Acknowledgements
This thesis work was inspired by three gifted scholars and teachers: Scott Slocombe, George Francis, and James Kay. I must first thank my advisor Professor Scott Slocombe for providing invaluable insights, timely encouragement as well as guidance balanced by the freedom to express myself through this work. To Professor George Francis for sharing your wealth of knowledge and experience so freely. And to Professor James Kay for a completely new perspective and for encouraging me to question what I'd learned and but not completely discount it.
I must acknowledge the invaluable contributions of Dr. Mike Hirshfield,
Dr. Kent Mountford, Dr. Rich Batuik, Dr. Carin Bisland and Dr.
Timothy Hennessey. Without your candid contributions my understanding
of the Chesapeake Bay Program would have been superficial at best.
To Dr. Robert Ulanowicz for your work on Ascendency and for helping
me to apply it in the context of this work. I also have to thank
my friends and colleagues Ryan Danby and Kevin Devitt for listening
to me babble on and helping me make sense of what I was saying.
To my other good friends who always offered me encouragement.
And of course to my family. To my parents who continue to give
of themselves so that their children will prosper. To my brothers
and sisters for listening to me complain. To my daughters Kelsey
and Gwen, you make everything worthwhile. And to my wife for always
being there but never asking why it was taking so long ... I love
you Kristen.