2012 Chilika Lake ecosystem health report card
Chilika Lake, a lagoon on the Bay of Bengal in the eastern State of Odisha, India, stores monsoon flood waters and provides a level of salinity needed to sustain its amazing biodiversity of life. Local communities depend on the Lake to provide fish and seafood for food and resale, village transport, and tourism income. But, Chilika Lake is also subjected to constant pressures from both natural processes and human activities. This is the first of a proposed series of Ecosystem Health Report Cards, supported by the Chilika Development Authority and the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. The 2012 report card will serve as a baseline to enhance the understanding and management of the Chilika Lake ecosystem for the benefit of all.
Assessing ecosystem health in Rookery Bay Reserve, Florida
Caroline Wicks, Alex Fries, and Brianne Walsh from IAN traveled to Naples, Florida, to conduct a two-day workshop on the development of a local report card. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection works with the reserve and volunteers to monitor water quality and biotic conditions in Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve to assess ecological health. The reserve is in South Florida and flows into the Gulf of Mexico. IAN is helping to develop a report card for the reserve which includes a wide area from Naples in the north, around Marco Island, to the Ten Thousand Islands in the south. The reserve is a unique area that includes 110,000 acres of mangrove forest, uplands, and protected waters of Rookery Bay, providing habitat for wildlife including 150 species of birds and many threatened and endangered animals such as sea turtles, fish, manatees, and panthers.
Managing stormwater and other BMPs
Minimizing the negative impacts of stormwater runoff is a challenge. With so much impervious surface in urban, suburban, and rural areas, the flow volume and speed of runoff can cause erosion and flooding, as well as deliver pollutants that can threaten the health of downstream rivers and bays. This newsletter, sponsored by the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund, reviews one strategy—a regenerative stormwater conveyance system. A list of common Best Management Practices for coping with stormwater for homeowners, business owners, and municipalities are also listed.
Recent IAN science communication courses
Students in Maryland Sea Grant's Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program completed a one-day course in science communication. Another one-day course was completed by interns at the NOAA-EPP Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center (LMRCSC). Both of these courses focused on effective science communication techniques, including conceptual diagrams and PowerPoint presentation skills. Professors and graduate students from the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET) participated in a 3 day course which focused on photo editing, conceptual diagram creation, and layout of newsletters and posters. Learn more about our science communication courses and arrange one for your organization.