IAN staff join MEES PhD program

Vanessa Vargas is starting in the MEES PhD program this spring semester with Bill Dennison as her advisor. She has been with IAN since March of last year and she is looking to incorporate her work on the Mississippi River report card and Behavior Change Impacts Assessment in her research. She is interested in the report card development process, in developing and assessing different indicators that can effectively translate science into management guidelines. Currently, Vanessa serves as the Teaching Assistant for the MEES 698Y: Science for Environmental Management course co-taught by Drs. Don Boesch and Bill Dennison. Suzi Spitzer joined IAN in August as a Science Communication Intern in the Annapolis Office. She is starting in the MEES PhD program this month, and will be studying with Bill Dennison. Suzi is interested in looking at anthropogenic impacts on coastal systems (positive and negative!) and her research will involve both science communication and ecology. She hopes to investigate how citizen science can be used to effectively inform, engage, and inspire different audiences outside of academia.

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