Dr. Stephen Beckett, Dr. Julie Pourtois, and Dr. Tapan Goel co-organized, and hosted the first Maryland Aquatic Viral Ecology meeting on April 16, 2025 at the University of Maryland, College Park. The meeting brought together local viral ecologists to learn about each other’s projects, facilitate research collaboration, and to develop a professional network. The meeting had participants across career stages from the University of Maryland, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences, the University of Delaware and John Hopkins University.