By: Kyla Kaplan
Dr. Suzanne Dorsey started out as a fisheries biologist with a Ph.D. in Coastal Oceanography. She spent 25 years working in a coastal community in North Carolina on the spectrum of coastal issues – from endangered species management to coastal resiliency to water supply management and white tail deer management.
Dorsey then followed her passions and came home to Maryland to work as Executive Director at the Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology for several years. She is now the Assistant Secretary of Maryland’s Department of the Environment (MDE), where she supports Secretary Ben Grumbles and works to find ways for all people to relate to and then appreciate the environment.
“I work on all things agriculture from CAFO regulations to the interface between industrial and agriculture waste management,” said Dorsey. She also emphasized that MDE is actively trying to work with the forestry industry to reboot commerce in the state.
At the Agricultural and Environmental Law Conference in November, Dorsey will appear on the keynote panel entitled “Emerging Opportunities in Ecosystem Trading Markets” with Pipa Elias, Dr. Kris Johnson,, and Matthew Clagett where she will discuss water quality trading. Dorsey’s co-panelists will be delving into other topics in this realm such as carbon and nutrient trading, highlighting pilot projects taking place in Maryland, and explaining how both agriculture and aquaculture growers can participate in these programs.
Water quality trading is a complex topic that involves the intersection of regulation, conservation goals, and economics. According to Dorsey, “creating a water quality trading market requires ensuring a supply and demand for certain best management practices and understanding that the market will function best as a free market with no more external control than necessary.”
To learn more and hear from Suzanne Dorsey, register for the fifth annual Agricultural & Environmental Law Conference on November 14, 8:00 am – 3:00 pm at the Crowne Plaza Annapolis, 173 Jennifer Road, Annapolis, MD 21401. You can register at https://go.umd.edu/aleiconf2019registration.
