and senior high school students the opportunity in a setting of sun and fun, to learn first-hand about the Chesapeake Bay, its beauty, its problems and its future.  Since the first settlers established communities alone its shores, the Chesapeake Bay has provided Tidewater Virginia residents a vast bounty of seafood.  Today, the Bay is still home to many working watermen, boating enthusiasts, sports fishermen, marine research, and commercial seafood facilities. It is a natural place to enjoy and learn about the Bay, its ecosystem, and its tributaries.  In this setting, the Gloucester Rotary Club has put together a hands-on experience for tomorrow's leaders to provide insight about the Bay and the real world aspects of saving this valuable resource. This year the conference will focus on issues surrounding the Chesapeake Bay oyster and questions related to introducing the Asian oyster into the Bay.



The Conference
Monday, June 22rd - Friday, June 26th
The conference begins at 11 a.m. on Monday and concludes on Friday at 1 p.m.

The theme of the conference surrounds the question "Should Asian oysters be introduced into the Chesapeake Bay?" We will have this question in mind as we learn about the Chesapeake Bay by investigating its evolution, recent history, ecology, and concerns for the future. The Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in North America, is an incredibly complex ecosystem that includes important habitats, resources, and food webs. We will begin our exploration of the Chesapeake Bay by traversing one of Virginia's most pristine waterways, the Dragon Run, traveling from freshwater to the mouth of the Piankatank River, a tributary of the Bay. We will investigate many of the Bay's habitats on wading and canoe trips, perform shallow water testing to study Bay inhabitants, and explore reasons for the decline in the Bay's health. Students will have opportunities to do hands-on investigations and also talk with marine scientists, and restoration experts on the Bay. We will enjoy Tidewater Virginia's beauty and culture on this exciting educational opportunity.



Conference Host
The Gloucester Rotary Club is part of Rotary International District 7610, which sponsors the annual conference. Begun in 1991,  several of the Rotarians who had grown up on the western shores of the Chesapeake Bay wanted to help new generations of young people appreciate the issues facing the Chesapeake.

For eighteen years students have studied crabs, oysters, fisheries, sea grasses, underwater geology, wetlands, pollution and reclamation efforts. The Gloucester Rotary Club remains deeply concerned about the health of the Bay. It is our hope that this conference will raise the awareness of the future generations of leaders who will be called on to address the continuing Bay preservation issues.


Location
The conference uses the campus and facilities of Christchurch School, an Episcopal day and boarding school in Middlesex County. Christchurch School provides air-conditioned student housing, full-service cafeteria, classrooms, laboratories, campus center, and other sports and recreational facilities for the conference.