‘Environmental literacy‘ series … As part of the Integration and Application Network’s collaboration with the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia Resource Facility (PRF) and the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) in the development of an Ecosystem Health Report Card for Laguna de Bay, the seven environmental literacy for Laguna de Bay are listed:

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This summer, I was given the great opportunity to be involved in the development of the first IAN report card in my home country. Last June 1-3 2015, Dave Nemazie and Simon Costanzo joined me in the Philippines to help facilitate the Second Workshop on the Development of Ecosystem Health Report Card for Laguna de Bay.

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Even before Charles Darwin wrote about coral reef atolls in his 1842 “The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs,” humans have been fascinated by coral reefs. Corals and coral reefs are connected to the spiritual rituals of indigenous populations. They also provide food, shelter, and support livelihoods (through fishing and ecotourism) of many people around the world. Charles Darwin’s 1842 map of coral reef distribution. Current coral reef distribution. Credit:

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Re-engineering the Mississippi River presents political as well as technical challenges. Advances in technology since the beginning of the industrial revolution have transformed both transportation along the Mississippi River and the river itself. The invention of the paddlewheel steamboat in the early 1800s offered a radical advance over previous, more primitive modes of river transportation. By the 1830s, steamboats regularly moved people and goods along the Mississippi and its tributaries.

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On Friday, June 19th, Judy O’Neil, Suzi Spitzer and I had our final exciting stop on a three-day trip to New York City that so far had been lively, productive, and engaging. This was the day of the inaugural BOP STEM Symposium out at Governors Island, what was to be a massive gathering of middle and high school students, teachers, and partners on the STEM project. This event helped to finally put some faces (all smiles) to the work that we have been doing over the past few months.

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On June 17th and 18th, Judy O’Neil, Simon Costanzo, Suzi Spitzer and I traveled north to New York City to attend a series of meetings and events leading up to the inaugural Billion Oyster Project Symposium. This very productive trip will be split into two blog posts, one for the first two days of events, talks, and meetings, and another for the official Billion Oyster Project Science, Technology,Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Symposium on Friday, June 19th.

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I had the unique opportunity to discuss report cards with a couple of global crocodile experts based in Darwin. Grahame Webb and Charlie Manolis are active in crocodile management and conservation globally, and operate Crocodylus Park in Darwin, a crocodile farm and research facility. Grahame is chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Crocodile Specialist Group, and Charlie is Chief Scientist at Crocodylus Park.

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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) The King of Cambodia is an elected monarch, making Cambodia one of the few elected monarchies of the world. Credit: Simon Costanzo … Wow, my travel adventures through our new partnership with WWF continue in 2015 with a trip to Cambodia in south-east Asia.

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On June 8, 2015 the Integration & Application Network and its many partners held two simultaneous press conferences to announce the inaugural Long Island Sound report card. I traveled to Glen Cove with Alex Fries while Caroline Donovan and Suzi Spitzer were in Westport, Connecticut. Suzi and Alex previously posted blogs about these press conferences. Long Island Sound report card team gathered together in Newark, NJ Ironbound District following the report card releases:

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On June 7th, Caroline Donovan, Bill Dennison, Suzi Spitzer, and I traveled to New York and Connecticut to release the Long Island Sound Report Card. In addition to the overall report card, we also released two embayment report cards, the Norwalk Harbor Report Card, and the Inner Hempstead Harbor Report Card. After picking up a second rental car, Bill and I continued on to Glen Cove, NY for the release on the southern side of the Sound.

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