Eastport and Pine Street Adaptation Report Cards
At the end of May, IAN released the first community-level adaptation report cards for the Eastport and Pine Street neighborhoods in Annapolis, MD and Cambridge, MD. These report cards used surveys to determine resilience priorities in each neighborhood and assessed the communities’ preparedness for responding to threats like extreme heat, severe weather, and flooding. The Eastport neighborhood scored a C, with more effort needed to mitigate the effect of impervious surfaces on flooding. The Pine Street neighborhood scored a D, with effort needed to reduce the community’s vulnerability to extreme heat. These report cards are available on IAN’s website and at the Eastport Yacht Club, the Harriet Tubman Freedom Center, and at events hosted by the Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation.
2025 Chesapeake Bay & Watershed Report Card
On Tuesday, June 10th, IAN released the 2025 Chesapeake Bay & Watershed Report Card at the Annapolis Maritime Museum. The release event program opened with a few words from UMCES President, Dr. Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm and featured comments from Secretary Josh Kurtz, Secretary Serena McIlwain, Senator Sara Love and virtually from Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representative Sarah Elfreth. The report card reveal was jointly presented by Drs. Bill Dennison and Heath Kelsey. To learn more about how the Bay and watershed scored this year, visit chesapeakebayreportcard.org. This year, we also released a special edition 1925 Chesapeake Bay Report Card to celebrate the UMCES Centennial and have both the 2025 and 1925 report cards available in Spanish for the first time!
Antietam Creek Watershed Report Card
The Antietam-Conococheague Watershed Alliance (ACWA) released their first-ever Report Card in June. IAN worked with ACWA to develop this report card as part of our ongoing collaboration with the Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative. Antietam Creek and its watershed received a moderate score of 48%, a C. This area faces challenges from land use changes, and the creek is still recovering from a large fish kill in 2023, the cause of which is still uncertain.
Charles County Climate Adaptation Report Card
IAN and the Charles County Resilience Authority debuted the Charles County Climate Adaptation Report Card (RC) at the at the June Blue Crabs Environmental Resources event. The RC is the first to assess indicators of both resilience AND associated vulnerabilities to guide prioritization of adaptation actions. The County is already applying advice from the RC as they develop new parks! The RC is on the IAN ARC Program page here.
Working towards a sustainable future at SRI 2025
The fifth annual Sustainability Research & Innovation Congress (SRI) was held in Chicago, Illinois and virtually from June 16–19th. The theme this year was “Shaping a Sustainable Future” and included over 1200 attendees representing over 80 countries. The conference also encompassed some of the following sub-themes throughout the week: hope, actions, solutions, community, collaboration, and resilience. Several IAN staff were in attendance to host workshops about science communication and storytelling, co-producing socio-environmental report cards, and strategies for effective stakeholder engagement. The conference highlighted key global sustainability challenges and the multitude of approaches to solving them, notably through inclusive practices that go beyond the typical scientific research framework.
Engaging with the local agricultural community
Catalyzed by the poor grades and degrading water quality trends on the Delmarva Peninsula that the Chesapeake Bay and Watershed report card identified, Bill Dennison and Vanessa Vargas-Nguyen have been working with the Delmarva Land and Litter Collaborative (DLLC) to investigate the Eastern Shore water quality issues. On June 23rd, a scientific workshop was held in Easton, MD and results of that workshop were presented and discussed at the “Understanding nutrient dynamics and water quality on Delmarva” workshop on the following day (June 24th). This workshop included farmers, riverkeepers, research scientists, and agency and NGO staff, and was funded by the Campbell Foundation. The scientists recommended a data integration effort to synthesize data from the riverkeepers, citizen scientists, and data collected by Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, and the Chesapeake Bay Program. The science team also created various potential drivers for the enigmatic water quality trends.
Meet the Scientist: Katie May Laumann
Hi everyone, I’m Katie May Laumann (I go by Katie May) and I’m a Science Integrator and the Associate Director of Research at IAN. My path to this job has been long and winding, and included stops in some exciting places. During my undergraduate studies, I did field research on seagrasses in Fiji and the Solomon Islands, conservation in Peru and Costa Rica, and spent a summer digging up dinosaur fossils in the badlands of South Dakota. I went on to study seafood sustainability, writing the first sushi sustainability guide with Blue Ocean Institute while I earned my Master’s degree in Conservation Biology.
When it was time for a Ph.D., I went back to my paleontology + marine science roots and studied a family of living fossil fishes, the sturgeons! Also known as the caviar fish, sturgeons are fascinating creatures that hatch in freshwater and move into the ocean as juveniles, returning to the stream where they hatched only for reproduction. You may think “that sounds like salmon”. However, unlike salmon, sturgeons do not die after spawning- they move back into the ocean until the next spawning season! I was lucky enough to sequence the full mitochondrial (maternal) DNA of each of the 27 sturgeon species, working with an expert who developed the sequencing method I used, during two summers in Japan. Since then, I have worked in fisheries management, maintained a tilapia fish hatchery, and taught science to people of all ages.
I finally settled in Maryland and began working at IAN. Here, I get to combine my passion for conservation with my love of marine and freshwater biology, studying how to help human communities prepare for climate change using nature-based methods, and providing advice on how to best conserve forest and stream ecosystems in the face of climate change across various national parks. My favorite part of this job is knowing I am making a difference in helping both people and nature survive the threats of climate change.
If you value research like Katie May's, consider donating to IAN here.
The Rappahannock River Invasion: Catfish Cookout & Watershed Festival
Join us for the Rappahannock River Invasion: Catfish Cookout & Watershed Festival on Saturday, August 2nd! Indulge in delicious catfish dishes, enjoy live music, and learn about the importance of a healthy bay and fisheries. This event is perfect for families, friends, and anyone who loves good food and good company. Connect with regional partners and enjoy a day of fun while raising awareness about our waterways.
Highlights include:
- Tasty Food: Sample dishes made from invasive catfish and local fare.
- Live Entertainment: Enjoy performances by tribal bands and musicians.
- Interactive Activities: Water testing, nature walks, and tours.
- Educational Engagement: Learn about the impact of invasive species and sustainable fisheries.
Entrance is free—please register here! Food options for all dietary needs will be available. Buy meal tickets online in advance for $5 off or on-site the day of the event. Don't miss out on this exciting opportunity to celebrate our community and the Rappahannock River in all its glory!