For the past 7 CERF conferences, UMCES has held a mixer for current and past UMCES faculty, students and staff. It has proven to be a very nice event to reconnect with a variety of people who have the common UMCES lineage that have gathered together at these biennial conferences held in different locations around the country. David Balcom, Tom Miller, Bill Dennison and Dave Nemazie (left to right) addressing the attendees at the UMCES party.

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On the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln and the thirtieth anniversary of the establishment of the Chesapeake Bay Program, I thought it would be appropriate to make a short speech to our Science and Technical Analysis and Reporting gathering today.

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We had a large contingent of IAN folks attend the 22nd Biennial Conference of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation conference in San Diego, California. The conference was titled "Toward resilient coasts and estuaries, science for sustainable solutions". Bill Nuttle, Health Kelsey, Caroline Wicks and I co-chaired a session "Science communication strategies for ecosystem-based management". CERF 2013 program cover.

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We drove from our Marmarsis hotel on the south side of the Marmasis peninsula fronting the Mediterranean Sea to Akyaka, over to the north side of the Marmasis peninsula to fronting the Aegean Sea. Akyaka was a cute little seaside village. The most striking thing that I noticed on the drive was the abundance of solar hot water heaters on the roofs of the houses. It seemed that almost every house had solar hot water panels, and there were also some photovoltaic units as well.

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The Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas (EMECS) was established to share knowledge between the Seto Inland Sea, Japan, Chesapeake Bay, U.S.A., the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. MEDCOAST is the Mediterranean Coastal Foundation, which has been working toward the sound coastal management practices in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea countries. These organizations came together to produce a combined conference program. Drs.

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A State of the Great Lakes is produced periodically by Environment Canada and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In the most recent assessment (2011), there are various classes of indicators that are used: water quality, aquatic-dependent life, landscapes & natural processes and swimming, fishing & drinking features.

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Along with Caroline Wicks and Alex Fries, I traveled to Toronto, Canada for a three day workshop with Environment Canada. We also met up with Bill Nuttle, who took a train down from Ottawa. We conducted a science communication and integration workshop with various Environment Canada staff based in the Toronto area. Bill Dennison, Alex Fries, Caroline Wicks and Bill Nuttle at the top of the Philosopher's Walk on the University of Toronto campus.

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Over a period of a couple of years, I co-chaired the Science and Engineering Board of the 2012 Master Plan for Coastal Louisiana. The other members of the SEB were the following: Charles “Chip” Groat (co-chair), Greg Baecher, Ed Barbier, Philip Berke, Mark Brinson, Virginia Burkett, Robert “Tony” Dalrymple, Jos Dijkman, Katherine Ewel and Ed Houde, with Robert Twilley serving as the SEB facilitator. Sadly, Mark Brinson passed away following our first meeting.

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I recently received a copy of "Louisiana's 2012 Coastal Master Plan Technical Analysis, which is Special Issue #67 of the Journal of Coastal Research, co-edited by Natalie Peyronnin and Denise Reed. This 161 page issue has 10 scientific papers which describe the scientific and technical basis that underpins the Louisiana's Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast (2012 Master Plan) which was published in early 2012. These two documents are similar in length (Master Plan = 190 pp. vs.

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The use of symbols in the various conceptual diagrams that the Integration and Application Network staff have been employing as part of science communication taps an ancient and effective communication technique. Symbols are universal, transcending cultural and language barriers, as demonstrated by the global adoption of the IAN symbol libraries. I recently experienced two examples of the development and utilization of IAN symbols which shed light on the symbols that we employ.

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