IAN is committed to producing practical, user-centered communications that foster a better understanding of science and enable readers to pursue new opportunities in research, education, and environmental problem-solving. Our publications synthesize scientific findings using effective science communication techniques.

2021 Severn River Report Card (Page 1)

2021 Severn River Report Card

Nathan Miller, Alexandra Fries ·
1 September 2022

Published in 2022, the 2021 Severn River Report Card summarizes data collected in the summer of 2021. It was a troubling year for water quality in the Severn River in 2021. The overall grade for the Severn River dropped to a D+ in 2021, largely due to a decline in underwater grasses. This decline offset improvements seen in dissolved oxygen.

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Data synthesis for environmental management: A case study of Chesapeake Bay (Page 1)

Data synthesis for environmental management: A case study of Chesapeake Bay

Orth RJ, Dennison WC, Wilcox DJ, Batiuk RA, Landry JB, Gurbisz C, Keisman J, Hannam M, Lefcheck JS, Murphy RR, Moore KA, Patrick CJ, Testa JM, Weller DE, Merrittj MF, Hobaugh P ·
2022

Synthesizing large, complex data sets to inform resource managers towards effective environmental stewardship is a universal challenge. In Chesapeake Bay, a well-studied and intensively monitored estuary in North America, the challenge of synthesizing data on water quality and land use as factors related to a key habitat, submerged aquatic vegetation, was tackled by a team of scientists and resource managers operating at multiple levels of governance (state, federal).

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A water quality barometer for Chesapeake Bay: Assessing spatial and temporal patterns using long-term monitoring data (Page 1)

A water quality barometer for Chesapeake Bay: Assessing spatial and temporal patterns using long-term monitoring data

Zahran AR, Zhang Q, Tango P, Smith EP ·
2022

This paper develops a barometer that indexes water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and summarizes quality over spatial regions and temporal periods. The barometer has a basis in risk assessment and hydrology, and is a function of three different metrics of water quality relative to numerical criteria: relative frequency of criterion attainment; magnitude of deviation from a numerical criterion; and duration of criterion attainment.

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