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.

Read more

The Indian River Lagoon Map. Credit: Jane Thomas

Indian River Lagoon: Environmental Literacy

Bill Nuttle ·
12 February 2016
Environmental Literacy | Learning Science |     1 comments

The concept of environmental literacy derives from a series of programs that have established various literacy principles, for example, Ocean Literacy and Chesapeake Bay literacy. Literacy principles form the framework, but it is the richness of examples, stories and visual supporting materials that enliven the understanding of our environment. The seven principles that an informed person needs to know about the Indian River Lagoon are:

Read more

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.

Read more

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.

Read more

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.

Read more

Roadtrip!

There’s a track winding back to Stung Treng, Cambodia

Simon Costanzo ·
12 January 2016
Environmental Report Cards | Applying Science |     1 comments

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) In October 2015, I made the great journey back to Cambodia for my second time that year. I love the trip there as you get to fly right over the North Pole and see icebergs! I think I mentioned that already in my previous blog about Cambodia.

Read more

Narratives are effective in communicating science to non-experts. Credit: Narrative Lab

The importance of narrative in science communication

Bill Dennison ·
8 January 2016
Science Communication | Applying Science | Learning Science |     1 comments

I recently posted a blog about Randy Olson's new book, "Houston, we have a narrative: Why science needs story". I contacted Randy about his book and learned that he is experiencing push back from some quarters, including some scientists. I would like to point out that Randy is not the only person to promote the importance of narrative in science communication.

Read more

Randy Olson’s new book: “Houston, We Have a Narrative”

Bill Dennison ·
5 January 2016
Science Communication | Applying Science |     1 comments

Randy Olson has really knocked a home run with his latest book, “Houston, we have a narrative: Why science needs story”. Randy’s previous book, “Don’t be such a scientist: Talking substance in an age of style” does a good job defining the problem that most scientists have in communicating complex ideas to wide audiences.

Read more