Welcome, Joe!
This month, IAN welcomes science communication intern Joseph Edgerton. Joe has a B.S. in Biology from Oregon State University, where he assisted in research on bacterial biocontrols. Joe became interested in data visualization and is excited to bring those skills to IAN. Currently living in Tigard, Oregon, Joe enjoys volunteering at the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge and having "decent" hacky sack skills (his words).
Darwin Harbour Integrated Report Card now available
The Darwin Harbour Integrated Report Card was released on October 12. This report card has been developed through extensive consultation with stakeholders from the Darwin Harbour region and relies heavily on their knowledge and expertise.
Initiated by the Darwin Harbour Advisory Committee, a series of workshops were held in March 2020, representing the first step in this report card journey. Stakeholders from government, Indigenous communities, industry, academia and non-government organisations gathered in and around Darwin Harbour to conceptualise the harbour and its catchment, identify the environmental, social, Indigenous cultural and economic values of the region, and discuss indicators and thresholds that could be used to assess these values.
A total of 12 values were identified from these workshops and numerous potential indicators were proposed. The final choice of indicators used in this inaugural report card were ultimately dictated by data suitability and availability. In some instances, no data were available to confidently assess the health of certain values. In August 2021, report card findings were presented back to the stakeholders for their review and input.
Treasuring our Bay at the HPL Open House
On October 12th, IAN participated in the Horn Point Lab (HPL) Open House, the annual event where HPL invites the public to learn about the exciting research taking place on campus. The IAN booth consisted of two sections. In the first section, IAN staff engaged attendees to understand their vision of a sustainable Chesapeake Bay and the actions needed to achieve that vision. In the second section, attendees got to play with symbols and diagrams from the IAN symbol library through sticker, coloring, and magnet activities. With a gorgeous, clear-sky day, over 450 people came to the Open House to learn and explore what IAN and Horn Point at large have to offer.