Last year, the Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative (CMC), a multi-state effort to standardize water quality monitoring throughout the watershed, redesigned indicator fact sheets. These fact sheets give an overview of each water quality indicator, why it is important to the ecosystem, the tools used to measure the indicator, and what certain types of measurements and scores mean for water health. Now, the fact sheets have been translated into Spanish! The new documents can be found on the IAN website.

3rd Annual Scientists Serving Communities Workshop

The 2026 Scientists Serving Communities workshop was held in College Park on January 20 and 21. This workshop brings together Maryland researchers, community leaders, decision-makers, and stakeholders who are instrumental in Maryland's climate resilience efforts. Partners in UMD's Climate Resilience Network include the Charles County Resilience Authority and the Integration and Application Network. Annie Carew attended on behalf of IAN. The workshop is dialogue-based, and all workshop sessions are panel discussions of climate resilience issues.

Baltimore Ecosystem Study Quarterly Meeting

The first Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) quarterly meeting of 2026 took place on January 22nd. The meeting was well-attended, with representatives from a variety of local groups, government organizations, nonprofit organizations, and universities or schools. A total of 8 speakers presented, all on the topic of trees and forests in Baltimore. The presenters were a mix of scientists, academics, local non-profits, government organizations, and students, and they discussed their unique work, their successes, and challenges working (mostly) in Baltimore’s urban forests. A brief discussion was held after each presentation. Representing IAN, Roshni Nair-Gonzalez attended in person while Lili Badri joined virtually to engage with the topic and connect with organizations in the field.

STAR Meeting: All About Indicators

On January 29th, the Scientific, Technical Assessment and Reporting (STAR) Team held their monthly meeting. The topic this month focused on the future of Chesapeake Bay Program indicators in the context of the revised Watershed Agreement and efforts to improve communication of progress towards Agreement goals. The meeting also featured speakers from UMCES IAN and Puget Sound Partnership to provide examples of how other organizations use and develop indicators. Alexandra Fries spoke about the evolution and expansion of the Chesapeake Bay and Watershed Report Card, the framework used for developing indicators, and the importance of tying together indicators into a compelling narrative. The meeting concluded with an open discussion about the different types of indicators and various approaches for the development of new indicators.

New Publication Highlight

Conor Keitzer, IAN Science Integrator, was a contributing author to the recently published "Amphibians and Reptiles of West Virginia" edited by T.K. Pauley et al. 2025. It is a comprehensive, expert-led guidebook that utilizes decades of specialized research and field experience to provide detailed identification, distribution, and ecological data for every native species in the state.