Event Calendar

Date Description
May 15 2012 COMPASS partners with DC Science Café

In partnership with DC Science Café creator Ivan Amato, COMPASS will bring scientists Walter Boynton and Jim Cloern to lead the May 15th Café at Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC.  The DC Science Cafe is a monthly discussion that gives the general public an opportunity to participate in lively and important discussions about the consequential scientific discoveries and issues of our times.

Boynton and Cloern have each devoted more than 30 years studying ecological change in their respective systems -- Chesapeake and San Francisco Bays. They've examined how nutrient pollution, biological communities (crabs, clams, etc), and climate shifts have influenced patterns of ecological health or degradation over time. The scientists' long duration observations have led to some surprising findings- often challenging their own presuppositions- about how major ecosystems work under different and changing environmental conditions.

How and why do these two bays have different ecological histories? And, why is it so important for scientists, policy makers, and a broad public to understand environmental problems with the long-view in mind (as opposed to focusing on isolated incidents or short-term observations along the way)?  Boynton, from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, and Cloern, from the U.S. Geological Survey in San Francisco, will lead this discussion about how the past can inform the present and help us plan for the for the future.
Apr 11 2012 Science Commumication at Brown University

Communications Director Nancy Baron led a successful communications workshop for 13 enthusiastic Brown University scientists.  COMPASS invited journalist trainers - Cornelia Dean of the New York Times, Ari Daniel Shapiro, a freelance radio journalist, and Rhitu Chatterjee, a reporter for BBC's The World - to assist in the interactive portion of the training.  The event was organized by Brown Environmental Change Initative (ECI) scientists Heather Leslie and Marty Downs.


Nancy and Meghan Miner, COMPASS' Communications Outreach Specalist, also talked to the ECI undergraduate Voss Fellows' seminar about the importance of finding your voice, and presented an introduction to Twitter including why scientists should bother.  Meghan and Heather Leslie led a discussion for Brown faculty, postdocs and staff on how they might incorporate social media into their work, while Nancy met with PostDocs to discuss the importance of effectively communicating science.
Mar 27 2012 Yukon Research Center hosts Science Communications Workshop

Communications Director Nancy Baron recently traveled to Whitehorse, Yukon to lead a science communications workshop with journalist trainers Cornelia Dean of the New York Times, Lisa Johnson of CBC News in Vancouver, and local reporters Cheryl Kawaja of CBC Television and Radio and Genesse Keevil of the Yukon News.  First Nations Elder Randall Tetlichi kicked off the workshop with his opening remarks; 21 local and Canadian government scientists as well as researchers from the Yukon Research Center at Yukon College attended the all-day event.  Nancy also delivered a very well-recieved public lecture on the Risks and Rewards of Science Communication the evening preceeding the workshop.
Mar 9 2012 Science policy and social media training at University of Notre Dame

COMPASS has been leading science communication and policy trainings for the Global Linkages of Biology, the Environment, and Society (GLOBES) IGERT program at Notre Dame since 2008, and this year's workshop was something of a milestone for us. It featured Assistant Director of Policy Outreach Erica Goldman making her debut as the lead policy trainer, it marked the four-year anniversary of Assistant Director of Science Outreach Liz Neeley's very first communications training with COMPASS, and it marked the first time we've explicitly combined science policy and social media in our trainings.  

COMPASS trainings focus on hands-on learning and interaction with leading researchers, policymakers, and journalists. For this event, we were joined by a stellar panel:

Thanks to the leadership and support of Leopold Leadership Fellows David Lodge and Jessica Hellmann, the eighteen PhD students in the training are now preparing to put theory into action when then visit Washington DC in late March. 

You can connect to the students on Twitter, and follow some of our discussion by tracking the #COMPASSmtg hashtag.
Mar 8 2012 Homer, Alaska: Healthy Bays= Vibrant Communities Conference

Communications Director Nancy Baron recently visited Homer, Alaska where she delivered a communications workshop- surrounded by frozen seas and northern lights- to 65 ecologists. The workshop preceded a larger scientific conference on the Kachemak Bay ecosystem- Healthy Bays=Vibrant Communities- hosted by the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve. In attendance were representatives from the US Department of Fish and Game, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, NOAA, academics and researchers from universities across Alaska and the northwestern states, as well as representatives from local land trusts.  At the larger scientific conference, scientists took the opportunity to directly apply their new knowledge in their presentations.

With the help of inspired local scientist and event organizer Megan Murphy, COMPASS introduced the scientists to guest journalists- Lori Evans, the editor and publisher of the Homer News, Naomi Lubick, a first nations reporter from the Homer Tribune, local veteran freelance reporter Hal Spense as well as Ken Weiss of the LA Times- who assisted the scientists in effectively communicating their science.

You can read local coverage of COMPASS's communications workshop and the corresponding public lecture here.
Feb 18 2012 AAAS Session - The Ocean Health Index: Diagnosis for a Crowded Blue Planet

Synopsis
We ask a lot from the world’s ocean. We expect renewable energy, bountiful seafood, thriving coastal communities, and gorgeous places to explore. But reaping these benefits involves tough choices in how we use and protect the ocean. To achieve a sustainable future in the face of climate change and other stressors, we need a tool to proactively evaluate the collective impacts of our actions and policies on the benefits we expect and value from the ocean.
 
