Shaaaaahks

I have given a lot of thought to what I would like to do for my final project, and I think I've landed on the topic of sharks. I explored a few different options but this one was the one that I felt most invested in. They are my favorite animal and one I hope to work with in the future as a Conservation Biologist. I want to design a model that examines populations of a shark species and the movement of that species throughout the oceans. Sharks, especially Great Whites, tend to have very specific hunting grounds and patterns of migration so I want to explore why so many of them are moving further north than is historically typical of them.
Although more research needs to be done on my part and what specific factors are likely causing these effects on sharks, I have a few different factors I want to look into. The first, and maybe the most important, is the aspect of food availability. One of the staples of a Great White's diet is seal species, so using data in my model about seal populations (numbers, locations, etc.) is something I'm hoping to be able to do. Since seals are not the only animal Great White's eat, I would also like to include data from other prey species if I can.
In addition, I think it would be interesting to see if I can incorporate climate change data into the model. Personally, I would like to see if the model would show that climate change is having an impact on the sharks and if so, in what way. Another piece of data I would want to include, and this may be the most difficult to obtain, is the changes happening in the oceans in which these sharks live. Are there changes in major currents and water temperature? What does that mean for the sharks and their migration patterns?
In order for this model to work I am going to have to do some much more in-depth research about these migration patterns and changes over long periods of time, and include that data in the model once I have it. After that it will be very important to determine if the factors I have considered are truly impacting sharks within the scope of my project. If not, I will definitely have to edit my project plan and find research and data on the factors that are having an impact. I think this is going to be my biggest challenge, finding the data. Since my projects goals are fairly specific I imagine it might be difficult to acquire the data that I'm looking for , and I may have to make some large adjustments in my model based on the obstacles I run into. Hopefully some of it will be accessible through GIS databases, etc. but I'm honestly not sure how much GIS data there is on marine ecosystems and the other factors I discussed. In my experience with GIS, it has always been landuse and land form data rather than on populations.

Spring Break for a Senior

I thought going into college that Spring Break was going to be some kind of adventure every year. I was wrong. This year in particular was the most uneventful for me in my three years here at UVM, but likely my most productive. At the very beginning of break I got hired at a new part-time job here in Burlington and therefore could not go home at all, and was left to stew in my apartment all alone for 10 days in between sporadic shifts of work. As everyone else I'm friends with went home or on a trip, I was left to my own thoughts for most of the 10 days. In which I really started to give some hard thought as to what I'm doing come May 19th. As a 3rd year senior I have had an entire year less than the rest of my fellow potential graduates to think about what it is that I really want to do and where I want to be going once that diploma is in my hands. This is really stressful, especially when I do not have much time to squeeze such daunting thoughts into my packed schedule of 18 credit semesters and two jobs. So I took the opportunity of Spring break to tackle my goals in the field of environmental science. In that time I finished up an application to a graduate program at Drexel University in Pennsylvania. I applied for the Environmental Science M.S. program and am hoping to work with Dr. Horwitz in aquatic ecosystems and species. I also started researching jobs in Southern New England in similar fields. Currently I am working on applications to both Mystic Aquarium in CT and Roger Williams Park Zoo in RI for a clinical researcher position and an animal care internship, respectively.
Having a minor in Zoology and a concentration in Conservation/Biodiversity both of these job opportunities really interested me. Not only do they really involve what I want to do, but these jobs are at places that house some of my greatest childhood memories. It was Mystic and Roger Williams where I first got to see exotic and foreign animals; things I could never imagine existed based off what I saw in my backyard. So working in these places and learning to care for animals and understand and experience the ground work that goes into conservation by educating the public and doing captive breedings, etc. would give me a great base of knowledge for the steps I would be taking once I decided to move on in my career.

Exam #1 Potential Questions

Q1. What are the benefits and the drawbacks of the process of leaching?

