Parachute science is the problematic and extractive practice of non-local researchers taking data, knowledge and information from communities of which they are not members, failing to engage the local community and local scientists, marginalizing them in most aspects of the research, and using the results to their own benefit.

How communities of organisms come together has long fascinated scientists, with renewed interest in using functional and evolutionary patterns to infer mechanisms of community assembly. Ecological theory predicts that biotic interactions could lead to either divergence in the event of niche partitioning or convergence through the exclusion of competitively inferior species, but most macroecological studies attribute the latter to environmental influences.

This community-level resilience report card examines the preparedness of the Eastport neighborhood in Annapolis, MD to threats like severe weather and flooding. After surveying community members to identify priority concerns in the neighborhood, indicators to assess threats and resilience around those concerns were selected to give the community a preparedness score. This report card recommends individual and community-wide actions that can reduce vulnerability in areas of concern.

This community-level resilience report card examines the preparedness of the Pine Street neighborhood in Cambridge, MD to threats like severe weather and extreme heat. After surveying community members to identify priority concerns in the neighborhood, indicators to assess threats and resilience around those concerns were selected to give the community a preparedness score. This report card recommends individual and community-wide actions that can reduce vulnerability in areas of concern.

Following the first-ever Maryland Coastal Adaptation Report Card in 2021, IAN collaborated with the Charles County Resilience Authority to develop a county-level assessment of coastal adaptation. Following in-person and virtual stakeholder engagement workshops, a suite of eighteen resilience indicators and nine vulnerability indicators were identified and assessed. Dividing adaptation indicators into two categories highlights areas that are doing particularly well or require extra attention.

This document describes the scoring processes for the 27 indicators used in the Charles County Coastal Adaptation Report Card.

This 24-page strategic plan highlights IAN's impact so far, along with the mission, vision, and values by which IAN conducts itself. This document details IAN's objectives for the next five years.

This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of Chesapeake Bay and its Watershed. Since 2016, UMCES has engaged stakeholders throughout the watershed to transform the report card into an evaluation of the Chesapeake Watershed health. Watershed health includes traditional ecological indicators, but also economic and societal indicators. This is the fourth year the watershed has been scored, and one new ecological indicator has been added.

Natural resources are not bound by park borders, and stressors to natural resources may be shared across parks and the landscape. Management across parks and at the landscape level is essential. RAMS provides a landscape level view of these resources and informs collaborative management.

National Parks span multiple ecosystems, and threshold (target) conditions of natural resources indicators may vary by ecosystem. RAMS assesses indicator conditions across ecosystems. RAMS provides snapshot of Vital Signs conditions across ecosystems. RAMS transects illustrate indicators and variation among park ecosystems.