Blog posts by Bill Dennison
2017 Maryland Coastal Bays Report Card.

Maryland Coastal Bays report card gets a B- for the first time

Bill Dennison ·
28 September 2018
Environmental Report Cards | 

On 20 September 2018 on Fager’s Island, Ocean City, MD, the tenth annual Maryland Coastal Bays report card was released. The Integration and Application Network, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (IAN UMCES) has been partnering with the Maryland Coastal Bays Program, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and the National Park Service to produce report cards for the coastal lagoons that separate Fenwick and Assateague Islands from the mainland.

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From Left to right Peter Goodwin, Bob

2017 Chesapeake Bay report card release

Bill Dennison ·
12 July 2018
Environmental Report Cards | Science Communication |     1 comments

We held a press conference for the release of the 2017 Chesapeake Bay report card on 15 June 2018 on the Potomac River. We used the Hyatt Hotel as the press conference venue in a new development on the Wharf area of Washington, D.C. It was a great venue in that it showcased the social and economic opportunities that a clean waterway can afford. There were new water taxis plying the river, floating wetlands alongside a nice pier, and lots of restaurants and pubs along the waterfront.

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Rich Batiuk. Image credit Chesapeake Bay Program.

Rich Batiuk’s retirement from the Chesapeake Bay Program

Bill Dennison ·
28 June 2018

Rich Batiuk retired after 33 years at the Chesapeake Bay Program and many of his colleagues gathered at a party, hosted by Beth McGee, at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for a series of skits, songs, and speeches honoring Rich. There was a huge turnout. Bob Orth, Ken Moore, and I represented the Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) team that Rich has interacted with for three decades. We witnessed some amazing singing by Roy Hoagland, Emily Trentacoste and Matt Johnson.

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State of the Coast conference room during a break. Image credit James Currie.

Maryland’s inaugural State of the Coast conference

Bill Dennison ·
26 June 2018

The Maryland state agencies initiated the inaugural "Maryland State of the Coast: Connecting People, Innovation and Opportunity" conference from May 21-23, 2018. This conference brought scientists, resource managers and practitioners together to discuss the coastal issues in Maryland. The conference was held at the Hyatt in Cambridge on the Choptank River. State of the Coast conference room during a break. Image credit James Currie. Bill Dennison and Don Boesch listening at the conference.

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SAV panel being introduced by Larry Sanford. Left to right: Jon Lefcheck, Cassie Gurbisz, Bill Dennison, Bob Orth, Larry Sanford. Image credit Dave Jasinski

Seagrass recovery in Chesapeake Bay: A success for Chesapeake Bay research and restoration

Bill Dennison ·
20 June 2018
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Raleigh Hood asked Bob “JJ” Orth, Jon Lefcheck, Cassie Gurbisz and me to conduct a panel presentation and discussion at the 2018 Chesapeake Research and Modeling Symposium. This conference, sponsored by the Chesapeake Research Consortium, NOAA and the National Science Foundation, was held in Annapolis on 12-14 June 2018. Larry Sanford was the panel moderator and JJ, Jon, Cassie and I jointly presented the results of our Submerged Aquatic Vegetation synthesis (SAV SYN) team.

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Drought workshop participants discussing ecosystem impacts of droughts. Image credit James Currie.

Discussing island drought in Puerto Rico Part II

Bill Dennison ·
14 June 2018
Science Communication | 

I briefly summarized the workshop by highlighting the components of scale that were discussed in relation to island drought: spatial scale, temporal scale and complexity scale. In terms of spatial scale, we had discussions of global influences on island drought: El Niño/Southern Oscillation, North Atlantic Oscillation and Sahara dust storms.

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Shawn Carter and Shelley Crausbay enjoying the social event Happy Hour at the end of Day 1. Image credit Bill Dennison

Discussing island drought in Puerto Rico Part I

Bill Dennison ·
12 June 2018
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We recently completed a series of eight ecological drought workshops in partnership with US Geological Survey (USGS) colleagues. These workshops were held in the following regions: Alaska, Hawaii, Northwest US, Southwest US, North Central US, South Central US, Northeast US, and Southeast US. In the Southeast workshop held in Raleigh, NC, Brent Murry who is based in Puerto Rico, highlighted the unique vulnerability of islands to drought.

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Bill Dennison and Brianne Walsh in front of Currie Student Center, Northeastern University where science communication training took place. Image credit: Bill Dennison.

Science Cafe and science communication training in Boston

Bill Dennison ·
22 May 2018
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Brianne Walsh and I traveled to Boston, MA to teach “Killer graphics and compelling narratives” at Northeastern University to an audience ranging from undergraduate and graduate students, to very experienced scientists. While most of the 36 participants were scientists, there were also representatives from the policy, communications, and journalism sectors as well.

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Aquanauts Bruce Nyden, Bill Dennison, Susan Williams and Chuck Gross (L-R) at Smithsonian Institution, Natural History Museum reception standing in front of Hydrolab display.

Pigs in Water: living underwater with Susan Williams

Bill Dennison ·
8 May 2018
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Aquanauts Bruce Nyden, Bill Dennison, Susan Williams and Chuck Gross (L-R) at Smithsonian Institution, Natural History Museum reception standing in front of Hydrolab display. The year was 1984. Ronald Reagan was running for President against Walter Mondale. The Summer Olympics were held in Los Angeles. Michael Jackson’s Thriller album topped the charts and Ghostbusters was the summer blockbuster movie.

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Susan Williams and Bill Dennison at Coastal and Estuarine Federation conference; Providence, RI; November 2017. Image credit Judy O’Neil.

My four decade friendship with Susan Williams

Bill Dennison ·
3 May 2018
   1 comments

The recent news that my good friend and colleague Susan Williams was killed in a car accident on her way to give a lecture felt like a punch to my stomach. I was amazed, but upon reflection, not surprised at the amount of deep sentiment that this news provoked with my colleagues. Susan was a wonderful colleague in many ways to many people. She was a great mentor to many students and provided real support and encouragement. Susan was also a leader and a great role model for women scientists.

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