Tuul River Basin Report Card 2019
Ulaanbataar, Mongolia. On 22 March 2019, the Tuul River Basin Report Card was released in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, with over 300 people attending the release event. Begun in 2017, this project was a partnership between IAN, the Tuul River Basin Authority, WWF-Mongolia, WWF-USA and Asian Development Bank. The IAN team involved in this truly memorable project included Simon Costanzo, Bill Dennison, and Dylan Taillie. Outcomes from the project include specific recommendations on improving water management within the basin, infrastructure upgrades and air pollution control measures.
Farewell, Yesenia!
Yesenia Valverde has completed an internship with IAN and will soon be starting as a field technician for the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) station in Hilo, Hawaii next month. She’ll be collecting plant, bird, beetle, mosquito, and soil data to contribute to the project’s ongoing study of biological responses to climate change, land use change, and invasive species. Photo courtesy of NPS Photo/Jessica Ferracane. Good luck, Yesenia!
Raleigh, North Carolina
Caroline Donovan, Alexandra Fries, and Suzi Spitzer attended the 2019 Citizen Science Association Conference last month. Caroline facilitated a roundtable discussion about the Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative. Suzi gave a talk about the Citizen Scientist Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Monitoring Protocol. Alexandra led a workshop on best practices in science communication. There was a screening of the short film, Backyard Wilderness, which was a cool thing to do as part of the conference
Portland, Oregon
Bill Dennison, Katie May Laumann, Suzi Spitzer and Vanessa Vargas-Nguyen attended the Society for Applied Anthropology conference “Engaging Change in Turbulent Times” last month. Suzi organized a session on transdisciplinary science that included these topics: IAN as a boundary organization, integrating cultural and natural resources at National Parks, environmental report cards and citizen science. This conference was timely as IAN continues to journey into social sciences.