Blog posts categorized by Science Communication
Andrew Elmore's illustration on how to measure altitude.

Using report cards to get the synoptic big picture: An astronaut's view

Bill Dennison ·
10 March 2016
Environmental Report Cards | Science Communication | Applying Science | 

This blog is part of the Basin Report Card Initiative: a partnership between theWorld Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) One of the attributes of report cards that is particularly useful is the ability to view a whole system synoptically. We often refer to this synoptic view as analogous to flying over at a high altitude.

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Bill Dennison, Peter Tuddenham, Tina Bishop and Jamie Testa at the initial evaluation strategy session. Credit: Bill Dennison

Developing a report card for the Integration and Application Network

Bill Dennison ·
26 February 2016
Science Communication |     1 comments

We have embarked on a journey to create a monitoring and evaluation approach for the Tina Bishop and Peter Tuddenham from the College of Exploration are serving as our external evaluators and Jamie Testa is tasked with the job of being an internal evaluator to support this effort. We have long considered developing an evaluation program for IAN to accompany our efforts, but it has not eventuated until now.

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Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace simultaneously published their research in 1858. Credit: Left: Angus Carroll; Top right photo: edwbaker

Evolution’s hero vs. a historical footnote: A new Narrative Index sheds light on Darwin vs. Wallace

Bill Dennison ·
24 February 2016
Science Communication | Learning Science |     3 comments

Yesterday, Randy Olson announced his exciting new communication tool, the Narrative Index in his blog. For the past few months, Randy and I have been discussing this index, and we have been approaching the index from the perspective of an experimental scientist (a background that Randy and I share). Randy has been analyzing political speeches and I have been analyzing scientific papers.

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The present-day coastline of South Florida (USA) has changed little since 1859, but a 5-foot rise in sea level, which is expected around the beginning of the next century, will result in dramatic changes. Credit: Top: US Coast Survey and Bottom: National Geographic

4 ways sea level rise and climate change are reshaping the coast

Bill Nuttle ·
22 February 2016
Science Communication | Applying Science | 

The experience of the last several generations has been that, while we cannot master the processes that shape the coast, we have been able to anticipate and mitigate their impact. The position of the coastline reflects the interplay of dynamic processes. Until recently, these processes have maintained a rough equilibrium. Most places in the US, the coastline has changed little in the 150 years since it was first mapped by the Coast Survey.

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Bill Dennison and Caroline Donovan in front of Mamaroneck Harbor.

Developing a strategy for Long Island Sound embayment report cards

Bill Dennison ·
15 February 2016
Environmental Report Cards | Science Communication | Applying Science | 

Caroline Donovan and I traveled to Mamaroneck, NY and Stamford, CT on 3 Feb 2016 to work with Save The Sound in developing a strategy for Long Island Sound report cards. The Integration and Application Network produced a Long Island Sound report card in 2015, working with the Long Island Sound Funders Collaborative.

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Indian River Lagoon

Engaged participants made the Indian River Lagoon Report Card workshop a pleasure to facilitate!

Caroline Donovan ·
8 February 2016
Environmental Report Cards | Science Communication | Applying Science |     1 comments

On Thursday, January 21 and Friday, January 22, 2016, IAN staff facilitated the kickoff workshop for an Indian River Lagoon report card. The Lagoon is located on the east coast of Florida, stretching from above Cape Canaveral south all the way to Stuart, where the St. Lucie River meets the Lagoon and flows out into the Atlantic Ocean. Indian River Lagoon … Our workshop was held at the Marine Resource Council’s Lagoon House in Palm Bay, FL.

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Brainstorming strategies to overcome report card success.

Using Conceptionary to initiate discussion on barriers for implementing report cards

Bill Dennison ·
26 January 2016
Environmental Report Cards | Science Communication | Applying Science | 

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) As part of our Integration and Application Network (IAN), University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), we held a one day workshop on 7 May 2015 in Annapolis.

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Students and professors meet for the first time in-person at the final presentation of the Upper Potomac Headwaters Report Card. Photo:  Jennifer Amendolara.

Over the river and through the woods to release the Upper Potomac Headwaters Report Card, we go!

Suzanne Webster ·
14 January 2016
Environmental Report Cards | Science Communication | Learning Science | 

Last December 10, 2015, Bill, Vanessa, Dylan, and I traveled to the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, MD to release our new Upper Potomac Headwaters Report Card. This report card assessed stream health in the Upper Potomac Headwaters region upstream of Harpers Ferry, WV, and was developed as part of a new graduate class in the Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences program within UMCES.

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