After nearly 20 years of service to the St. Mary’s River Watershed Association, Bob Paul has announced his retirement from the Board effective March 1, 2025. Bob Paul is a founding member of our board, past vice president, and a longtime director of the St. Mary’s River Project (SMRP).

When Bob and co-director Dr. Chris Tanner started collecting water quality, land use, and biological data in and around the St. Mary’s River for the SMRP, they quickly found that several tributaries and areas of our river were degraded. However, the SMRP framework lacked an avenue for community members to harness the data to promote sustainable land use planning, facilitate restoration efforts, or educate the community about the issues affecting the St. Mary’s River. Bob, other members of the SMRP, and the community gathered to fill this need, and the St. Mary’s River Watershed Association (SMRWA) was born in 2006.

Since SMRWA’s founding, Bob has worked on numerous projects at SMRWA. He co-developed our Watershed Restoration Action Strategy for the St. Mary’s River, helped design and implement the St. Mary’s River Oyster Reef Project, established the Lindsey Paul Rudolph Memorial fund in 2010 (which funds SMRWA interns to this day), and assisted in securing and executing our current $185,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Because of these incredible contributions, the SMRWA Board of Directors voted unanimously to honor Bob as a Board Member Emeritus at their February meeting.

Even though Bob is stepping off the Board, he will still be involved with the association. He is currently mentoring a student intern and serves on our research committee.