A year like 2020 requires reserves: of strength, empathy, patience. Weve been honored to be your local national estuarine research reserve during this trying time. Weve kept our trails open because we know you need them for safe outdoor recreation and restorative time in nature. Many of you also visited us online, or in your memories, knowing that this treasured place on the coast of Maine is a reserve for so many. Thank you for thinking of us.

Weve been thinking of you too. We miss you. Our ongoing work here is always bolstered by the smiles and greetings of new and returning visitors to Laudholm, not to mention staff and volunteers. Remote work, and everyone healthily masked, have kept us all safer, but they are pale substitutes for the togetherness that we all need and expect, especially around the holidays.

Plenty has already been said about the trials, tribulations, and terrors of 2020. As usual, Id prefer, for my sanity and my familys, to think about the positives Ive seen. One in particular has given me hope to last for years: the response of the worldwide scientific community to the novel coronavirus, which was unknown just thirteen months ago. In one year, doctors and researchers have leapt across international boundaries and national interests to meet the challenge. They have published nearly 80,000 papers on the virus, saved millions of lives with clear and science-based guidance, cut the development time of multiple safe and effective vaccines by 80%, and are preparing to deliver an unprecedented amount of doses in record time, all to save the world.

Nothing like this has ever been done before—its too easy to lose sight of that. Working together, we are beating this virus. As youll see in the pages of this year-end newsletter, "working together" can accomplish a lot in coastal science, education, and conservation too. Our activities at the Wells Reserve have continued, and even grown, in this strange and tragic year. Weve found new ways to work together virtually; I can only imagine how strong we will be when were all back together again, in the flesh. Until then, have a good winter. Tap your reserves, stay safe, and stay well.

From Watermark, Fall 2020