'Environmental literacy' series … The seven environmental literacy principles for the Upper Mississippi River are the following: • The Upper Mississippi River is regulated with a series of locks and dams, extending from St. Louis, IL to Minneapolis, MN. • The Upper Mississippi River watershed includes forests and lakes in the northern regions and corn/soy croplands in the southern regions.

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'Environmental literacy' series … The seven environmental literacy principles for the Ohio River basin are the following: • The Ohio River is the major eastern tributary of the Mississippi River, traversing through a diversity of landscapes. • The Ohio River is the major water source of the Mississippi River, with its flow regulated through a series of locks and dams.

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'Environmental literacy' series … The seven environmental literacy principles for the Lower Mississippi River are the following: • The Lower Mississippi River is undammed from St. Louis to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico. • The considerable commerce through the Lower Mississippi River includes oceanic transport up to Baton Rouge and barge transport throughout the remainder. • Flooding and drought affect the river and adjacent floodplain.

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'Environmental literacy' series … The seven environmental literacy principles for Long Island Sound are the following: • Long Island Sound is an estuary formed from a terminal glacial moraine (Long Island), flushed through tidal action from Block Island Sound, with minor exchange with NY Harbor. • Long Island Sound once supported abundant oysters, scallops, birds and lobsters with widespread salt marshes and seagrasses.

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'Environmental Literacy' series … The seven environmental literacy points for Moreton Bay (Australia) are the following:

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Environmental literacy refers to the most basic information necessary for the broadest understanding of a topic that non-experts need to possess to be conversant about the topic. Just as literacy or numeracy refers to the basic ability necessary to read or perform mathematical tasks, environmental literacy provides the basic ability to make informed environmental decisions.

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Several hundred people gathered at the Maritime Institute conference facility in Baltimore for the Maryland Climate Change Summit on July 25. The Summit was kicked off with a talk by Governor Martin O'Malley to a standing room only audience. Governor O'Malley likened climate change to gravity--physics, pure and simple but also acknowledged that the response was complex. He spoke of the 'fierce urgency of now' and moral obligation of addressing climate change issues.

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The first five sentences of Maryland’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan summarize what we need to know and do. 1) Climate change is real. 2) Scientists agree. 3) It’s happening now. 4) It’s harmful and human caused. 5) We can make a difference through our actions. These simple statements are backed up with a wealth of scientific information, but one just needs to look around at the record-breaking weather events in Maryland and beyond to validate these statements.

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The Nanticoke Watershed Alliance hosted a debate in Cambridge, Maryland regarding the Conowingo Dam, which is the southernmost dam in the Susquehanna River, described in the IAN publication 'Responding to major storm impacts: Ecological impacts of Hurricane Sandy on Chesapeake and Delmarva Coastal Bays'. The debate was held in the Dorchester Public Library on April 17. The session was introduced by Shelly Baird, the Executive Director of Nanticoke Watershed Alliance.

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A new special issue on Water Education for Sustainability in Higher Education in the Journal for Contemporary Water Research & Education was published, an outcome of a workshop organized by the International WaterCentre. The special issue is dedicated to Dr. Peter Oliver, an educator who passed away last November. The special issue includes a tribute to Peter and two papers (1, 2) that he and I co-authored.

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