For nearly two decades, our suite of tidal bay indicators for the Chesapeake Bay & Watershed Report Card has been limited to water quality and biotic indicators. As part of our report card expansion process, we are taking the compiled responses from past engagement events and connecting with experts that can provide better insight about specific indicators, data availability, and thresholds for the tidal bay area. Our first workshop focused on ecological tidal indicators and was the first step towards creating a more holistic report card.

At a press conference held by UMCES IAN at Daingerfield Island’s Washington Sailing Marina, the annual Chesapeake Bay and Watershed Report Card was unveiled. Alongside the Chesapeake report card, a Potomac River and Watershed Report Card was unveiled for the first time as a part of the Belmont Forum COAST Card Project. Read more about the new elements included within the report card, and what the 2022 grades have to tell us!

Earlier this month, Bill, Katie May, Vanessa, and I travelled to Portland, Oregon to attend the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) conference from March 19-23. We were all excited for the opportunity to learn from researchers and practitioners who work in the social sciences, and to absorb new ideas and approaches that will help us enhance IAN’s capacity to do work that spans natural and social science disciplines.

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.