This newsletter details the use of symbols as a visual language. Symbols are useful for depicting unequivocal messages that transcend cultures, languages and times. The use of symbols to construct conceptual diagrams ('thought drawings') can be an effective tool for science communication and problem solving. Conceptual diagrams help to clarify thinking and provide a communication interface between scientists and non-scientists.

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This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of Chesapeake Bay. In 2015, the report card includes five water quality indicators and two biotic indicators. In 2015, the overall grade for Chesapeake Bay is a 53%, a C. This means the Bay is in moderate health. Long term trends of each reporting region health and a fisheries index are also presented. For further details, visit the Report Card website.

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We held an initial workshop April 25, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to begin production of a report card for the Guanabara Bay and its watershed. This newsletter summarizes the discussions with environmental and social scientists, engineers, and government officials who developed a first draft of the indicators and reporting regions for the assessment of Guanabara Bay and its river basins.

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Nós realizamos um workshop com o objetivo de produzir um Boletim (Score Card) para a Baía de Guanabara e sua bacia hidrográfica. Essa newsletter resume as discussões que aconteceram entre um grupo de cientistas sociais e ambientais, engenheiros e representates do governo, reunidos para desenvolver um esboço preliminar dos indicadores e regiões a serem reportadas para a avaliação da Baía de Guanabara e sua bacia hidrográfica.

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The National Capital Parks–East (NACE) provides a natural haven for the urbanized Washington, D.C., area. NACE includes 14 major park areas that comprise more than 8,000 acres of the Atlantic Coastal Plain from Anne Arundel County, Maryland, through the eastern part of Washington, D.C., to Prince George’s and Charles counties, Maryland.

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The Department of the Interior Climate Science Centers (CSCs) and their managing organization, the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center at the U.S. Geological Survey, have chosen the emerging climate science field of Ecological Drought as a research focus area. This newsletter highlights the outcomes of a two-day workshop held in Fort Collins, Colorado, as part of a series of meetings at each of the nation’s eight CSCs.

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New York Harbor is a large, iconic and complex body of water. The harbor is an important part of New York City and its millions of residents, and has been massively changed by human activities. These changes have altered the shorelines, water flow, plants and animals of the harbor. These drawings of New York Harbor help explain what is happening below the water surface—a look inside.

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George Washington Memorial Parkway was developed as a scenic parkway to help preserve the Potomac River Gorge and shoreline while serving as a memorial to the first President of the United States, George Washington. The Potomac Gorge is one of the most significant natural areas in the United States, and is home to more than 400 occurrences of over 200 rare species and communities.

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This book highlights perspectives, insights, and data in the coupled fields of aquatic microbial ecology and biogeochemistry when viewed through the lens of collaborative duos – dual career couples. Their synergy and collaborative interactions have contributed substantially to our contemporary understanding of pattern, process and dynamics. This is thus a book by dual career couples about dual scientific processes.

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New York Harbor is a large, iconic and complex body of water that has been extensively modified to support the development of a megacity. These modifications have affected the shorelines, water flow, water quality, habitats and living resources of the harbor. Changes in topography and bathymetry have altered the landscapes and seascapes of the region, largely to support an active shipping port and intense human settlement.

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