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IAN Press is committed to producing practical, user-centered communications that foster a better understanding of science and enable readers to pursue new opportunities in research, education, and environmental problem-solving. Our publications synthesize scientific findings using effective science communication techniques.
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Integration and Application Network
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You are browsing all 41 communication products containing the words/phrase: patuxent
2011 Chesapeake Bay Report Card (Report card) 
Prepared by EcoCheck and the Integration and Application Network
This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of Chesapeake Bay. The overall health of Chesapeake Bay, determined using water quality and biotic indicators, declined slightly in 2011. The overall grade of D+ was a decrease for the second year in a row, down from a C- in 2010. Only two reporting regions, the Patapsco and Back Rivers, and the Lower Western Shore (MD), had improved grades in 2011. The highest-ranked region for the second year in a row was the Upper Bay, with a grade of C. For further details, visit the Report Card website.
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2010 Trust Fund Water Quality Monitoring Strategy (Report)
This Monitoring Strategy was designed to identify nutrient reduction efficiencies of best management practices (BMPs) and provide information to determine what type of monitoring is needed by Trust Fund recipients to evaluate the effectiveness of BMP implementation. The main objective is to provide a comprehensive protocol that serves all water quality assessment needs when monitoring urban and agricultural non-point nutrient and sediment fluxes. The methods and results of several intensively monitored case studies indicate that BMP implementation can be highly effective at reducing nutrient and sediment fluxes to receiving waters.
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Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Maryland's Vulnerability to Climate Change, Phase II: building societal, economic, and ecological resilience (Report)
A report to the Maryland Commission on Climate Change from the Adaptation and Response Working Group
Author(s): Boicourt KE and Johnson ZP (eds)
Publisher: University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Cambridge, Maryland and Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Annapolis, Maryland
This report details the findings of the Scientific and Technical Working Group, comprised of experts representing six sectors—human health, agriculture, forests and terrestrial ecosystems, bay and aquatic ecosystems, water resources, and population growth and infrastructure. Each sector assessed climate change vulnerabilities, and recommended adaptation strategies for the State of Maryland.
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Chesapeake Bay Report Card 2009 (Report card)
Prepared by EcoCheck and the Integration and Application Network
This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of 2009 Chesapeake Bay habitat health. The overall health of Chesapeake Bay, assessed using water quality and biotic indicators, was the best it has been since 2002. The overall grade improved from C- in 2008 to C in 2009. Eight reporting regions had improved grades in 2009, four were unchanged, and two had slightly worse grades. The highest ranked region, for the third year in a row, was the Upper WesternShore (B-), while the lowest ranked region this year was the Patapsco and Back Rivers (F). For further details, visit the Report Card website.
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Integrating and Applying Science: A handbook for effective coastal ecosystem assessment (Book)
Author(s): B.J. Longstaff, T.J.B. Carruthers, W.C. Dennison, T.R. Lookingbill, J.M. Hawkey, J.E. Thomas, E.C. Wicks, J. Woerner
Vast areas of the globe's coastal zone have experienced significant declines in ecosystem health. Deteriorating water quality, loss and alteration of vital habitats, and reduced populations of fish and shellfish are some of the major changes recorded. Establishing and running an effective assessment program is a complex process that necessitates strategic collaboration and partnerships between many individuals and agencies. This book was written to make the process of running a coastal assessment program easier and the outcomes more effective. It provides a step-by-step approach from data collection and information management to synthesis and application and draws on the knowledge of a variety of coastal scientists and managers.
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Geographic Region Isolation Runs for Developing Nutrient Load Allocations for the Chesapeake Bay Restoration (Presentation)
Presented at the 2009 Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) conference in Portland, Oregon
Author(s): Wu J, Wang P, Shenk G and Linker L
Excessive nutrients in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries promote undesirable water quality conditions such as excessive algal growth, low dissolved oxygen and reduced water clarity. In developing science-based loading allocations, it was key to understand which major basins affect which areas of the Bay and by how much. A series of geographic isolation runs with the Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Model was performed to estimate the water quality improvement from reductions for each major basin. The 'relative impact' of each basin was calculated as the change in the dissolved oxygen concentration in the identified segments of the mainstem Chesapeake Bay normalized by the combined nitrogen and phosphorus load reduced from that basin. This formed the scientific basis for allocating nutrient loads among major basins, with the principal that basins with the greatest impact must achieve the highest load reductions toward achieving final water quality goals.
