The Integration and Application Network (IAN) has been trying to evolve its work so that its societal impact can go beyond science communication and integration. Our recent delve into transdisciplinary science necessitates that we not only incorporate its concepts into our work but that we explore and adapt tools currently being used in the field.

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On 20 September 2018 on Fager’s Island, Ocean City, MD, the tenth annual Maryland Coastal Bays report card was released. The Integration and Application Network, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (IAN UMCES) has been partnering with the Maryland Coastal Bays Program, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and the National Park Service to produce report cards for the coastal lagoons that separate Fenwick and Assateague Islands from the mainland.

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Bill Dennison and I traveled to Boston, Massachusetts on September 12-14 to teach a one-day course, titled “Communicating Science Effectively”, for U.S. EPA Region 1 staff at their office in downtown Boston. There were about 25 participants. All were EPA employees, but their specialties and roles ranged from environmental scientist, drinking water specialist, biologist, physical scientist, risk assessor, enforcement officer to environmental engineer.

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At IAN we are constantly invested in various transdisciplinary projects. Transdisciplinary projects partner interdisciplinary research teams with stakeholders outside of academia to synthesize diverse knowledge and experience and generate novel insights on a particular topic. For example, when IAN develops report cards, our Science Integrators and Communicators work with partners to synthesize relevant information on a specific ecosystem and then communicate key messages to a targeted audience.

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Three years ago, IAN began a national-scale effort with the USGS National Climate Adaptation Science Center (NCASC) to synthesize the impacts of ecological drought across the country. Workshops were held at each of the nation's eight regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers covering the following regions: Alaska, Pacific Islands, Northwest, Southwest, North Central, South Central, Northeast, and Southeast.

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During the opening ceremony of the Sunbelt Social Network Conference that I attended last June (you can read my conference experience here), the article “Twenty years of Network Science” was mentioned. It emphasized the 20 years since Watts and Strogatz introduced the ‘small-world’ model of networks, which initially was viewed only as the explanation for the popular social network idea of Six degrees of Separation.

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Scientific illustration is a beautiful form of science communication. The goal of scientific illustration is to accurately depict and teach scientific concepts. Illustrations can be created traditionally or digitally and are generally highly rendered – not to mention stunning – works of scientific art. These images are as informative as they are captivating. Insects and Opossum in Poison Ivy, by Robin Brickman.

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It makes me cringe a little to remember the debriefing that followed our May workshop on the Everglades report card project. The IAN team was complimented for keeping the project on track. “Great job at herding cats,” they said, referring to our ability keeping a meeting of scientists on track. There was just one loose thread that needed to be tidied up. But, then the “cats” got hold of it, and for a moment it seemed that things might unravel.

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The Tennessee River Basin Report Card was released in February this year. It was made possible in large part because of feedback the IAN team solicited during the Tennessee River Basin Planning Network (TRBN) meeting in Chattanooga, Tennessee in August, 2017. Discussions we had at that meeting decided several issues related to the report card scope and detail that carried through to the finished product.

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Last June 26th-July 1st, 2018, I had the opportunity to attend and present at the 38th International Sunbelt Social Network Conference in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The Sunbelt Conference is the official conference of the International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA), the foremost professional academic association of researchers and practitioners of social network analysis (SNA).

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