The stage is set for the

Scrooge and the Report Card

Bill Dennison ·
17 January 2017
Environmental Report Cards | Science Communication | 

At the conclusion of a 9-11 Nov. 2016 workshop in Annapolis titled "Integrating systems modeling and report card development to improve basin health & manage trade-offs". I was able to convince the participants to act out a play that I wrote for the occasion. The play was entitled "Scrooge and the Report Card", loosely based on the classic "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. The list of actors was the following:

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Orinoco River Report Card cover.

IAN's first report card in South America: the Orinoco River Basin

Alexandra Fries ·
26 July 2016
Environmental Report Cards |     3 comments

This blog is part of the Basin Report Card Initiative: a partnership between the World Wide Fund (WWF) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) The Orinoco River Basin report card was released on July 6th, 2016 in Bogota, Colombia. This is the first report card in South America, and the first report card developed as a part of the partnership between WWF and UMCES.

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Wooden boats guide tourists on the Mekong River in search of Irrawaddy dolphins. Photo: Brianne Walsh

Talking report cards in Kratie, Cambodia

Brianne Walsh ·
9 May 2016
Environmental Report Cards | Science Communication | Applying Science | 

This blog is part of the Basin Report Card Initiative: a partnership between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) In March, Simon Costanzo and I traveled to Cambodia for the third workshop in the Linked Indicators for Vital Ecosystem Services (LIVES) Project, an initiative of the Luc Hoffman Institute. This five-day workshop brought us to the province of Kratie, a five-hour drive north of the capital, Phnom Penh.

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The five reporting regions for the Long Island Sound Report Card

How environmental report cards can democratize science

Bill Dennison ·
16 March 2016
Environmental Report Cards | Science Communication | 

This blog is part of the Basin Report Card Initiative: a partnership between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) The word democracy has its origins in a Greek word from the 5th century B.C. Democracy is formed by combining "demos" meaning "the people" with "kratia" meaning "power". Literally translated as power by the people, democracy is the foundation of the modern western political systems.

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Andrew Elmore's illustration on how to measure altitude.

Using report cards to get the synoptic big picture: An astronaut's view

Bill Dennison ·
10 March 2016
Environmental Report Cards | Science Communication | Applying Science | 

This blog is part of the Basin Report Card Initiative: a partnership between theWorld Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) One of the attributes of report cards that is particularly useful is the ability to view a whole system synoptically. We often refer to this synoptic view as analogous to flying over at a high altitude.

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Brainstorming strategies to overcome report card success.

Using Conceptionary to initiate discussion on barriers for implementing report cards

Bill Dennison ·
26 January 2016
Environmental Report Cards | Science Communication | Applying Science | 

This blog is part of the Basin Report Card Initiative: a partnership between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) As part of our Integration and Application Network (IAN), University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), we held a one day workshop on 7 May 2015 in Annapolis.

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WWF booth. Photo credit: Catherine Blancard

Get the grade - Worldwide WWF-IAN partnership launches in Stockholm

Simon Costanzo ·
27 October 2015
Environmental Report Cards | Science Communication | 

This blog is part of the Basin Report Card Initiative: a partnership between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) Our partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was officially launched at World Water Week this past August 2015. This new partnership aims to widen the audience and uptake of report cards as an environmental management tool for river basins around the world.

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Many participants joined us for the workshop from a range of areas throughout the Guaviare River Basin.

Guaviare River Report Card Workshop

Alexandra Fries ·
15 October 2015
Environmental Report Cards | 

This blog is part of the Basin Report Card Initiative: a partnership between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) On September 21st, 2015, Simon Costanzo and I traveled to San Jose de Guaviare, Colombia for the Guaviare River Report Card Workshop. This was the third workshop in Colombia to develop report cards for three tributaries of the Orinoco River.

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Three rivers meet in Puerto Carreño, from left to right, the Meta, Orinoco, and Bita Rivers.

Bita River Report Card Workshop - The Orinoco River Basin, Colombia

Alexandra Fries ·
16 September 2015
Environmental Report Cards | Science Communication | Applying Science | 

This blog is part of the Basin Report Card Initiative: a partnership between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) On August 9th, 2015, Simon Costanzo and I traveled from Bogota, Colombia to Puerto Carreño, Vichada, Colombia for the Bita River Report Card Workshop. This was the second of three workshops that will occur in Colombia, to develop report cards for three tributaries of the Orinoco River.

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The lakes surrounding Puerto Lopez, Colombia.

The Meta River Report Card Workshop - The Orinoco River Basin, Colombia

Alexandra Fries ·
23 July 2015
Environmental Report Cards | Science Communication |     1 comments

This blog is part of the Basin Report Card Initiative: a partnership between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) On June 29th, 2015, Simon Costanzo and I traveled from Bogota, Colombia to Puerto Lopez, Colombia for the Meta River Report Card Workshop. The workshop spanned from June 30th-July 2nd, and was the first of three workshops that will occur in Colombia, to develop report cards for three tributaries of the Orinoco River.

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