Blog posts by Bill Dennison
Bill Dennison presenting at the workshop

Trip to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; 29 March 2010

Bill Dennison ·
30 March 2010
Applying Science | 

"Perspectives on NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Data and Modeling for Chesapeake Bay Research and Applications" workshop … NASA scientists initiated a meeting with Chesapeake Bay scientists to compare the remote sensing needs for Chesapeake Bay research, monitoring, modeling and management with the capabilities that NASA remote sensing programs can provide.

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Walter Boynton giving his seminar

Discussion following Walter Boynton seminar on Corsica River estuary restoration

Bill Dennison ·
30 March 2010
Learning Science | 

This blog post discusses the seminar given by Dr Walter Boynton, of the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, at the IAN Seminar Series on March 25, 2010. If agricultural nutrient management activities like cover crops were instituted, how long would it take to see an effect in the estuary? Time lags were a topic of much discussion regarding the potential delay in restoration progress due to long groundwater residence times.

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Discussion following Sara Powell seminar on Getting out of the Lake and into the Watershed: a study of volunteer monitoring efforts, water quality, and community outreach

Bill Dennison ·
30 March 2010
Learning Science | 

This blog post discusses the seminar given by Sara Powell, of the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, at the IAN Seminar Series on February 25, 2010. The issue of what constitutes a citizen scientist was discussed, and several issues regarding data quality assurance were raised. The turnover of different citizen scientists means that ongoing training was necessary. Mechanisms to cull bad data are needed with citizen scientist groups.

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Hold that Thought

Is Science Communication an art?

Bill Dennison ·
28 March 2010
Science Communication | 

A publication by Oregon Sea Grant in 2008 entitled "Hold That Thought!: Questioning five common assumptions about communicating with the public" by Joe Cone presents as one of the myths "Science communication is an art". Integration and Application Network (IAN) staff often introduce science communication principles and examples by using the title "Zen and the Art of Science Communication" which does infer that there is an art to science communication.

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Recommendations by the 'Friends of the Bay' to enhance Chesapeake Bay restoration featured in the Annapolis Capital

Friends of the Bay go to Washington, D.C.

Bill Dennison ·
21 March 2010
Applying Science | 

A group of concerned former politicians, scientists and riverkeepers converged on federal agencies in Washington, D.C. to discuss Chesapeake Bay restoration. This loosely associated group has been convened by Gerald Winegrad, a former Maryland state senator from Annapolis, and currently totals 38 people. The group includes two former Maryland governors, a former U.S. senator, former U.S. congressman.

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IAN staff with local experts from various Virginia state agencies and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Colonial National Historic Park visit

Bill Dennison ·
15 March 2010
Applying Science | 

A team from the Integration and Application Network traveled to Colonial National Historical Park on March 10-11 to initiate a Natural Resources Condition Assessment process over the next 18-24 months. The visit included a meeting with park personnel at the Yorktown Battlefield Visitors Center, followed by a tour of the entire park on the first day, and on the second day, we held a mini-symposium at the Virginia Commonwealth University's Rice Center on the James River.

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Conceptual diagram detailing best management practices around Chesapeake Bay.

Hello, my name is Chesapeake Bay, and I have a nutrient problem

Bill Dennison ·
4 March 2010
Applying Science | 

I am a member of Nutrients Anonymous or NA; a fellowship of waterbodies who share their experiences, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others. Nutrients Anonymous is not allied with any denomination, politics, organization or institution. The primary purpose of the Chesapeake Bay chapter of Nutrients Anonymous is to restore Chesapeake Bay.

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IAN has produced several tributary report cards based on citizen science monitoring programs.

Citizen Science Programs

Bill Dennison ·
25 February 2010
Environmental Report Cards | 

Environmental monitoring is extremely expensive with recurring costs. In addition to supporting a field effort, the analytical costs of processing samples and the data entry, quality assurance and analyses incurs costs. Even if the labor intensive field sampling is reduced through remote sensors and automated sampling, the task of processing the data is not diminished.

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