Visiting the Prarie

I missed the Cates Farm trip one week. Our grassland ecology class went out to the Cates Farm (located in Spring Green, WI) to see how a well-informed farmer practices agriculture. I was at a conference to learn how t write effective statements of purpose and personal statements for graduate school. Instead, I recently went to te BioCore prairie to see a reclamation from agriculture to prairie.

The prairie stood out from it's surroundings. I was a bit awestruck when I came around it, I saw a beautiful blend of golden brown greens and deep shades of browns. The wind brushed the stand to the left, and let them stand tall. I approached. At the periphery, I peered into an ecosystem far different than the tree-dense one I was previously in. From afar, it seemed quaint, but as the field of view shrunk, the prairie seemed more lively and immense.

Tallgrass prairie isn't just a catchy name; the plants are genuinely tall. I felt strange calling them foliage as it [foliage] has a connotation of being small. The grasses towered above dominating the canopy, they don't choke the underbrush for light but effectively dominate 3D space. One level down, another plant takes the reigns but in terms of surface area on the ground. Lower to the ground is where the serious cover comes into effect.

Once I've witnessed the tallgrass prairie, I used to wonder hat zero percent soil erosion would come from. I've had a hard time imagining the combination of best management practices (BMPs) that would contribute to that T value. I feel I have some serious work to do when it comes to reducing erosion on agricultural systems. The tallgrass prairie is an excellent example of what I want to strive for. The best part is that it is consistent with what the literature suggests. The land cover is dense, and there is no bare ground. The soil is shielded from direct raindrop impact as well as having air flow to the soil surface which would facilitate in infiltration. the slower flow an extreme reduction in surface sealing made the system one to behold.

The soil scientist in me wanted to break out the spade and take a quick sample from the site, but I had a feeling I would know what I'd find. Under the dense vegetation, would be a molic epipedon, forged by carbon inputs and the occasional fire.

I peered under the tightly woven sheet of grasses to see if I could see ant traces of a recent fire. There were no traces visible. What I did find was a damp soil even though it hadn't rained for days. The low-lying grasses prevented water loss from the system. I couldn't help bit remember similar situations in no-till agriculture were plants grew slower due to the colder ground temperature. The grasses here were doing fine. Perhaps there is something missing in the cropping system that would make it more effective for the plants.

The man

Science in mapping and mapping in science

          Wanna get from the Minneapolis to the Big Apple? There’s a map for that. How about finding your way to class on the first day on campus at your new university? There’s probably a map for that. If you’ve had a question that dabbled in space or time or just wanted to see a cool version of your country, there may be a map for that too.

          Maps keep their information neatly packaged in symbols, colors and rely on the viewer to unpack the meaning. Now it seems like anyone can make a map and most anyone can but it takes technique to make a compelling one. There are horrid maps churned out by media outlets effectively skewing the truth. We love the chic ones, on full-color glossy National Geographic pages and still turn back to the amateur monochromatic ones on the pages of our old pal Wikipedia. But what makes those really good maps so good? The answer is "lies."

          Maps tell lies? Of course they do.

          We won't go as far as the BuzzFeed Motion picture staff when they posted Maps that Prove That You Don't Really Know Earth, but keep in mind that all maps do abstract reality. 

          Dr. Robert Roth mentions that concept on the first day of every Introduction to Cartography course he teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The cartographic problematic, as he calls it, is that in the process of externalizing geographic knowledge into a single representation, abstractions are made and ultimately, information is lost. He proposes that the only way to get over that is to have more interactive maps. Those maps rely on the user to uncover the missing information and use the abstraction to its fullest extent to obtain valuable information.

          Maps tend to work because we tend to work. Roth says like language, maps are social constructs. Our ability to see is effectively innate. “Good maps take advantage of the eye-brain process.”

          What better way to communicate by using concepts that we already understand. Red tends to mean danger, bad or at risk while green tends to mean safe, good or healthy. Most of the faculty we use to interpret maps are reinforced in our everyday experience. Cartographers, map-makers put these associations to work.

