Great Barrier Reef Marine Integration Workshop
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), the Reef Water Quality Partnership, and IAN coordinated the Marine Integration Workshop in Townsville, Australia, to consider how the components of the Marine Monitoring Program can be better integrated to facilitate the assessment of marine ecosystem health in relation to water quality characteristics, and ultimately, to relate this to watershed indicators. A reporting framework for the integration of data collected under the Marine Monitoring Program was established. The workshop, which ran September 10-12, was attended by Bill Dennison and Jane Thomas from IAN, and Ben Longstaff from EcoCheck.
Integrated Vulnerability Assessment of Coastal Areas workshop in Manila, Philippines
On September 22-23, Jane Thomas from IAN attended the Integrated Vulnerability Assessment of Coastal Areas workshop in Manila, Philippines, organized by the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) and Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ). Jane worked with representatives from the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore to create conceptual diagrams for each country's case study.
Global seagrass distribution and diversity: A bioregional model
In this paper, seagrass bioregions at the scale of ocean basins are identified based on species distributions which are supported by genetic patterns of diversity. Seagrass bioregions provide a useful framework for interpreting ecological, physiological and genetic results collected in specific locations or from particular species. This paper co-authored by IAN staff is a product of an NCEAS synthesis on global seagrass trajectories, it appears in a special 2007 issue of the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 350, 3-20.
IAN personnel changes
Recently, Michael Williams moved from his role as a Water Quality Analyst at the Chesapeake Bay Program Office to become our new science integrator based at the Annapolis Synthesis Center where he joins Jane Thomas. Our summer intern for 2007, Emily Nauman, recently accepted a position as the new science communicator with EcoCheck. Holly Davis comes to UMCES and the Chesapeake Bay Program from the west coast where she has worked most recently for The Nature Conservancy in San Francisco, California. She will be working as a GIS Analyst making maps, maintaining the CBPO's GIS database, and assisting with web site redesign and science communication efforts. Holly's background includes a BS in Geology and Oceanography from Stanford University, an MS in Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder, a Science Writing Certificate from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a GIS Certificate from the University of California, Riverside. Her time outside of work is spent enjoying water sports, making handmade soaps or collecting clean jokes.