Publications by Alexandra Fries

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.

2012 Pipe Creek Report Card (Page 1)

2012 Pipe Creek Report Card

Caroline Donovan, Alexandra Fries, Heath Kelsey, Katie Foreman ·
20 March 2013

Pipe Creek is a small tributary to Sandusky Bay on the south-central shore of Lake Erie. The Pipe Creek watershed is largely developed by a combination of urban and agricultural land uses. Pipe Creek is best known for its 97 acre State Wildlife Area located at the mouth of Pipe Creek, which was constructed in the early 1990s as a mitigation site for wetlands destroyed by development elsewhere.

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Measuring effectiveness of Best Management Practices (Page 1)

Measuring effectiveness of Best Management Practices

Simon Costanzo, Bill Dennison, Alexandra Fries ·
22 October 2012

The Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund was created in 2007 in an effort to reduce nutrient and sediment pollution to these bays. The Trust Fund has focused its financial resources on the implementation of effective non-point source pollution control projects using best management practices (BMPs) in high priority watersheds. Examples of projects supported by the Trust Fund include stream channel restorations, stormwater retrofits, and cover crops.

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Healthy Harbor Report Card (Page 1)

Healthy Harbor Report Card

Caroline Donovan, Alexandra Fries, Heath Kelsey ·
4 October 2012

This report card was developed to help lead private citizens, government, and businesses toward a healthy Baltimore Harbor, which is swimmable and fishable by 2020. The Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, and Blue Water Baltimore, published this Healthy Harbor Report Card to help work toward clean, safe, and accessible streams and Harbor for everyone.

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A vision for America's Great Watershed Report Card

Heath Kelsey, Caroline Donovan, Brianne Walsh, Jonathan Kellogg, Bill Dennison, Alexandra Fries ·
27 September 2012

Report cards can be part of a tiered approach to communicating results with varying technical detail. Our vision for this report card framework is based on goals identified in America’s Great Watershed Initiative and derived from principles of Integrated River Basin Management. The framework includes balanced information from Social, Economic, and Environmental sectors, and is intended to be transparent and clear.

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Tropical Connections: South Florida's marine environment

Kruczynski WL and Fletcher PJ ·
2 July 2012

This book summarizes information on the south Florida marine ecosystem in a manner that is easy to read and understand. The book covers physical and biological oceanography, ecology, human impacts, and climate change. This book is unique in that it consists of fact pages that were prepared by 162 experts in their scientific disciplines. Filled with rich graphics and photos, it is appropriate for students, educators, scientists, and stakeholders.

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2011 Chesapeake Bay Report Card (Page 1)

2011 Chesapeake Bay Report Card

Bill Dennison, Caroline Donovan, Jonathan Kellogg, Alexandra Fries ·
17 April 2012

This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of Chesapeake Bay. The overall health of Chesapeake Bay, determined using water quality and biotic indicators, declined slightly in 2011. The overall grade of D+ was a decrease for the second year in a row, down from a C- in 2010. Only two reporting regions, the Patapsco and Back Rivers, and the Lower Western Shore (MD), had improved grades in 2011.

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Bacteria sampling and data analysis protocol addendum for Mid-Atlantic tidal tributary indicators (Page 1)

Bacteria sampling and data analysis protocol addendum for Mid-Atlantic tidal tributary indicators

Wicks EC, Kelsey RH, Fries AS, Kellogg JP ·
13 January 2012

This document provides guidelines for the successful production of tidal ecosystem health report cards. Specifically, this document serves as an addendum to the Sampling and data analysis protocols for Mid-Atlantic tidal tributary indicators which develops a clear and consistent protocol for the identification, collection, and analysis of the indicator of bacteria.

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Swine waste as a source of natural products: A carotenoid antioxidant (Page 1)

Swine waste as a source of natural products: A carotenoid antioxidant

Cahoon LB, Halkides CJ, Song B, Williams CM, Dubay GR, Fries AS, Farmer J, Fridrich W, and Brookshire C ·
2012

Development of Environmentally Superior Technologies for swine waste management has focused on extraction of products with relatively low unit values. Analyses of the bacterial composition of swine waste lagoon samples confirmed the presence of several purple non-sulfur bacteria (PNSB) species known to produce a variety of carotenoids. We examined a carotenoid naturally abundant in North Carolina swine waste lagoons dominated by PNSB.

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