          Maps are still authored; "Google maps didn't just appear," says Roth. People and their biases are integral in making maps effective. In the great age of data, cartographers are more important than ever. If people trained solely in geographic information systems (GIS) were our map makers, we might have maps too complex, too data heavy for efficient use. The people that made the incredible interactive Google Maps have an agenda. Dr. Roth cleverly points out "it's not objective, it's a purposefully designed map that helps you spend your money." While you are planning your commute, it is quite easy to spot restaurants, and boutiques. You've gotta admit, that's one clever disguise.

          Luckily every author doesn't tell a story to get you to buy the latest gadget or chic sweater. Some try to pass on information that you or the author thinks is valuable. Take the presidential election for example. In the end, all that people care about is the party in power. Think of the ways that the public symbolizes the opposing parties.

...

          The donkey and elephant are popular choices. I bet you haven't seen a map with pictures of the mascots covering the state that the party got. Too many lines would create illusions of new geographies when iterated for each of the fifty states in the USA so we default to red and blue. But why are those red and blue maps so obnoxious? Turn out that our eyes see different colors with differently. Cones in our eyes are packed tightly for reds giving great resolution while cones that detect blues are spread out. It's like looking left and right at the same time. There's some strain going on. Good cartographers will consider their audience and not use such harsh color combinations or will use different versions of the classic colors especially when their work would be shown on something that functions by emitting light.

Painful experience

Pleasant experience

          Scientists also have a part in the cartography business. Soil scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Alfred Hartemink Ph.D. wraps his job succinctly saying "different people want to know different things and what we need to do is make sure we provide that information. Sounds simple but it’s a bit complex."

          There are two kinds of spatial data, discrete and continuous. Discrete phenomena occur at specific points in space while continuous phenomena occur throughout the plane of space. Cows are discrete. Soils are continuous. In industries that revolve around precision and placing things in discrete locations, Hartemink says that there's another dimension that needs to be made available and thus is boldly stamped on his works. Every statement these maps make has a guarantee; "all the mapping we attach a level of accuracy, or if you like, uncertainty."

          So the lies are back! But this time, it's more like risk. Researchers and practitioners alike rely on data big-time to make decisions. We simultaneously know that's it's impossible to know some properties for certain. Scientists that map, note their degree of accuracy on their works so others know how much trust to put in the findings. We have a have a good deal of data, but we know somewhat less about how that data is spread out across space. "The probability [that we're correct] is largely dependent on how many samples you have or how much field work you did," says Hartemink. Knowing that, half of his time is spent in the field collecting data and ground-truthing or validating his claims. "We don't just do mapping, we do soil science."

          Dr. Hartemink advises those thinking of going into cartography to "work on the uncertainty, on the accuracy because most people doing mapping aren't addressing it." 

          Scientists know that there's a degree of accuracy in everything they do and the public doesn't take well to terms of uncertainty. People take it as a license not to trust science when the word uncertainty is uttered. The information broker is simply saying is that there may be more to the story than what you see in this representation or the other variables weren’t necessary to get the point across. Dr. Roth addresses the cartographic problematic in all of his works but for those static maps one may still ask things like...

"Why does it only show three cities?" and the reply could be "Well, that’s all that’s relevant to the statement." After all, he’s pretty sure you don’t want to see the other hundred he’s excluded so you could get the message.

Opposable thumbs

After that volleyball game on the 12th, My thumb was hurt and a bit swollen. During that time, I learned how important our opposable thumbs are to us and our lifestyle.

Things that were hard
Opening doors
- Doors with knobs
- Doors with push thingies
Opening jars and bottles
Fastening my tsuba on my shinai
Writing (because I'm a student (at the time I'm writing this post)
- Taking notes
- Drawing cross-sections of plants
Eating with chopsticks
Carrying shopping bags.
Chopping "vegetables" (do I need to go into a whole list of my cooking woes?)
cutting fruit (mainly oranges (because who cuts apples and pears?))
Opening microwave popcorn bags
Opening bananas


the list goes on...

