The Spotlight on National Park Resources is a biennial meeting between the National Park Service (NPS) Natural Resources and Cultural Resources sectors of the National Capital Region (NCR). The intent of this meeting is to build bridges between the two (often very separate) departments of NPS by highlighting various projects and accomplishments of each and sharing how this information can inform resource management.

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Science communication professionals at IAN regularly assume the roles of teachers when we develop semester-long courses, create science communication products intended to inform and engage diverse audiences, and facilitate collaborative workshops on a variety of topics all over the world.

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Brianne Walsh and I traveled to Boston, MA to teach “Killer graphics and compelling narratives” at Northeastern University to an audience ranging from undergraduate and graduate students, to very experienced scientists. While most of the 36 participants were scientists, there were also representatives from the policy, communications, and journalism sectors as well.

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This April, I was fortunate to work with The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) China Program on options for assessing watershed health. The project, sponsored by the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau in Shaanxi Province, aims to develop a tool to assess the health of small watershed areas restored by the Bureau in Shaanxi Province. Shaanxi is located in Northwest China and is home to tributaries of the Yangtze River to the South and Yellow River to the north and east.

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This April, I was fortunate to work with my Chinese colleagues and visit a number of locations along the Chishui River, a major tributary of the Yangtze River in China. This new project, funded by the Asian Development Bank, is aimed at strengthening the “River Chief” system and improving the overall health of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

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Aquanauts Bruce Nyden, Bill Dennison, Susan Williams and Chuck Gross (L-R) at Smithsonian Institution, Natural History Museum reception standing in front of Hydrolab display. The year was 1984. Ronald Reagan was running for President against Walter Mondale. The Summer Olympics were held in Los Angeles. Michael Jackson’s Thriller album topped the charts and Ghostbusters was the summer blockbuster movie.

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The recent news that my good friend and colleague Susan Williams was killed in a car accident on her way to give a lecture felt like a punch to my stomach. I was amazed, but upon reflection, not surprised at the amount of deep sentiment that this news provoked with my colleagues. Susan was a wonderful colleague in many ways to many people. She was a great mentor to many students and provided real support and encouragement. Susan was also a leader and a great role model for women scientists.

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As part of the Future Earth Coasts workshop in Cork, Ireland, I ended each day of the two and a half day workshop with a song. At the end of Day 1, the song I adapted was “Danny Boy,” a classic Irish folk song. I substituted the names of the co-chairs of Future Earth Coasts, Valerie Cummins from University College Cork and Bruce Glavovic from Massey University, New Zealand, for Danny Boy. The reference to Glenn is Glenn Page from SustainaMetrix.

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Bill Dennison and I visited Cork, Ireland at University College Cork from March 26-28 to help facilitate a discussion among Regionals Seas Leadership, Future Earth Coasts, and United Nations Environment. Our goal was to help outline a new collaborative process to enhance the transition to more sustainable coasts.

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On April 6th-7th, 2018, I attended the Atlantic Estuarine Research Society (AERS) annual spring conference in Rehoboth Beach, DE. AERs was the first estuarine scientific society created, and this conference marked the 70th anniversary of its founding. Citing a need for communication among associates in the coastal regions of the Chesapeake and Carolinas, the first AERS meeting was held in April 1949 in Morehead City, NC.

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