IAN is hiring!
IAN seeks a Science Communicator for its regional, national, and international projects. For more information or to apply, visit the UMCES employment page.The first Yucatán Coast Report Card
The first Yucatán Coast Report Card was released in April 2018, the culmination of almost 2 years of work by our colleagues at Laboratorio Nacional de Resiliencia Costera (LANRESC), in Sisal, Yucatán Mexico. This Report Card project was one of the first to use an approach where IAN helped train practitioners on the report card process, largely leaving them to do the work, but providing support as needed from the IAN team through feedback on drafts and graphics, process questions, etc. The Yucatán Coast Report Card is really well done; it's a beautiful document that clearly communicates the relevant issues and results in a simple way, using a good combination of high quality, artistic visual elements.
IAN kicks off UMCES Institutional Assessment project
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science is conducting an Institutional Assessment (IA) as part of its accreditation process and IAN, along with College of Exploration, is facilitating that process. Five meetings were conducted at Appalachian Lab, Chesapeake Biological Lab, Horn Point Lab, the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology and Center Administration as a kickoff to the entire project. Maryland SeaGrant is also included in the project. The objective of the meetings was to find out what all UMCES employees value about working for UMCES as well as potential indicators to measure whether UMCES is successful in attaining its mission. IAN staff facilitated a "Snap!" activity in which participants were asked "What do you value about working at UMCES?" and "What should UMCES aspire to in five years?" This was a great start to a project that will continue through the fall.
IAN learns new science visualization techniques at the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators annual conference in DC
Science Communication Assistant Emily Nastase represented IAN at the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators conference held at American University in mid-July. Plenaries included speakers from high-profile science communication groups, including Fernando Baptiste, Senior Graphics Editor of National Geographic, Jen Christiansen, Senior Graphics Editor of Scientific American, Dr. Kirk Johnson, Sant Director of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (SMNH), Liz Neeley from The Story Collider, among others! Conference days also included small workshops on various science visualization topics, an art exhibit at AAAS of works of scientific illustration, and a behind the scenes tour at the natural history museum! Stay tuned for Emily's blog to come out soon!
IAN welcomes Angie Wei
IAN welcomes Angie Wei as a Geospatial Analyst at Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP). Before CBP, Angie worked as a geospatial information researcher in Oak Ridge National Lab Distributed Active Archive Center for NASA. Angie's research interests include management and visualization of biogeochemical and ecological data and models to facilitate research and decision-making in support of environmental science. Angie received her master's degree in Geographic Information Science from University of Georgia. In her spare time, Angie has enthusiasm in both indoor and outdoor activities, especially in hiking, whitewater rafting, star gazing, board games, and exploring new things.