In this session, we unveiled a new tool to assess the ocean’s ability to meet our current and future needs -- the Ocean Health Index. In a single number, the Index encapsulates the benefits people receive from the ocean, explicit tradeoffs among those benefits, and cumulative impacts of various activities on the continued delivery of those benefits. In addition to the overall rating, the Index also tracks progress toward 10 discrete policy goals, ranging from seafood provision to livelihoods to biodiversity.
 
Speakers highlighted why the Index was developed, the types of results you can expect to see (results of the first global application of the Index are currently in review), innovative approaches to setting targets, the flexibility of the tool, advances in understanding of oceans as coupled systems, and guidance for using the Index to craft policy and optimize management.

Co-organizers

  • Karen McLeod, COMPASS
  • Ben Halpern, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) and University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)
  • Steve Katona, Conservation International

 

Speakers

 

Discussants

  • Daniel Pauly, Sea Around Us Project, University of British Columbia
  • Larry Crowder, Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University

 
Feb 18 2012 AAAS Session - Acid-washed genes and altered ecosystems: Biological tales of ocean acidification

Synopsis
Often called the “evil twin” of climate change, ocean acidification results from fairly simple chemistry and yet has significant implications for marine species and ecosystems. While scientists have resolved the details of many of the physical and chemical processes related to ocean acidification, they have not yet built a parallel understanding of the future of marine ecosystems in a more acidic ocean. Acidification clearly interferes with the ability of some marine species to build shells and develop normally, but how do these changes in individuals translate to changes in populations, food webs, and entire ecosystems through both direct and synergistic processes? In this symposium, panelists highlighted research on the effects of ocean acidification on key ecological processes (e.g., food-web dynamics) in the ecosystems most vulnerable to changes in pH: polar regions, coral reefs, and temperate upwelling zones. From tiny genetic changes to existing ecosystem-wide shifts in species dynamics to glimpses into the ecological future via models, these scientists are on the front lines of asking if and how marine species can adapt to a rapidly changing environment. In short, science from the fields of oceanography, physiology, genetics, ecology, and modeling is starting to paint a picture that small changes in ocean chemistry can cause big shifts in the ability of marine ecosystems to deliver the goods and services on which we depend.

Organizers

 

Speakers

 

Discussants

 
Jan 18 2012 NCSE: Hanging in the pH Balance? Ocean Acidification Impacts on Food Security

Synopsis

Marine protein contributes substantially to global food security. Fish and shellfish contribute 15 percent of animal protein for three billion people worldwide, according to a recent FAO analysis. Ocean acidification, caused by increasing levels of dissolved CO2 in seawater, poses an increasing threat to the continued availability of marine protein as a food source. Caused both by atmospheric and land-based drivers, acidification presents and emerging challenge to coastal communities and economics worldwide. Acidification affects the growth and survival of mane marine organisms, especially in larval stages. It also interferes with the ability of shell building marine species (including plankton) to develop and sustain calcified skeletons, with clear implications for shellfish and coral reef-dependent resources.

Research on how acidification will affect food webs and ecosystems is still in its early stages. But several new studies suggest potentially striking implication for food security. For example, one recent study assessed nations' vulnerability to decreases in shellfish harvest due to ocean acidification by comparing both their nutritional and economic dependence on the resource. The study found that certain regions could experience significant impacts as early as the next decade.

This session at the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) meeting presented leading science on how ocean acidification is likely to affect food security. Scientists discussed new research on the consequences for both shellfish and finfish resources, along with analyses that can help communities and economics prepare for acidifying conditions.

Organizer

Speakers
Dec 15 2011 Journal of Higher Education, Outreach & Engagement calls Escape from the Ivory Tower a "must have"
Nov 16 2011 Restoring Ecological and Economic Vitality to the Gulf of Mexico

The health of the Gulf Coast economy -- indeed, every sector of the global economy -- is inextricably tied to the benefits that the natural world provides to society.  On November 10, 2011, the National Research Council released its interim report on the methods and metrics that can be used to evaluate the effects of the Gulf oil spill on ecosystem services such as food, tourism, water, energy, and infrastructure protection.  This report examined not only the direct effects of the oil spill on ecosystem services in the region, but also the impacts of other human activities that have changed the balance of ecosystem services over time. 

Through coffee-house style panel discussions held the week following the release of the NRC report, COMPASS, the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, and the National Academies' National Research Council hosted events to explore perspectives from science, economics, business, and industry on restoring the flow of ecosystem services that support the economic vitality of the Gulf of Mexico.  These events built upon two events held in early October, which examined the role of science in the Gulf of Ecosystem Restoration Task Force Preliminary Strategy.  

Moderator: Dr. David Malakoff, Policy Reporter, Science magazine

Panelists:

  • Dr. David Yoskowitz (NRC Panel), Economist, Harte Research Institute
  • Dr. Nancy Rabalais (NRC Panel), Oceanographer, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
  • Dr. Heather Tallis, Chief Scientist, Natural Capital Project
  • Ms. Robin Barnes, Executive Vice President, Greater New Orleans, Inc.
  • Mr. Timothy Reilly, Managing Partner, CatVest Petroleum, LLC

 

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