A1: The biggest benefit of leaching is that water is transferred through soil, which carries nutrients through the soil profile. This allows for soluble materials to be absorbed by the organisms within the soil as well as for the chemicals to react with minerals in the soil. Another benefit is that this allows for the accumulation of groundwater sources. The drawbacks of leaching are that it is not selective in what it transfers through the soil. Leaching is how toxic chemicals get into the soil, then our food, and even our drinking water.

Q2: What are the two types of non-radiative heating and how do they differ?

A2: The two types are sensible heat and latent heat. Sensible heat is a function of the air temperature and the surface temperature. Latent heat is a function relative to water where it takes wetness and humidity into account. Essentially it is the transfer of heat through the medium of water.

Q3: List 4 soil properties that are affected by soil texture and give an example of how a particular soil texture would specifically influence 2 of these these properties.

A3: Soil texture can influence many soil properties such as drainage capability, water holding capacity, aeration, organic material, cation exchange capacity, pH buffering capacity, etc. If a soil was very sandy there would be high drainage and very low water holding capacity.

USGCRP National Climate Assessment Report

I read some of the National Climate Assessment Report this week, although I will admit that I did not read all of it because it is incredibly long. Which is to be expected because a report assessing the current climate problems of our nation is likely to be vast because of all of the current environmental issues. One thing I learned is that there is a projection temperature rise of 2-4 degrees Fahrenheit in the next few decades. I had heard rumblings of the problems caused by just one degree of temperature change, but the fact that there could be 2-4 is startling. That seriously makes me worry about my future here on this planet as well as my children and grandchildren's. With that being said, there was not all that much that I learned form what I did read of the report. I'm sure if I had the time to read the entire thing in detail I would learn much more, but otherwise it was just more detail on problems I was already aware of in the U.S. climate.
What I found most helpful, and not really for myself but for the American people, is the emphasis it put on the impact on humans. Although it was not necessary for me, I think in the American society it is important, if not vital, to use this method in addressing the problem here. Acknowledging the human aspect is the only way to really get the attention of much of the nation and make people realize the seriousness of these problems.
What was good about the report is the facts it provided, which gives me an updated resource and reference to use when doing future environmental research as well as something to base my arguments off of when trying to discuss climate disruption with the public. My peers at UVM are equally as intrigued by this report and the information it contains, however the students at UVM and in my major are not typical of the American "youth". Our interest in environmental issues and regulation is not the same as what I was used to back home in Rhode Island. However, I think if the information in the report is presented in the right way to could spark the interest of many others in my age group.
I guess that's also the thing I would change. There was so much information and data that it was a bit hard to swallow. I would have maybe made some kind of abstract that was much easier to understand with the information a bit more clearly presented. This could be just because I was so overwhelmed by the amount of information and the length of the report that I overlooked some of what I was reading, but if I could change something about it that would be the one thing I could really pick right now.

Low Impact Hobbit House

A few years ago I was using Stumble Upon for the first time and came across something that has stayed in my bookmarks ever since. It may have popped up for a lot of you as well if you stumble through environmental things. A family in Wales built a home to work with the ecosystem around it in the most efficient and low impact way possible. What was most interesting about this was that it is built in the form of a Hobbits home. Who would have guessed Tolkien was giving us great environmental architecture and landscaping ideas when he wrote his books 75 years ago.

Not only is the house environmentally friendly, but the surrounding environment is not your typical "yard". During the period of building the home the family took part in managing the surrounding ecological woodlands and even crafted a forest garden. What is most amazing is that to build all of these things required less materials and tools than it would require to build a normal home. The house is dug into a hillside like a true Hobbit home. The dirt and other materials that were dug out did not go to waste, they were reused in other ways throughout the home. Main structures of the home were built using wood from the surrounding woodlands and lime plaster on the walls which makes the home more breathable, so it's almost a living, breathing part of the ecosystem. 

This home and this family's story is evidence that there is hope that humans can learn to live in a low impact way. People tend to use the excuse that there is no way we can live in harmony with the environment when we need shelter and live in this society. Although this is a fair, valid point this house shows that there is incredibly affordable and feasible ways of approaching this symbiosis.
Not to mention that I am a Lord of the Rings/Hobbit fan and I've always been jealous of the way the Hobbits lived in the Shire, so I would LOVE to have a home like this. Knowing its possible really blows my mind.

