The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE), based in Washington, D.C., supports a group of university administrators called the Council for Environmental Deans & Directors (CEDD). This group has two annual meetings; a winter meeting in Washington, D.C. and a summer conference in different locations around the country. The 2010 summer conference was hosted by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) in Boulder, Colorado.

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How do we learn about the world around us? How do we tap into the natural curiosity kids possess? How do you create a sense of place in a virtual world? Such hefty questions require expert knowledge from a variety of fields.

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We recently held our annual Integration and Application Network retreat, titled "Creating synergies and leveraging impacts". It was conducted at the Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology, on the Wye River, a tributary of Chesapeake Bay. Attending this retreat were the Science Integrators and Science Communicators from a) the 'bathhouse' on the Horn Point Laboratory campus, b) the EcoCheck team based at the Cooperative Oxford Laboratory and c) the Annapolis Synthesis Center.

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Ben Fertig, graduate student, became Dr. Ben Fertig following his successful dissertation defense at Horn Point Laboratory on 6 July 2010. His thesis is titled "Stable nitrogen isotopes (δ15N) in the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) as an indicator of nitrogen source". Ben gave a powerpoint thesis summary (5 years compressed into 45 minute talk) to a large gathering of Horn Point faculty and students.

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The Maryland Coastal Bays Program report card was released at an interesting venue in Ocean City in late afternoon, June 30. Macky's Barside & Grill on 54th Street in Ocean City provided a bayside venue for the release with perfect weather. Jet skis and motorboats were buzzing in and out of the canal, a roosting colony of laughing gulls in the marsh and the babble of dinner guests eating in the sandy beach provided a lively backdrop to the proceedings.

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This blog post discusses the seminar given by Howard Townsend, of the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, at the IAN Seminar Series on June 24, 2010. Following Howard's seminar, two short videos were aired. The first one depicted some of Howard's hidden talents on the dance floor, and the second one was a 6 minute Computer Generated Image (CGI) film entitled "Life in the Chesapeake Bay", produced by NOAA in conjunction with Lenfest Ocean Program and the University of British Columbia.

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Following a science communication training session with the Research Experience for Undergraduate program at the Chesapeake Bay Program, we took a brief walking tour of historic downtown Annapolis. We stopped at the Alex Haley monument, U.S. Naval Academy, Maryland State House, Thurgood Marshall statue, and pointed out the Banneker-Douglass Museum. We crossed the bridge from Eastport into Annapolis and our first stop was the Alex Haley monument.

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I have just joined the Chesapeake Bay Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) as a member, but I have experience with various other review panels and STAC-type groups in various parts of the world. Thus I bring a fresh perspective, but without a deep appreciation of Chesapeake Bay STAC history and dynamics. There are some important elements of what I consider a successful STAC:

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Ten years ago, the Grand River Conservation Authority was the recipient of the 2nd annual Theiss International Riverprize in Brisbane, Australia. Peter Krause was the chair of the authority board at the time and he traveled to Brisbane to receive the award. I was on the Riversymposium planning committee while teaching at the University of Queensland and met Peter at this time.

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The weather is often the main topic of discussion amongst friends, around the office water cooler, and even between strangers. The professional meteorologist is one of the most maligned positions in our society. Yet everyone cares about the weather forecast; so much so there is even a 24-hour cable station dedicated to providing every detail about temperature, humidity and the relative chance of precipitation at 3,000 locations nationwide.

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