Losing Touch with Herring in the Rappahannock River

by Mara Dicenta, Elena McCullough, and Micah Dill. | April 30, 2025

This essay stems from a research collaboration between ecologists Matthew Ogburn and Henry Leggett from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and Mara Dicenta Vilker, ongoing since 2022. Several W&M students participated in the project, including undergraduate researchers Malvika Shrimali, Emily Johnson, Elena McCullough, Micah Dill, and Luke Sahli. This team has brought herring restoration into dialogue with fishing ecological knowledges through oral histories with fishers.This piece is co-written by IIC faculty member Mara Dicenta and IIC Conservation Research Program students Elena McCullough and Micah Dill.