Bringing Science to the Buzz

Dan Vergano makes a leap and subsequent splash.

[Shilvio] D. Linton

Student in LSC 212

          Dan Vergano has really moved up in life. From his days researching for PBS to a senior writer-editor with National Geographic Society. Now comes the next big step in his career with BuzzFeed. Whaa?

          Vergano says he hasn't really changed jobs he’s just changed his target audience to the generation obsessed with the internet. Citing the decline of the physical media, Vergano is just getting the cool science news to the generation that may never pick up a magazine.

          He still tells sensational science stories, but he wasn't in the business of looking for a nugget of science he wanted to impart tohis audience that day. It’s not hard to imagine; “every story in the modern world has science behind it.”

          It wasn’t clear as to why he left National Geographic (my science writing instructor’s dream job) and something I’m suspicious of. One thing is certain, Vergano deeply respects digital interfaces. They allow readers to effectively pass on things that would be newsworthy and adds another layer of trust. Who do you believe more? Advertisers sticking something in your face or your aunt Minnie who passes an article to you via social media?

For the record, I do trust my Aunt Minnie.

          Regardless of why he’s left the big daddy of science writing, Vergano hasn’t retired his journalistic ethics. He’s still practicing investigative reporting with a high degree of professionalism, whether it be exposing Exxon Mobil at the root of climate naysayers or checking out the plausibility of force fields on Humvees.

Vergano expertly closed the question answer section by mentioning he had BuzzFeed stickers.

This man is experienced.

The Power of the Phalange

         On Sunday, I hurt my thumb playing volleyball. It was a spectacular set that came my way. Just pure gold. I was in position 4, outside hitter. I am a pretty decent spiker (Better known as a killer (because you should be getting the point by putting the ball down (get it? (put it down..?)))))

Right there, the number 4 position.

          I got an AWESOME set from one of my teammates. He set it quickly to match my light jumping style. Feeling the spike as something that should have happened naturally, I swung at it with my right hand. (I am right handed (for the record)). The set wasn't intended for that hand; it was supposed to go to my left hand so I could hammer it down (and get the kill)! I spiked at the ball (technically, I wasn't spiking at the ball) at full force. My thumb was pushed all the way back. As soon as I horribly executed the play feeling my thumb, not in the right place, I grabbed it (while midair still if I may add that) and grimaced.

The point was valid. (cheap but valid) 

Planetwalk Day Five

Coming soon!

Planetwalk Day Four 2015

Steps: ~25,500 

          Today was significantly harder than the other days (in my opinion) perhaps it was because I wasn't pushed very hard and the sudden jump in intensity. We started in the back of Frosty’s (a local restaurant). The asphalt was cracked and broken bleached by the sun.
          We slid out of the sight of the city in an instant. I would have missed it if I were looking at the 18-wheelers mowing through the worn. It seemed like the highway took a break in the city. It was easy to think we would continue down the highway, but that would be dangerous. There was no indication that we were expert Planetwalkers. I saw many instances where the walkers weren't following conventions. We were to walk against the flow of traffic, facing the incoming traffic. That way we would be able to see cars coming and would not be victim to the Doppler Effect.

          There was a calm while walking. The roars of the semis died down and faded into the open space. The rows of corn silage became a regular sight again. There was a hum in the air though. It wasn't coming from the us passing by. There was an ethanol plant right nearby. Two massive piles of corn being processed. The fields around the facility were being surveyed by XXX He was using a machine from XXX the previous year, they put some tech underground and he wanted to find them. He was like a savvy treasure hunter using a metal detector on the beach.
          I planned on walking with Nichole, but she was involved in another conversation. I decided to change gears to cruise control (at my pace).