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Research findings for key bay fisheries species (Newsletter)
NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office 2009 Fisheries Science Symposium
Fisheries research funded by the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office (NCBO) provides science and information to enable natural resource managers to make informed decisions. The NCBO Fisheries Science Symposium is a chance for fisheries scientists in the Bay area to present their research findings and create collaborations. This document is an EcoCheck/NCBO collaboration and summarizes some of the key topics presented at the 2009 symposium.
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Rock Creek Park Natural Resource Condition Assessment (Report)
Produced by the NPS National Capital Region Network and the Integration & Application Network.
Rock Creek Park (ROCR) is a forest and wetland oasis in the heart of Washington, D.C. A National Park Service natural resource condition assessment (NPS NRCA) was conducted using two synthetic frameworks: 1) an ecological monitoring framework, and 2) a habitat monitoring framework. Data metrics and thresholds were determined and monitoring data applied. This report is the result of the assessment and can be used by park management who are faced with many ecological challenges as a consequence of its urban surroundings.
** print copies are available - if you would like a copy, please send your name and mailing address to hawkey@umces.edu. **
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2008 Chesapeake Bay Report Card (Report card)
Prepared by EcoCheck and the Integration and Application Network
This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed annual assessment of 2008 Chesapeake Bay habitat health. This is the third year that the report card has been released. This report card rates 15 reporting regions of the Bay using six indicators that are combined into a single overarching index of habitat health. The overall health of Chesapeake Bay was poor in 2008, obtaining a grade of C-. Health of the 15 individual reporting regions varied, ranging from B- (moderate-good) to F (very poor). For further details, visit the Report Card website.
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2008 Patuxent River Report Card (Report card)
Produced by Patuxent Riverkeeper and EcoCheck (NOAA-UMCES Partnership)
This newsletter is the second annual Patuxent River ecosystem health report card. The report card provides grades for the three tidal regions of the Patuxent River estuary. The grades are based on the frequency that the river is able to meet six ecological targets. The results show the river is generally in poor condition despite a small improvement in the health in 2008 (compared to 2007). A narrative description of the non-tidal portion of the river based on the Patuxent Riverkeeper citizen water quality monitoring program is also provided.
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"Writing crystallizes thought and thought produces action." Paul J. Meyer
Goals
A goal of IAN Press is to empower scientists to directly communicate their ideas and concepts. Publications from IAN Press are designed to transform the uninterested to interested; the interested to involved and the involved to engaged.
IAN Press products are designed to be examples of good science communication principles, and the hope is that others will employ these principles so that scientific understanding can be disseminated widely as possible. The production of IAN Press communication publications involves experimentation with communication techniques and, as such, provides various ideas for science communication that can be emulated.
The comparisons and contrasts that IAN Press provides on environmental subjects intend to stimulate scientists, managers, practitioners, policy makers, students and other readers to think more broadly and expansively about the region and issues that they face. The extensive use of visual elements accesses a broader cultural diversity as well, which allow for more global perspectives.
The conclusions and recommendations presented in IAN Press publications are crafted to empower actions, plant seeds of ideas and provide justification for people to take appropriate action to find solutions to environmental problems. The conclusions are made as explicit as possible by employing active titles and featuring them prominently (e.g., front section of books or back cover of newsletters).
On costs
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Science Communicators are the key element in the production of IAN Press documents. They design the layout of the document, obtain and edit the visual elements, designate the amount and style of text, and orchestrate the review and editing process. IAN Press documents are produced using a 'storyboard' approach, in which the central message(s) are identified and various visual elements selected to support the central message(s). This is in contrast to the more traditional method of writing text and adding in visuals subsequently. In video and film production, storyboards are used and the producer is key to assembling the visual elements. Science Communicators serve in an equivalent role in terms of assembling all the pieces that go into the publication.
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With the growing popularity of electronic media, the carbon footprint involved in producing and distributing paper products, and the ability to provide infinite resources via the web, it could be argued that IAN Press should disseminate entirely via electronic means. While IAN Press provides downloadable, web accessible materials, IAN Press continues to produces written products for the following reasons:
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- "The product drives the collaborative process"; in that the science communication product forces an intensely collaborative process of obtaining and refining visual elements, drafting and editing text, and experimenting with layout and design. While this collaborative process can be conducted with the production of web materials, print deadlines are a good way to insure timely delivery. In addition, to obtain buy-in from many scientists whose training and experience are in producing printed papers and books, printed copies are often necessary.