The US Constitution (top) and map of Chesapeake Bay Watershed (bottom). Images from Flickr and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement 2014.

Developing a constitution for Chesapeake Bay

Bill Dennison ·
17 April 2015
Science Communication | Applying Science | 

At a recent roundtable discussion of approaches for accelerating Chesapeake Bay restoration, one of the participants used the phrase "We the people..." which provoked me to think of the preamble to the United States Constitution, the beginning of an amazingly robust document that still resonates today. I hope that the 2014 Chesapeake Bay and Watershed Agreement will also have longevity and resonance, so I adapted the agreement into constitutional language as follows:

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Professor Jay Zieman (1943-2015). Photo from http://www.evsc.virginia.edu/

In memory of Jay Zieman, University of Virginia seagrass ecologist

Bill Dennison ·
10 April 2015
Applying Science | Learning Science |     1 comments

Joseph "Jay" C. Zieman (1943-2015), my seagrass ecology colleague, died recently. I first met Jay in Biloxi, Mississippi in 1980 when my Master's thesis advisor C. Peter McRoy organized a workshop associated with the Seagrass Ecosystem Study, funded by the National Science Foundation as part of the International Decade of Ocean Exploration.

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Reginald V. Truitt (1890-1991)

Reginald V. Truitt in his own words: A visit to the Maryland Room archives

Bill Dennison ·
6 April 2015
Learning Science | 

Celebrating 90 years of UMCES series … Reginald V. Truitt (1890-1991) was the founder of Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in 1925, the forerunner of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES). As part of the 90th anniversary of UMCES, I have been learning about Reginald Truitt and made a visit to the Maryland Room in Hornbake Library to peruse his archived papers.

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Webstock 2015 meeting notepad and view of Chesapeake Bay from the meeting venue in Chesapeake Beach.

Webstock 2015: One day of Peace & the Internet

Bill Dennison ·
3 April 2015
Science Communication |     1 comments

I spent an enjoyable day in Chesapeake Beach overlooking the Bay in a workshop entitled 'Webstock 2015: One day of Peace & the Internet". Guy Stephens, one of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science at the Chesapeake Bay Program (UMCES @ CBP) staff organized this amazing event. I knew something was different when I heard strains of rock music as I approached the workshop site.

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Russell Train and Jeremy Testa at Fireside Chat event, Horn Point Laboratory.

Brainstorming in the Innovation Room with World Wildlife Fund

Bill Dennison ·
30 March 2015
Environmental Report Cards | Science Communication | 

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) Simon Costanzo, Alex Fries and I travelled into Washington D.C. for a brainstorming session with colleagues at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The brainstorming took place in a cozy room located in one of the far corners of the WWF office suite.

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Participants at the Great Barrier Reef Resilience Index Workshop at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia

Developing an Index of Resilience to Climate Change Impacts to the Great Barrier Reef – Workshop 3, Townsville, Australia.

Heath Kelsey ·
23 March 2015
Environmental Report Cards | 

This is part two of a three part series of blog posts about developing a reef resilience index for the Great Barrier Reef at a workshop in Townsville in March 2015 … The Great Barrier Reef Resilience Index … As part of a joint project of UMCES and Charles Darwin University, Jane Thomas, Bill Dennison and I traveled to Townsville, Australia to continue the development of the Great Barrier Reef Resilience Index.

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Eva Abal, Great Barrier Reef Foundation, providing workshop overview

Resilience based management of the Great Barrier Reef

Bill Dennison ·
19 March 2015
Applying Science | 

This is part one of a three-part series of blog posts about developing a reef resilience index for the Great Barrier Reef at a workshop in Townsville in March 2015. 'Resilience Based Management' was one of the concepts that arose during our workshop with resource managers at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority in Townsville, Australia on 2 Mar 2015.

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