a shadow of my former self, cast on a broken road

          Walking past houses sprinkled on the path. I left little notes in their mailboxes. They were literally just little hello's telling the relaying a little message to the people that I didn't have a chance to talk to in person. There was one that wrote that saying “Hi. I’m just informing you that Planetwalkers passed by your house today.”  I would include John Francis’s name so they would have something to look up and find out more. This would possibly open up a conversation in the future where people would check out what we are and what we did and have a little memento of something that could be valuable in the future. The method was kinda similar to what John did all those years ago. He didn’t speak but to introduce himself, he would have a little card that explained his situation, the small biography that I would give to the people if I had been speaking to them in person. I wanted to have these be like magical tickets that would bring us all together to a tea table in a gazebo to talk about what life is all about. Imagine what that would be like, a conversation between people about where they live and their place in the living environment! 

mailbox located!

Walking ahead

the first seen the first conversationability to break the glass.set an example to how to actreinforce the feeling of discovery and "firstness"
 

          The path to number one can be arduous. There are always things that sidetrack the wanderer. The first was a pair of brothers that were working with a disk plow. It could have been the middle of a chisel plow, but I saw there were no hooks on it. I thought that they were outfitting their rigs. It was quite the opposite. The brothers were breaking down the old plow for recycling. They said the steel may fetch some fair price somewhere. I thanked them for recycling. Using that preceding sentence, I cleverly introduced my field of study. They were pleasantly surprised and welcoming after that. We got into a little conversation about the different practices one can have on a field the size of his. There as a continuous silage on the field. These cats were getting everything right.

We ended the conversation with a picture.

Breaking down the old plow. Much respect.

Planetwalk Day Three 2015

          Walking was a lot easier today. I thought there was a lot of dust blowing around but in retrospect that just means I need to take a nice shower.

          I was talking and walking with Carlie (aka. Curly). I found out that she was a big-time photographer and wanted to take photos all day that day. I would be shadowing a pro today. We did a lot of lingering. Wherever there was a group of people, we were there to document it. Such is the life and time of a person that was in interested in the way that people saw and interacted with their environment.

          We got a complaint' that we went taking any time to paint or draw pictures. Something that the planet walker did was draw and write little haiku about what he saw on his travels. They are littered throughout his books aptly titled Planetwalker. I didn't think I [personally] did things like that ...but apparently I do. I've got this habit where I saw people on the train when while going to and fro. Some of the best ones happen in the morning on my way to my high school in Williamsburg (that was when I was in NYC). John too had done that. Now we were going to take a drawing break

          There is a barn in our path and we'll use that as our stopping path. It is a windbreak for us. All the chill slipped out of the air as we enjoyed the sun in its full glory. The air was warmer and started a gentle simmering on my skin. I decided to take off my layer of sweats to fully appreciate the life-giving warmth. The trademark barn red faded away blurring into a mahogany colored wood. The wash appeared to be painted by a skilled artisan. Planetwalkers take their time allowing nature to seep into their papers. Some use paints, others pens and pencils.

The soft sky is aptly punctuated with listless clouds each smoothly sailing dragging their transformed shadows across the ground.

          Leaving the barn with Carlie, I walked on. Eventually, I came across a young man (definitely over twenty (and according to a fellow Planetwalker, quite handsome)) and his father. They were the first people I had seen out during that day. They were doing something together and I was intrigued. They turned out to be moving gravel back in place. During the winter shoveling, they had inadvertently moved the gravel off of the driveway. today they were spreading it out again so their [dirt] driveway would be more protected from rainfall impact and not flow away with the rain that was expected the coming Friday. They turned out to be Dutch. They had loved the tranquil space that the outback offered. 

          There was a guy driving an ATV in a field of what was corn the previous year. The soil was tilled the previous year with a disk plow. The silage was half under the soil with little pieces sticking up.  He was planting new water drainage tiles and also placing GPS tags into the soil so he could find them later. Great idea!

          Back on the road. I broke from my walking partner curly. Carlie and picked up the Planetwalker's son, Luke Francis. We ended up walking up to catch up with his dad.

