Building Dinosaurs. With a name like that for a lecture how could I not be excited? So a few weeks ago I popped on over to D.C. for a seminar put on by the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI). They had arranged for their colleague, Michael Holland, to explain the ins and outs of his career as a paleo-artist. A little background on Michael:

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The Atlantic Estuarine Research Society (AERS) meeting was held on 16-18 March 2017 at St. Mary's College of Maryland. AERS was the first scientific society focused on estuaries, formed in 1948. Other regional societies sprang up and a consortium of regional societies was formed, called the Estuarine Research Federation, formed in 1971 (later renamed Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation).

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Last December 2016, Bill Dennison, Heath Kelsey and I teamed up with our partners at Future Earth’s Coasts, Martin LeTissier and Shona Paterson, to facilitate the Synthesis Workshop for the 13 Belmont Forum funded transdisciplinary projects in Coastal Vulnerability and Freshwater Security. During that time, Bill’s awesome songs were not the only ones that were produced; we also co-developed a draft Synthesis document with all the participants.

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As part of our ongoing learning about science integration and application, our team reads and reviews papers that are relevant to the IAN mission. We recently read and enjoyed a paper by Estrada and Davis titled "Improving Visual Communication of Science Through the Incorporation of Graphic Design Theories and Practices Into Science Communication", published in the Journal Science Communication in 2015. In this paper, they called for the inclusion of 'visual literacy' in science communication.

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I attended a 'Transdisciplinary Research Meeting', sponsored by the International Council for Science (ICSU), which is part of UNESCO, and is based in Paris. The meeting was at the ICSU facility near the Arc de Triomphe. Our local host was Vivi Stavrou, from the International Social Science Council (ISSC). Participants came from four continents (North and South America, Europe and Africa), and they all had a keen interest in transdisciplinary research. The following people attended the meeting:

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Following a three day meeting on transdisciplinary research, I had a day to explore Paris in search of the trails of three of my scientific icons. My eighteenth century science icon from Paris is Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier (1743-1794); my nineteenth century icon is Louis Pasteur (1822-1895); and my twentieth century icon is Marie Curie (1867-1934). Lavoisier:

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Following a three-day workshop on transdisciplinary research training, held 15-17 Feb 2017 in Paris, France, I reflected on the essential elements of transdisciplinary research. We spent much of our three days talking about what constitutes transdisciplinary research, and many concepts were discussed. This blog attempts to distill some of this discussion and to put forward a version of what constitutes transdisciplinary research.

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A new paper on Chesapeake Bay Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) was published last week by colleagues from the Virginia Institute of the Marine Science (VIMS) and University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, led by Jon Lefcheck (VIMS). This paper, entitled "Multiple stressors threaten the imperiled coastal foundation species eelgrass (Zostera marina) in Chesapeake Bay, USA" was published in Global Change Biology.

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The Maryland Coastal Bays include Chincoteague, Sinepuxent, Isle of Wight, Assawoman, and Newport Bays, as well as St. Martin River. These coastal lagoons behind Assateague and Fenwick Islands were once known as the "Forgotten Bays", dwarfed in stature by the nearby majestic Chesapeake Bay. But the Coastal Bays have been discovered, in a large part due to the efforts of Jane "Jano" Thomas.

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The submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) can be used as sentinels for the health of Chesapeake Bay. A working group of scientists has been formed to analyze three decades of water quality data and annual surveys of submerged aquatic vegetation. Bob Orth, a researcher based at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), and I are leading this effort.

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