Chesapeake Bay Conference October 16-21" 

SALISBURY, MD---Salisbury State University hosts a national conference, "Chesapeake 2000: The Chesapeake Bay in the 21st Century," Monday, October 16, through Saturday, October 21. The conference, held throughout the University campus, is free and open to the public.

Participants from across the nation as well as SSU faculty will focus attention on the Bay and its rich history, its environmental and economic impact and consequences, tourism and social issues and the future development of the Bay country.

Today the Chesapeake Bay country and its 64,000 square mile watershed are in the midst of a profound transition, Metropolitan growth, demographic change and environmental transformation are altering a region which until recently was known more for its agricultural and maritime abundance than for its towns and

commercial life. This week long series of seminars, lectures, colloquia and discussions will shed light on the myriad issues surrounding the Chesapeake Bay as we begin the next millennium.

With participants from across the nation, speakers for the conference include Tom Horton, author and environmental affairs writer and columnist for The (Baltimore) Sun; Congressman Wayne Gilchrest; Jim Hightower, columnist and radio personality; Dr. Robert Cottom, editor of the Maryland Historical Magazine; Dr. Hal Rothman, editor of the Journal of Environmental History; and Susan Stranahan, regional affairs writer and journalist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. The conference will cover such diverse topics as "Agrigusiness, the Environment and Chesapeake Bay," "Aging in the Chesapeake: The Bay Country and Demographics" and "Black Communities of the Chesapeake, Past Present and Future."

In addition to the conference sessions, the University Galleries is hosting "Tributaries: People Working for the Future of the Chesapeake Bay," a photographic exhibit, in the Guerrieri University Center Atrium Gallery. The exhibit by photographers Richard A. Dorbin and Ann E. Byrnes features portraits of the Bay country’s inhabitants.

Salisbury State University has been successful in receiving endorsements, grants and sponsorship for the conference from Maryland Humanities Council, Maryland 2000, Chesapeake Bay Alliance, Lower Nanticoke Watershed Alliance, Town Creek Foundation, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy and Lower Shore Land Trust. For specific information and general inquiries please contact Dr. John R. Wennersten at 410-548-5782.