Wandering through StoneTown, Sniffing the frying octopus, Admiring the elegant burkas, Zanzibar seems like a dream. Wading out to seaweed farms, Laughing with the monkeys, Feeding the sea turtles, Zanzibar seems like a dream. Meeting with villagers, Stopping at checkpoints, Smelling different spices, Zanzibar seems like a dream. Watching the Dhows drift in, Dancing under the stars, Relaxing by the pool, Zanzibar seems like a dream.

Read more

The workshop in Zanzibar was organized by a group of Swedish and African scientists. The role of our Integration and Application Network Science Communicators Kate Bentsen and Jane Hawkey, working with Guiseppe DiCarlo from Conservation International and myself, was to develop some training exercises and to produce a couple of science communication newsletters in a collaborative manner with workshop participants.

Read more

Zanzibar airport was a scene, as we crowded into a small room to painstakingly fill out forms for our missing bags. The forms had to be filled out by hand with several carbon copies by a fellow at the airport as we attempted to communicate the changes in our itinerary. Missing our bags also led to a shopping adventure which we undertook once we checked into the hotel and had a shower.

Read more

Along with Jane Hawkey and Kate Bentsen, we had an Interesting trip from Washington DC. Late leaving Dulles in route to London, slow trip across Atlantic due to head winds, and upon landing, we waited for a long time for buses to shuttle us to a far away terminal. We were met by a British Airlines agent who gave us a red card to display so that we could get to the front of the lines, but when we went to the security check in, they informed us that our flight had closed.

Read more

I was asked by Stuart Clarke, Executive Director of Town Creek Foundation, to participate in an energy panel associated with the third annual Chesapeake Film Festival. The panel was held at the historic Avalon Theatre in downtown Easton, Maryland, immediately following the film "On Coal River". Previously during the festival, two additional films were screened, "A Sea Change" and "Gasland", which were also included in the panel discussion.

Read more

Shari Wilson, the Maryland Secretary for Environment for the past four years announced that she is stepping down, and she recently attended her final BayStat meeting. At the end of the meeting, Governor O'Malley presented her with a proclamation declaring Shari Wilson "Admiral of The Chesapeake Bay". Shari Wilson and Governor O'Malley … At a gathering following the BayStat meeting, Secretary of Natural Resources John Griffin presented Shari with a beautiful print.

Read more

This blog post discusses the seminar given by Don Weller of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), at the IAN Seminar Series on October 28, 2010. The variable proportion of nitrate removed by riparian buffers in the different physiographic regions was noted in the discussion. Also noted was the relative constancy of the absolute amount of nitrate removed by riparian buffers (~10 mg/L) in all physiographic regions.

Read more

This blog post discusses the seminar given by Margaret Palmer of the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, at the IAN Seminar Series on September 30, 2010. This seminar was presented by Dr. Margaret Palmer, but both Drs. Palmer and Wainger participated in the discussion following the seminar. The issue that measuring the effectiveness of restoration projects is fundamentally different than tracking ecosystem health through monitoring efforts was discussed.

Read more

Dr. Dick Zimmerman, my colleague at Old Dominion University, informed me today that Randy Alberte had passed away as a result of a long bout with cancer. Randy was my PhD advisor at The University of Chicago and Randy provided me the unique opportunity to pursue my interests in photosynthesis, marine biology and science in a wonderful laboratory at a great university conducting my research in one of my favorite places on the planet, Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Read more

Chesapeake Bay and Maryland Sea Grant has had the good fortune to have Jack Greer writing, facilitating and building consensus for the past 31 years. Jack has elegantly written numerous intelligent, thoughtful and insightful articles on Chesapeake Bay issues, with personal knowledge gathered by frequently poking around the Bay on his sailboat. He is widely respected as a scholarly, approachable and kind man.

Read more