New release: 2012-2017 Everglades Report Card
South Florida, USA. The Everglades Report Card and 2019 System Status Report, and associated website were released on April 23, 2019. These products are the culmination of two years or work and participation by dozens of stakeholders. The project wouldn't have been possible without the REstoration COordination and VERification program (RECOVER), that includes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the South Florida Water Management District, and other Florida state agencies, federal agencies, and tribes. With a score of 45, out of a possible 100, the report card assesses overall Everglades ecological health as fair for the five-year period 2012–2017. For more information visit: evergladesecohealth.org.
Welcome, Megan!
Meg McNeilly is just finishing up her first month of working with the fine folks of UMCES at the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) office. As the new User Experience Analyst for the web support team, she works to get to the heart of user needs, behaviors, and motivations in order to create useful products that support the mission of the CBP. In her free time, she enjoys sailing, traveling, hanging out with her dog, and working on house projects.
Chesapeake Bay SAV Watchers
IAN finished developing a new monitoring program for citizen scientists who are interested in monitoring Chesapeake Bay grasses. As part of this effort, we developed a two-tiered monitoring protocol and a training and certification program, and produced a methods manual, standardized data collection sheets, a series of training videos, and a pocket field guide. Check out our blog post to learn more about the Chesapeake Bay SAV Watchers program!
Ecosystem transformation
Bill Dennison and Yesenia Valverde facilitated a workshop on ecosystem transformation for the American Fisheries Society and The Wildlife Society in Seattle. The workshop produced a newsletter and submitted papers for their respective society journals in preparation for their first ever joint conference in Reno, Nevada later this year