On October 14, 2015, in St. Louis, Missouri, I unveiled the Report Card for the Mississippi River Watershed, a project that almost everyone on the IAN Science Communication team has worked on at some point since 2012. The event was on the roof top patio of at the Hyatt Regency at the Arch in Downtown St. Louis, with great views of the river and the St. Louis Arch.

Read more

This blog is part of the Basin Report Card Initiative: a partnership between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) Our partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was officially launched at World Water Week this past August 2015. This new partnership aims to widen the audience and uptake of report cards as an environmental management tool for river basins around the world.

Read more

Caroline Donovan and I were invited to speak at the joint meeting of the Long Island Sound’s Citizens Advisory (CAC) and Science and Technical Advisory Committees (STAC). After completing the Long Island Sound Report Card in June, they asked us to give some wrap up and next steps information for where the report card is going in the future. Overall, the Long Island Sound report card included water quality, human health, and ecosystem/habitat indicators.

Read more

This blog is part of the Basin Report Card Initiative: a partnership between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) On September 21st, 2015, Simon Costanzo and I traveled to San Jose de Guaviare, Colombia for the Guaviare River Report Card Workshop. This was the third workshop in Colombia to develop report cards for three tributaries of the Orinoco River.

Read more

Heath Kelsey, Caroline Donovan, and I traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii to conduct a workshop to kick off the development of a report card for the coral reefs of American Samoa.

Read more

This blog is part of the Basin Report Card Initiative: a partnership between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) On August 9th, 2015, Simon Costanzo and I traveled from Bogota, Colombia to Puerto Carreño, Vichada, Colombia for the Bita River Report Card Workshop. This was the second of three workshops that will occur in Colombia, to develop report cards for three tributaries of the Orinoco River.

Read more

This blog is part of the Basin Report Card Initiative: a partnership between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) On June 29th, 2015, Simon Costanzo and I traveled from Bogota, Colombia to Puerto Lopez, Colombia for the Meta River Report Card Workshop. The workshop spanned from June 30th-July 2nd, and was the first of three workshops that will occur in Colombia, to develop report cards for three tributaries of the Orinoco River.

Read more

This summer, I was given the great opportunity to be involved in the development of the first IAN report card in my home country. Last June 1-3 2015, Dave Nemazie and Simon Costanzo joined me in the Philippines to help facilitate the Second Workshop on the Development of Ecosystem Health Report Card for Laguna de Bay.

Read more

Even before Charles Darwin wrote about coral reef atolls in his 1842 “The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs,” humans have been fascinated by coral reefs. Corals and coral reefs are connected to the spiritual rituals of indigenous populations. They also provide food, shelter, and support livelihoods (through fishing and ecotourism) of many people around the world. Charles Darwin’s 1842 map of coral reef distribution. Current coral reef distribution. Credit:

Read more

I had the unique opportunity to discuss report cards with a couple of global crocodile experts based in Darwin. Grahame Webb and Charlie Manolis are active in crocodile management and conservation globally, and operate Crocodylus Park in Darwin, a crocodile farm and research facility. Grahame is chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Crocodile Specialist Group, and Charlie is Chief Scientist at Crocodylus Park.

Read more