Metamodels and the Tasmanian Tiger

I'm a pretty big fan of Science Daily, it's a website I peruse rather frequently and yesterday I came across an article posted that day about a new development in a species extinction. The species in question is the Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus), or often referred to as the "Tasmanian Tiger".

Tasmanian Tigers at Beaumaris Zoo, Hobart c 1918.

(Credit: Image courtesy of University of Adelaide,

reproduced with permission from the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery)

Prior to the European settlement of Tasmania in the early 1800's this beautiful creature was abundant on the island. By the beginning of the 20th Century numbers dwindled drastically due to a bounty placed on the animal, so much so that in 1933 the last wild Thylacine was captured. 

Now, not that this is not a devastating story, as is all stories of extinction, but that is not what struck me about this article. The bulk of this article focuses on the work being done at the University of Adelaide where a study was conducted to essentially prove the cause of the animals extinction. As you can imagine the study proved that humans were the cause of this tragedy, despite many arguing that humans were merely a factor and that disease was a huge influence. This was tested using a metamodel which used complex mathematical models to examine the different factors that could have, and did, lead to the extinction of the Thylacine. Simulations of the model proved that the human influence would have resulted in the extinction of the species, with or without a disease.

I found this incredibly interesting, and not because it proved human fault yet again. Because this technology and this type of model practicality could really prove useful in conservation. Although this study used the model for an extinction that occurred many years ago, it could be very helpful in predicting the future of species that are currently at risk of meeting the same fate as the Tasmanian Tiger. I know that there is currently technology like this being utilized in conservation efforts, but it is not always being used to its full potential. We can gain so much knowledge by using metamodels like this and understanding the complex relationships of an ecosystem. I just get really excited when technology like this starts to really PROVE things, especially about human impact. It's hard to believe, but we still live in a world where people deny climate disruption, human disturbance, and science as a whole. But progress like this can really set aside some of those doubts, and make huge strides in our efforts to help mend the wrong we've done to the Earth and, if nothing else, at least understand it better.  

University of Adelaide (2013, January 30). Disease not a factor in Tasmanian Tiger extinction; Humans to blame for demise of extinct Australian predator. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 31, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2013/01/130131095310.htm

Climate on the Cape

I grew up in Southern New England, splitting my time between my year-round home in Rhode Island and my  Summer home on Cape Cod. My family owns a cottage in Mashpee, and it remains my favorite place in the world. How can someone NOT love the Cape, really? Anyway, part of what I have always loved about it, being from SNE, is the climate of the Cape. The summers there are beautiful, with wonderfully humid, salty breezes off the Atlantic and the bay that are always cool and refreshing.
The Cape is known for its shape, which has an impact on wind and water patterns on the climate of the area. This shape the result of a recessional moraine from a glacier hundreds of thousands of years ago. Despite being in New England, the Cape has been referred to as a humid subtropical zone rather than a temperate one due to the influences of the Atlantic.
The waters surrounding the cape are influenced by the Canadian Labrador Current, which keep the water of that part of the Atlantic cooler, typically not getting about 70 degree Fahrenheit. This cool water affects the seasonal weather on the Cape, as well. Having spent time there in all four seasons, I can attest to the fact that the Spring weather in Cape Cod is much cooler than other places in SNE. Likewise, the Fall weather is much warmer than other places. That may be my favorite part about the weather there. My family can still go to my cottage well into October, and often times there has been beach days because of the Indian Summer. This is because the water is still warm from the summer and keeps the Cape warm for a bit longer. Another influential impact the Atlantic has is the, although relatively infrequent, huge storms that tend to hit the Cape which can be devastating.
I'm sure there are many other complex influences on the climate of the Cape, as with all places on this Earth, however they are far beyond my understanding at this point. What I do know, however, is that I love Cape Cod and I hope climate disruption does not have too severe an impact on this beautiful place.