The Integration and Application Network held a retreat at the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center on the shores of Chesapeake Bay's Eastern Shore. The venue was spectacular, with views across marshes and open water in a sustainable building that included bamboo flooring, solar power, and skylights. Front row (L to R): Madeline Kelsey, Richard Tian, Rebecca Murphy, Jane Thomas, Zach Friedman, Caroline Wicks; Middle row (L to R):

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As an experiment in producing short videos describing Integration and Application Network products, we developed a video for the first eBook produced by IAN. The book is titled 'Dancing with Dugongs: Having fun and developing a practical philosophy for environmental teaching and research'. We shot this video on a chilly spring day on the Choptank River and Ali Schwaab, our Science a communication intern, edited the video to include various graphics from the book to appear as I was talking.

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I attended the Chesapeake Bay Executive Council meeting at the Maryland State House on 16 June 2014, followed by the press conference event for the signing of the new Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement on City Dock, Annapolis. Chesapeake Bay Executive Council meeting in Maryland State House … Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement event at City Dock, Annapolis.

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As part of the biennial gathering of Cooperative Ecosystems Study Unit (CESU) council members and directors at the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) near Shepardstown, West Virginia, the Integration and Application Network received the National CESU award for contributions to the national CESU network. This award was announced by Dr. Tom Fish, National Coordinator of the CESU network, as part of his State of the CESU address, and I accepted the award on behalf of the IAN team.

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As part of the Mississippi River report card process, we held a workshop at the Mayo Hotel in Tulsa, Oklahoma to discuss the Arkansas and Red River basins. I adapted the Rogers and Hammerstein classic "Oklahoma" to commemorate our workshop. Based on some karaoke singing in the evening of the first day of the workshop, we discovered some (not a lot, but some) singing talent within our group. We prevailed upon these karaoke singers to form a trio known as "J.D. and the River Rats".

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I attended the 2014 River Rally which was held in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My main reason for attending was to scope out this gathering as the appropriate venue to create the North American Riverprize. The International Riverfoundation which awards the Theiss International Riverprize every year at the International Riversymposium. The concept that has been gaining momentum over the past several years is to have a series of regional Riverprizes:

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‘Environmental literacy‘ series … The seven environmental literacy principles for the Missouri River are the following: • The Missouri River is the longest tributary (2,300 miles) of the Mississippi River. • Navigation on the Missouri River is supported by a series of levees and dikes from the mouth to Sioux City, Iowa, about 760 miles. • A series of reservoirs north of Sioux City on the Missouri River serves multiple uses.

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Along with Caroline Wicks from the Integration and Application Network, I attended the release of the 2013 Baltimore Harbor report card on 28 May. The Integration and Application Network team developed the initial report card a couple of years ago, working closely with the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore and Blue Water Baltimore and still provide data analysis support for the Baltimore Harbor report card.

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'Environmental literacy' series … The seven environmental literacy principles for the Upper Mississippi River are the following: • The Upper Mississippi River is regulated with a series of locks and dams, extending from St. Louis, IL to Minneapolis, MN. • The Upper Mississippi River watershed includes forests and lakes in the northern regions and corn/soy croplands in the southern regions.

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The 2013 Chesapeake Bay report card provides an important insight into how stormwater runoff affects the Bay. The contrast between the Upper Eastern Shore report card scores which are degrading over time versus the James River report card scores which are improving over time provides important insights. Both regions experienced intense rainfall in 2013, yet the report card scores responded differently.

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