Publications

Closing the parachute and opening the umbrella: Strategies for inclusivity and representation in producing impactful coastal ecosystem research
Laumann et al. 2025
“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….Here, we offer our perspectives on parachute science and suggestions on how to avoid it…”

Tropicalization of mid-western Atlantic coastal bays by pinfish Lagodon rhomboides: a combined ecological and oceanographic perspective
Lefcheck, … Laumann et al. 2024
“As climate change continues to shift the distributions of species worldwide, understanding where, why, and how organisms move beyond their historical ranges is of critical importance. Here, we report on the expansion of pinfish Lagodon rhomboides poleward along the midwestern Atlantic in response to rising temperatures…”

Moving beyond the ecosystem in ecosystem health report cards
Laumann et al. 2019
“Early ecosystem health report cards focused on assessing the health of natural ecosystems, producing a “snapshot” of ecosystem health at one point in time. Ecosystem health report cards are used to guide efforts that improve ecosystem health through natural resources management and stakeholder engagement…People impact the ecosystems in which they live, and it is important to assess their impacts on ecosystems, as well as assessing how an ecosystem functions to support these communities. This requires consideration of both indicators that bridge the natural and human world, and some that are considered strictly human-focused. These include infrastructure, employment, and nutrition/food availability….”

Magazine Articles and Report Cards

Net-Zero and Water Highlighting U.S. Innovation and action on Mitigation, Adaptation and Resiliency
Grumble, Laumann, Goodwin 2019
While climate change is water change, the water sector has been relatively slow in the United States –compared to the nation’s air, energy, and transportation sectors– in setting goals and taking actions, particularly in mitigating greenhouse gases (GHGs). That is changing now as states, communities, utilities, industries, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) develop water and climate strategies beyond just localized adaptation and resiliency plans.

Eastport and Pine Street Adaptation Report Cards
Keitzer, Laumann, Anderson, Carew 2025
At the end of May, IAN released the first community-level adaptation report cards for the Eastport and Pine Street neighborhoods in Annapolis, MD and Cambridge, MD. These report cards used surveys to determine resilience priorities in each neighborhood and assessed the communities’ preparedness for responding to threats like extreme heat, severe weather, and flooding.

Charles County Climate Adaptation Report Card
Laumann, Schaefer, Keitzer, Carew, Badri 2025
“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….The Charles County Coastal Adaptation Report Card gives a snapshot of current adaptation status in Charles County, Maryland and establishes a framework for measuring future progress.”

2021 Maryland Coastal Adaptation Report Card
Laumann et al.
“The Maryland Coastal Adaptation Report Card, a collaboration between the Adaptation and Resiliency Work Group (ARWG) of the Maryland Commission on Climate Change (MCCC) and University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Integration and Application Network (UMCES-IAN)…develop[s] a suite of adaptation indicators and thresholds based on stakeholder expertise, the Coastal Adaptation Report Card gives a snapshot of current adaptation status in Maryland’s coastal zone, and establishes a framework for measuring future progress.”