View of Downtown Seattle from the waterfront. Photo credit: Yesenia Valverde. Last month, the IPCC released its special report, Global Warming of 1.5°C , a report requested by the Paris Agreement to detail the projected impacts of a 1.5°C rise in global temperature. It is of crucial importance to note that, according to the report, we as a global society are not currently on track to maintain warming below 1.5°C. Sobering, the report is an immediate call to action.

Read more

The UMCES Environmental Summit. Photo credit: UMCES Flickr. On November 30, 2018 the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) community gathered at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET) in Baltimore to discuss environmental science and application to resource management and policy with our new president, Dr. Peter Goodwin.

Read more

The Integration and Application Network (IAN) teamed up with the Belmont Forum for a synthesis workshop on 8-10 Dec 2018 in Washington, D.C. IAN staff facilitated the workshop, which Belmont Forum calls a "valorization workshop" with three groups of projects, identified by the Belmont Forum as Collaborative Research Actions (CRAs). The three CRAs were 1) "Food security and land use change", 2) "Arctic observing and science for sustainability", 3) "Mountains as sentinels of change".

Read more

The Integration and Application Network (IAN) had an eventful and exciting year. We were able to report some really good news in the improvements in the health of Chesapeake Bay and Maryland Coastal Bays with our annual report cards. In addition, the publication of a scientific synthesis paper that IAN staff helped generate was able to reach a broad audience. This paper identified that the nutrient reductions into Chesapeake Bay were leading to ecosystem health improvements.

Read more

Class logo. In the revised Marine Environmental and Estuarine Science (MEES) curriculum, the Environment and Society Foundation is the only track that expressly incorporates social sciences. With my marine ecology background, I combined efforts with Michael Paolisso, an environmental anthropologist, to co-teach the Foundation course. Michael and I had a lot of help from our excellent teaching assistant, Suzi Spitzer, a variety of superb guest lecturers (Drs.

Read more

After 12 years of working with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES), Dorothy "Dottie" Bradford Samonisky decided to retire at the end of the calendar year. Dottie was a powerful force at UMCES, and she helped make the Integration and Application Network (IAN) functional and fun. We held her retirement party at Annie's Paramount Steak and Seafood House on Kent Narrows.

Read more

On 14 Dec 2018, I traveled to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) for the retirement party of my friend and colleague Ken Moore. Ken worked at VIMS for 45 years, which is a remarkable tenure. I recounted some vignettes of Ken that I used to describe him. There are 10 words that I used to describe Ken Moore: welcoming, fun, interesting, companion, collaborative, heliophilic, persistent, mentor, friend, and sweet.

Read more

Satellite image of mangroves in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh, and India. Darker hues represent higher levels of mangrove canopy cover per-pixel. Photo credit: Dr. Stuart Hamilton. “The web of life ….” “The evolutionary tree ….” These are phrases used so often they approach cliché, but they also capture, in living metaphor, a fundamental truth: that all life exists in relationship.

Read more

Kristin Saunders, a University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science at the Chesapeake Bay Program (UMCES@CBP) employee, organizes regular mini-retreats for the Goal Implementation Team chairs and Chesapeake Bay Program leadership. The Goal Implementation Team chairs included Sean Corson (Sustainable Fisheries), Christine Conn (Habitat), James Davis-Martin (Water Quality), Chuck Hunt (Fostering Chesapeake Stewardship), and Dave Goshorn (Enhance Partnering, Leadership and Management).

Read more

Susan Williams. Photo sourced from UC Davis. On 26-27 Oct 2018, friends and colleagues of Susan Williams held a celebration of Susan’s life and impact. The 26 Oct event was held in the International Center on the University of California at Davis campus. Rick Grosberg, UC Davis faculty, served as the emcee. The event was in a beautiful room that opened onto a courtyard with people attending from all facets of Susan’s life.

Read more