Top: Guam's location. Photo credit: Google Maps. Bottom: hotels dot the shoreline around along the northwest coast of Guam. Photo credit: Alex Fries

The first thing people ask: Where is Guam, anyway?

Caroline Donovan ·
17 March 2017
Environmental Report Cards | 

Guam is in the western Pacific Ocean, approximately equidistant from Tokyo (north), Manila (west), and Papua New Guinea (south). And, on January 28th, Heath Kelsey, Alex Fries, and I traveled to Guam from Hawaii. Guam is a U.S. territory and is one island in the chain of islands that make up the Mariana archipelago. Guam has a population of approximately 165,000, but with several military bases and a strong tourism business, the number of people on the island can fluctuate significantly. Top:

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Susi Moser facilitating the Transdisciplinary workshop. Photo credit: Bill Dennison

Talking about Transdisciplinary research in Paris

Bill Dennison ·
14 March 2017
Science Communication | 

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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Flying from Guam to Saipan, we passed over Rota. Photo credit: Alex Fries

Meet Saipan, one of America’s forgotten territories

Alexandra Fries ·
13 March 2017
Environmental Report Cards | 

On February 1st 2017, Heath Kelsey, Caroline Donovan, and I traveled from Guam to our last stop on the Pacific Islands trip, Saipan. Saipan is an island in the Mariana Archipelago, and is part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a US territory. Saipan, Rota, and Tinian are the only islands currently inhabited in the Marianas. Flying from Guam to Saipan, we passed over Rota. Photo credit:

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Left to Right: Antoine Lavoiser's portrait painted in 1788, available from: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/David_-_Portrait_of_Monsieur_Lavoisier_and_His_Wife.jpg. Antoine Lavoisier's laboratory equipment exhibit in the Musee des Arts et Metiers. Photo credit: Bill Dennison

On the trail of iconic Parisian scientists

Bill Dennison ·
7 March 2017
Science Communication | 

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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An index of problem difficulty matched with best research approaches. Diagram credit: Modified from nature. com by Emily Nastase

Transdisciplinary literacy: Seven principles that help define transdisciplinary research

Bill Dennison ·
6 March 2017
Science Communication |     3 comments

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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Left to Right: Scientists from the Northwest Climate Science Center discussing environmental issues on the eastern side of the cascades, a diagram of strong and weak points in scientific knowledge regarding climate transitions, and a diagram of strong and weak points in scientific knowledge regarding hydrology east of the Cascades. Photo Credit: Brianne Walsh

Ecodrought on the east side of the Pacific Northwest

Bill Dennison ·
27 February 2017
Applying Science | 

Simon Costanzo, Brianne Walsh and I traveled to Boise, Idaho for a second workshop with scientists from the Pacific Northwest Climate Science Center. Our first workshop, held in Portland, Oregon, focused on the issues west of the Cascades, and this second workshop focused on issues east of the Cascades. We heard about the three 'W's (wounded wetlands and water rights), the three 'F's (forests, fires and fish) and the three 'A's (acclimation, adaptation and assemblages).

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vegetation serving as a guardian.

The Chesapeake Sentinels

Bill Dennison ·
13 February 2017
Science Communication | Learning Science | 

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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Third SAV SYN workshop at the new University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science office in Annapolis, MD. Credit: Suzi Spitzer

Lessons on how to synthesize science

Bill Dennison ·
6 February 2017
Applying Science | Learning Science | 

We recently completed our third SAV SYN workshop, which is an effort to synthesize (SYN) data related to the submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) of Chesapeake Bay. We have been analyzing a variety of data sets to better understand how SAV are responding to changes in the Bay and to understand what we can infer about the progress of Bay restoration activities. This effort is proving to be a productive collaboration among 15 scientists from 5 different institutions.

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