The steady rise in the number of people who have registered and downloaded the IAN symbol and image libraries has continued since they were first posted online in 2003. The number of users is currently in excess of 75,000 people, from all 50 U.S. states and virtually every country in the world.

Read more

Standing on the coral rubble of a small cay in the Great Barrier Reef (Lady Elliot Island) is a biophilia experience. Biophilia, defined as 'love of life', is an appreciation that everything that you see and touch on the coral cay is created from living things.

Read more

I participated in a week long seagrass working group meeting at the Moreton Bay Research Station on North Stradbroke Island. The working group meeting was sponsored by the Australian Centre for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (ACEAS) modeled after the U.S.-based National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS). ACEAS is run by Associate Professor Alison Specht and is part of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN), chaired by Professor Andrew Campbell.

Read more

On March 18th and 19th, nine teachers and principals traveled from the far corners of the Australian continent to join the U.S.--Australia Virtual Environmental Partnership. The workshop was held in a very nice conference facility at the Sinclair Knight Merz headquarters in the Southbank area of Brisbane. SKM is a large multinational consulting company specializing in water related issues, and Simon Costanzo, IAN Science Integrator worked at SKM immediately prior to joining IAN.

Read more

Conceptual diagrams are 'thought drawings' that use symbols to convey meaningful ecological information. The IAN symbol library was created in order that more people would be able to produce conceptual diagrams. Between the Marine Botany Group at the University of Queensland and the IAN team, the Science Communicators have produced over a thousand conceptual diagrams that have been used in scientific papers, books, newsletters, fact sheets, posters, and websites.

Read more

New ways of looking at data promise to give a clearer picture of the effects of restoration in the ecosystem. People have worked hard to bring the Chesapeake Bay back to health. Yet, why is it so difficult to see the results? The IAN program’s Chesapeake Bay Report Card for 2011 gives the bay a D+.

Read more

I traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for a two day workshop at the relatively new, The Water Institute of the Gulf (of Mexico). I have been to Baton Rouge several times over the past few years, most recently to work with the State of Louisiana's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority on the 2012 Master Plan. My role in that project was co-chair of the Science and Engineering Board. The other co-chair on that Board is now the CEO of the Water Institute, Dr. Chip Croat.

Read more

This is the sixth and final blog post in a series which celebrates the IAN symbol library by highlighting some of the most interesting symbols. Previous blog posts have focused on marine flora and fauna, birds, trees and animals. This blog post focuses on human aspects, with human structures and people themselves. 1. The symbol of a teacher reflects one of the developments of the IAN symbol library.

Read more

The IAN team (Simon Costanzo, Bill Dennison, Jane Thomas and Brianne Walsh) traveled to Prince William Forest Park for a workshop on 8 March 2013 with National Park Service staff. IAN is initiating a new series of Natural Resource Condition Assessments for the National Capital Region of the National Park Service.

Read more

We conducted our first workshop with 8 high school science teachers from around the U.S. to initiate a virtual environmental partnership. This initiative is called USAUS-H2O, and will be officially launched on World Water Day, 22 March 2013. The intent of the program is to educate and inform responsible stewardship of water resources between U.S. and Australian student teams through an interactive-virtual partnership.

Read more