Biologist to Discuss Her Controversial Book "The Oyster Question" Thursday, March 22

CHESTERTOWN, MD--On Thursday, March 22, Dr. Christine Keiner will visit Washington College to discuss her book, The Oyster Question: Scientists, Watermen, and the Maryland Chesapeake Bay since 1880. Her talk, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 4:30 p.m. in Litrenta Lecture Hall, Toll Science Center. A brief Q&A will follow, and autographed copies of The Oyster Question will be available for sale.

Dr. Keiner’s outlook challenges the standard view that a lack of regulation enabled oystermen to exploit the Bay to the point of ruin. She argues that state officials, scientists, and oystermen created a regulated commons that sustained tidewater communities for decades, until a series of natural and man-made disasters weakened the Bay's resilience. Her book also examines the ongoing debate over the wisdom of introducing nonnative oysters to the Chesapeake Bay. The Oyster Question won the 2010 Forum for the History of Science in America Prize and co-won the Maryland Historical Trust’s Heritage Book Award.

Christine Keiner earned a B.A. in biology from McDaniel College and a Ph.D. in the history of science from Johns Hopkins University. She is an associate professor in the Science, Technology, and Society/Public Policy Department at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Litrenta Lecture Hall is on the ground floor of the Toll Science Center, which is located along Campus Avenue. Parking is available in the campus lot beside Goldstein Hall. This event is sponsored by the Center for Environment & Society at Washington College. For more information, please contact tholste2@washcoll.edu, visit www.ces.washcoll.edu, or call 410-810-7162 .