POLLY IRUNGU
Maryland DNR Secretary Josh Kurtz and Governor Wes Moore present Professor Thomas Miller with the ‘Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay’ Award. Photo by Polly Irungu, Office of the Governor.
Maryland 2025 - Governor Wes Moore has commissioned Solomons resident and University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Professor Thomas Miller as the 111th Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay.
The Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay is a lifetime achievement award bestowed upon individuals who have made an extraordinary contribution to the conservation and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay.
Governor Moore presented the award to Miller during a ceremony at the Board of Public Works meeting on Oct. 1.
“Thomas Miller has dedicated his career to understanding and applying the best science available to support Maryland’s fisheries and the ecosystem,” said Governor Moore. “His work has helped to bring together the cooperative crab fishery that we have today in the Chesapeake Bay. The studies and policy discussions developed by Professor Miller are informing how we manage changing conditions in the Bay caused by climate change and invasive predators. His work will help ensure we have a sustainable long-term future for blue crabs as well as other culturally and economically important Chesapeake Bay species.”
Miller, who has served as a professor at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons since 1994, has played a key role in developing the modern scientific understanding and management of Maryland’s recreational and commercial fisheries. He joined the laboratory in 1994 as an assistant professor and quickly became involved in emerging discussions about how Maryland and Virginia can better cooperate to manage the Chesapeake Bay’s blue crab fishery using scientific surveys and data.
In 2000 and 2001, Miller served on the Bi-State Blue Crab Advisory Committee where he led meetings of researchers that reached a consensus that increasing fishing pressure could threaten the long-term viability of blue crabs in the Chesapeake. The 2001 Action Plan that came from the committee’s work was the first to call for the Bay-wide thresholds on the blue crab fishery that Maryland and Virginia now use to prevent overfishing.
Since then, Miller has been recognized as a leader in Chesapeake Bay research. His insights have helped inform management approaches for key Bay species such as menhaden and dolphins as well as blue crabs.
Miller has long used his scientific expertise as a way to inform policymakers and find solutions to complex fisheries issues. He currently serves on the Scientific and Statistical Committee of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, and as a scientific advisor to a number of federal and state agencies.
