Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) Retreat

Date and Time

Monday, June 15, 2026 from 9:45am - Wednesday, June 17, 2026 from 2:45pm

Purpose

The June 2026 STAC Meeting will be held in-person on Monday, June 15th through Wednesday, June 17th at the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

Due to limited space, this meeting is invite-only. If you are interested in attending, please contact STAC Staff.

Updates will be posted to the STAC site.

Meeting Materials

CBP Decisions, Actions, and Emerging Priorities
- Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement 2025
- DRAFT Goal Team Membership and Structure PPT (June 11, 2026 – MB materials)
- DRAFT Governance and Structure Two-Pager (June 11, 2026 MB materials)
Panel: Indigenous Science and Tribal Perspectives
- Presenter, Facilitator: Desiree Shelley (ICC); Panelists: Victoria Ferguson; Kelsey Leonard, PhD; Martin Saniga; Casey Thornbrugh, PhD
- Suggested pre-reading for panel discussion
  - Wiederkehr and Tupponce 2026: Returning to Indigenous Knowledge: Coastal Preservation Success Stories in Tribal-Federal-State Partnerships.
  - Lyver et al. 2017: An indigenous community-based monitoring system for assessing forest health in New Zealand
  - Leonard 2021: WAMPUM Adaptation framework: eastern coastal Tribal Nations and sea level rise impacts on water security
  - Carroll et al. 2020: The CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance
  - Armstrong et al. 2021: Historical Indigenous Land-Use Explains Plant Functional Trait Diversity
  - Saavedra et al. 2025: On tap, not on top: An urgent call for academia to support Indigenous science and equitable conservation.
- CBP-related materials
  - Chesapeake Executive Council Charge to the Principals’ Staff Committee: Charting a Course Beyond 2025 (December 2025)
    - Charge: Tribes as a Formal and Enduring Partner in the Chesapeake Bay Program
    - Backgrounder on CBP Executive Council Tribal Nations Charge
Partnering Efforts with Advisory Committees
- Backgrounder on CBP Advisory Committees (December 2025)
- AAC Subcommittee Updates (May 2026)
- AAC Workplan Development (May 2026)
Topical Meetings 2025-2026
- Publication: November 2025 Topical Meeting Synthesis document: Governance and Decision-making
  - Link to meeting page with related materials and recordings
- Publication: February 2026 Topical Meeting Synthesis document: Integration of Social Sciences into Water Management Programs
  - Link to meeting page with related materials and recordings
- Reminder: STAC Meeting Restructure (effective June 2025)
2025-2026 Workshop Developments
- 2025 Workshop, Blueprint for Building Partnerships and Recommendations for Scaling Brook Trout Restoration in Stronghold and Persistent Patches, workshop webpage
  - Report: STAC Publication Number 26-003, Edgewater, MD. 63 pp.
  - May MB presentation on findings and recommendations
- 2025 Workshop, Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to Advance Chesapeake Bay Research and Management: A review of status, challenges, and opportunities, workshop webpage
  - Report: STAC Publication Number 25-005, Edgewater, MD. 45 pp.
  - December ’25 MB presentation on findings and recommendations
    - Management Response to STAC AI Publication
  - March 2026 CRC Roundtable on Workshop Findings: Link to recording
- 2025 Workshop, Striped Bass Survey Assessment and Habitat Connections, workshop webpage
  - Report: STAC Publication Number 25-006, Edgewater, MD. 46 pp.
  - April MB presentation on findings and recommendations
  - Communication Two-Pager: State of Striped Bass – A Guide to Science (May 2026)
- All STAC workshops planned for 2026 have now been convened. Links to workshop webpages and related materials are provided below.

Location

Video Conference

Related Files

Meeting materials will be posted as they become available.

Agenda

FINAL STAC June 2026 Meeting Agenda June 10 [PDF, 393.6 KB]