Session Lead: Peter Claggett (U.S. Geological Survey)

Co-Lead(s): John Wolf

Session Format: Oral presentations

Session Description: 

Achieving the goals of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement requires tools that combine cutting-edge science with practical usability. This two-part session explores how emerging technologies and stakeholder-driven design are shaping the next generation of targeting tools for restoration and conservation.

Session I: High-Resolution Geospatial Data and Technical Advances
Description: The ever-increasing availability of aerial and satellite imagery, tax parcels, protected lands, and other large spatial datasets along with emerging technologies and techniques for extracting information from big data, present unprecedented opportunities for targeting and monitoring restoration and conservation actions in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. When coupled with policies and programmatic commitments, targeting tools can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of investments to restore and maintain the health of waterways. Emerging technologies and techniques have enabled the mapping of land use and land use change at 1-meter spatial resolution and the mapping of small streams, ditches, and land management practices. Efforts to leverage these data in tools and models include the development of the Phase 7 watershed model, the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Targeting Portal, parcel-level targeting for land conservation, rapid stream delisting protocols, and inventories of Best Management Practices such as riparian forest buffers and conservation tillage. These efforts can only be successful, however, through programmatic comments to consider the information in resource allocation decisions.

Session II: Audience-Driven Design for Conservation and Restoration Tools, Maps, and Data

Description: This session will explore how user research and usability testing are shaping the redesign of the Chesapeake Bay Targeting Portal to better serve diverse audiences. Participants will learn about the key findings from this research, including common barriers such as complex interfaces, outdated data, and fragmented resources, and the specific improvements users requested: locally relevant, parcel-scale information; actionable outputs for planning and reporting; and intuitive designs supported by clear documentation and case studies.

The session will demonstrate how these insights are informing the portal redesign, including streamlined access to authoritative datasets, improved search and categorization, and features that help users communicate conservation and restoration outcomes effectively. Beyond interface changes, the redesign emphasizes delivering data, maps, tools, and fact sheets that directly address stakeholder needs under the updated Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.

Attendees will see examples of planned enhancements, learn about the next steps for testing and implementation, and engage in discussions about strategies for embedding stakeholder feedback into tool development. This session is designed for practitioners, planners, and technical staff who want to ensure geospatial tools are not only scientifically robust but also practical and indispensable for advancing watershed restoration.

Session III: Stakeholder-Driven Targeting Applications

Description: This session will explore how geospatial tools can better connect Chesapeake Bay restoration priorities with the people, organizations, and conditions that shape on-the-ground action. Presentations in this session highlight emerging approaches for integrating ecological data, public health priorities, organizational service areas, local implementation capacity, and monitoring information into decision-support applications that are both scientifically robust and practically useful. Examples include linking source water protection areas with Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement Outcomes, translating socio-economic and institutional capacity into hydrologic targeting frameworks, mapping stewardship and organizational service areas to strengthen collaboration in Sentinel Landscapes, applying artificial intelligence to identify wetland conservation and restoration opportunities, and synthesizing stream health indicators to guide future assessment and action. Together, these projects demonstrate that effective targeting is not only about where ecological need is greatest, but also where partnerships, readiness, and information can support durable outcomes. The session will be of interest to researchers, planners, practitioners, and program managers seeking stakeholder-informed approaches to conservation and restoration targeting across the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Presentations (Session 11 Abstracts)

I. High-Resolution Geospatial Data and Technical Advances

  1. Labeeb Ahmed: Seamless Elevation Data in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
  2. Michelle Katoski, Peter Claggett, Joseph Delesantro, Andrew Sekellick: Characterizing hydrologic connectivity for water quality modeling and BMP targeting in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
  3. Jackie Pickford: Mapping Sewer Service Areas and Septic Systems to Inform Management Decisions
  4. Sarah McDonald: Four Decades of Land Use Change in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed: Integrating High Spatial and Temporal Resolution Datasets
  5. Peter Claggett: Simulating future development in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
  6. Amy Freitag, Katherine Auerswald, Seann Regan: A Community Risk Assessment of Flooding and Heat Hazards in the Baltimore Metropolitan Area

II. Audience-Driven Design for Conservation and Restoration Tools, Maps, and Data

  1. Sophie Waterman: Turning User Insights into Action: Redesigning Geospatial Tools for Conservation and Restoration
  2. John Wolf: Modernizing the Chesapeake Targeting Portal: Aligning Data, Maps, Tools, and Outcomes through User-Driven Feedback
  3. Zhaoying Wei: Designing Outcome-Centered Interactive Maps for the Chesapeake Targeting Portal 2.0
  4. Andrew Fitch, Catherine Krikstan: Building With, Not For:  Developing ChesapeakeData Through Audience Engagement
  5. Alex Gunnerson: Integrating User Research Principles into Phase 7 Watershed Model Planning Tools

III. Stakeholder-Driven Targeting Applications

  1. Rebecca K. Ransom, John Wolf: Geographic Targeting and Source Water Protection
  2. Coral Howe: Toward a Capacity-Informed Targeting Framework for Chesapeake Bay Restoration
  3. David Strong, John Wolf: Recognizing Organizational Service Areas to Strengthen Geospatial Targeting in Sentinel Landscapes
  4. Michael Evans, David Saavedra: Automatically identifying wetland conservation and restoration opportunities with AI
  5. Rosemary Fanelli: Taking the pulse of Chesapeake Bay Watershed stream ecosystems: A synthesis of observational data for six indicators of freshwater stream health, 2018-2023