Course in communicating science effectively
The Integration and Application Network is conducting a three-day course in communicating science effectively. The course is being held in Cambridge, Maryland, 12-14 May, 2014. The hands-on approach means that participants come away from the course with the technical skills to effectively communicate scientific information in a variety of communication products. Further details and online registration are available on the course website. Registration closes on May 7th.COHFECAT executive summaries
IAN worked with the National Park Service to develop natural resource condition assessments for Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Catoctin Mountain Park, and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. In addition to the full reports, IAN has now published 12-page Executive Summaries of these reports.
Los Angeles River site visit
Simon Costanzo and Bill Dennison were hosted in Los Angeles by the Council for Watershed Health to develop a Los Angeles River report card strategy. As part of the site visit, Simon and Bill were given an informative tour of the geography of the river basin using vistas and river access points as well exposure to a variety of innovative ecological restoration projects. A suite of innovative restoration projects are being conducted by a diversity of groups and people. Simon and Bill concluded that a report card for the Los Angeles River would help Angelinos reconnect with this highly modified river in a globally significant megacity.
Darwin-IAN - An Agreement with Charles Darwin University and UMCES
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was executed in April between UMCES and Charles Darwin University in Darwin, Northern Territory Australia. IAN initiated this MOU with the Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods (RIEL) at CDU. The MOU is designed to share skills and exchange personnel, so that we can advance science integration and communication efforts in both countries. IAN staff will have the opportunity to work on projects in northern Australia, Indonesia, and the Pacific, and CDU staff will be able to work on climate change activities in the Chesapeake Bay and the Great Barrier Reef, and report cards in Long Island Sound, Mississippi River, and Coastal India. IAN has been working with CDU since 2011, when we developed a newsletter describing ecosystem health issues related to Darwin Harbour.
IAN welcomes Melissa Rogers
Melissa Rogers recently joined the IAN team as the Education Coordinator on the MADE CLEAR grant. She has taken a circuitous route to get here. She grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs and headed south to Virginia Tech where she earned BS and MS degrees in geophysics. She then went further south to Huntsville, Alabama, where she developed a data analysis plan for accelerometer data collected on the space shuttle fleet. She continued that work as a microgravity Program Scientist at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, where she started to work on educational outreach projects as well. Having caught the teaching bug, she left NASA to continue to work on the development of classroom products, the facilitation of summer academic programs, and the creation and delivery of teacher professional development workshops for Case Western Reserve University, NASA, and several Ohio school districts. She has classroom teaching experience at the high school, community college, and four-year college levels, most recently physics, engineering, and research methods at Laurel School in Shaker Heights, Ohio. She is based at the Maryland State Department of Education offices. Melissa enjoys cooking, especially trying new recipes, and getting to know Baltimore and the surrounding area.