This book explores a specific ecosystem in depth, in order to weave a story built on place and history. It incorporates the theme of a journey to help reveal the environment-human-health-food system-problem. While drawing on a historical approach stretching back to the American colonial era, it also incorporates more contemporary scientific findings. By crafting its story around a specific place, the book makes it easier for readers to relate to the content, and to subsequently use what they learn to better understand the role of food systems at the global scale.

Prof. Benjamin Cuker has studied arctic lakes, southern ponds and the Chesapeake Bay.  His work on diversifying the aquatic science community garnered him a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation (1999) and awards from the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (1993, 2009).  Having been a Professor of Marine and Environmental Science at Hampton University since 1988, he also knows the Chesapeake well as a cruising and racing sailor who won the “Down The Bay” race in 2014 and 2015.