voc ep 79: Brooke Landry

“Brooke Landry’s interest in underwater grasses really picked up as she snorkeled around coral reefs and beds of seagrass on a middle school class trip to Belize. A few undergrad summers spent studying salt marshes on Maryland’s Eastern Shore immersed her in the wonders of bay life, and she went on to specialize in coastal habitats for her University of Virginia environmental science degree. Landry then worked on a long-term habitat assessment project off the southern tip of Florida during her graduate studies. Now, having returned to her Chesapeake Bay roots as an underwater grasses biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, she focuses on the health of the bay’s submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) and chairs the Chesapeake Bay Program’s SAV Workgroup. Landry spends her summers on the bay, where her work varies from research to restoration to outreach. As beds of underwater grasses bloom northward up the bay from May through September, she and her colleagues strap on snorkels and masks to monitor SAV health and assess species diversity.” Annalise Kenney, Maryland DNR magazine. MB image and video by Briana Yancy