The Belmont Forum Synthesis Workshop was held virtually, with four project teams from around the globe participating remotely. The process was convened by the Belmont Forum and facilitated by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. It served as the-end term meeting for the Scenarios of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services I (CRA). Project teams from around the globe participated virtually via online software.

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The Tripartite Valorization Workshop was convened by the Belmont Forum and facilitated by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science in Washington DC on 8-10 December 2018. It served as the-end term meeting for the Food Security and Land Use Change Collaborative Research Action (CRA), and mid-term meetings for the Arctic Observing and Science for Sustainability and Mountains as Sentinels of Change CRAs.

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Aerial surveys of coastal habitats can uniquely inform the science and management of shallow, coastal zones, and when repeated annually, they reveal changes that are otherwise difficult to assess from ground-based surveys. This paper reviews the utility of a long- term (1984–present) annual aerial monitoring program for submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) in Chesapeake Bay, its tidal tributaries, and nearby Atlantic coastal bays, USA.

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The aim of this report card is to provide a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of 2018 Coastal Bays health. Coastal Bays health is defined as the progress of four water quality indicators (total nitrogen, total phosphorus, chlorophyll a, dissolved oxygen) and two biotic indicators (seagrass, hard clams) toward scientifically derived ecological thresholds or goals.

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In August 2018, the National Climate Adaptation Science Center, with support from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Integration and Application Network, U.S. Forest Service, and the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center, held a two-day workshop to synthesize the impacts of drought on various sectors in the USAPI to address this need. Twenty-seven participants from government agencies and universities in the USAPI participated in the meeting.

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In 2015, the National Climate Adaptation Science Center began working with each regional Climate Adaptation Science Center (CASC) to implement a network-wide initiative aimed at identifying what we know about the impacts of drought on ecosystems across the country. A key component of this initiative was the implementation of eight regional ecological drought workshops.

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Across the United States, ecological drought is ubiquitous, profound, and has become more severe. This newsletter summarizes the findings of a three-year synthesis on the current status of drought research across the United States. The ecological drought synthesis project involved workshops at each of the eight regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers.

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IAN staff and HRI scientists collaborated in a series of workshops in 2016 and 2018 to produce the 2019 Texas Coast Ecosystem Health Report Card. This report card uses 13 biotic and 2 abiotic indicators to determine the overall condition of the Texas coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The coastline scored a B- (80%) overall, indicating moderately good ecosystem health. The report card breaks its indicators into five different categories: water quality, fisheries, birds, oysters and seagrasses.

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The Department of the Interior Climate Science Centers (CSCs) and their managing organization, the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center at the U.S. Geological Survey, have chosen the emerging climate science field of Ecological Drought as a research focus area. This newsletter highlights the outcomes of a two-day workshop held in Honolulu, Hawaii as part of a series of meetings at each of the nation’s eight CSCs.

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This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of Chesapeake Bay. In 2018, the report card includes five water quality indicators and two biotic indicators. In 2018, the overall grade for Chesapeake Bay is a 46%, a C. This means the Bay is in moderate health. Despite the decrease in score from 2017, overall bay health is still significantly improving over time. Long term trends of each reporting region health and a fisheries index are also presented.

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