          We walked forwards. There wasn't much to talk about. Luke is eight years at the time and he didn't really feel the whole walking thing. He was saying that running would be better to do. “It got to there faster" he said. There was a different mindset. John started his walk after seeing an oil spill. His son, on the other hand, hasn't felt the same drive to walk. (funny word choice there aye?)

marching on...

I end dropping Luke off at the next group. The done after his dad. I returned to my pace on and trudged ahead. I had wanted to walk with someone the entire time to avoid something that happened last year. During the 2014 planet walk, I had gone at my own pace.

What happens at Shilvio pace
-   A chance to observe tree stands and their staccato-like nature on the landscape-   Silence-   A kind of walking cruise control

Planet Walk Day Two 2015

Steps: ~19,000

Today my walking partner is Anisa.

A photo of Anisa taking a photo

          I know we are going to go about twice the distance today. We're gonna start from a small town called Marion where we ended yesterday. A degree of calm leaving ng that small town. Their way of finding themselves seemed to be their little teenage-life crisis (as opposed to a mid-life crisis).

          I had walked through their feelings and we had lent an ear to their troubles. It felt as if there is a wide variety of troubles. There are the drivers’ troubles with seeing walkers. They seem to drive with caution, giving us right-of-way. It has probably been a few months since they had to know how to deal with people on the side effects of the road.

          I had taken a soils class and we were talking ab it about soils and how they are more directly important for different practices. As an environmental scientist, I feel I need deep understanding of soil in order to do research and talk to people about land and how they treat it. I found myself not walking on grass at the camp we are staying at with respect for the bulk density of the soil (amount of compaction (density) of a particular pedon (area and profile of soil)).  

America's praised 'white picket fence.'

A CAFO behind America's praised white picket fence.

          We treaded past a pile of snow that had fallen perhaps a month ago and was finally shrinking as the frozen water took its slow trip back to the soil. There was soot on the snow making it look darker than it would normally be. There were sediments as well. Sediments are broken down soil clods that can freely blow roll or float with the whims of the natural laws (usually pertaining to friction gravity and aerodynamics). The freeze-thaw cycle had gotten to this unfortunate portion of the soil. Thankfully it’s all part of a cycle.

          The cycle that we rely on for generating soil is impacted by the soil forming factors. Climate, parent material, biota (biology) relief (topography) modified by time. We humans are part of biota and deal significantly in the soil formation and deformation.

Planet Walk Day One 2015

Steps:~10,000

          The morning was cold but bearable. I started off doing some basic stretches that I do in kendo club practice.  The preceding night was spent keeping with the routine I've established, doing 200 sword strikes with the megaBoken, regular seburi and kata. I know we probably won't go very far, bit I want to be as ready as I can to take a long walk.

          It would be interesting if we had a faster pace.
The walk this time was around seven miles. Starting around eleven o'clock. It was not that windy as we started the weeklong trek.  After a series of photos to mark the beginning, we headed down the street. The first of many.

A non-selfie-serfie of the group.

          The pace was comfortable. There were a few people that hadn't done walking for an extended period of time. The first day was fitting of the atmosphere. The cool breeze brushed our faces gently, a prelude to what we would be Nature’s students were walking the path of wisdom some in single file, others and in groups of two or three.

I walked with Morgan (Purple).

Things we talked about 
*Walking the second time versus. the first time around

-There are some differences that I noticed this time as someone with experience. I had to take time with one person at a time or I wouldn’t be able to taken nature in its fullest. I walked with Purple today. She was also big on having more silence and conversation focused on the living environment around us.

*Different cropping systems

- It was obvious that there were differences, but we were interested in the differences in the decisions of the farmers especially since there were Amish farmers nearby.

*Hortonian overland flow.

- an occurrence where water flows on the soil surface with sparse (a little bit of) vegetation.

*Heavy soils and tillage.

Designated wetland sign. I was so happy when I saw it!

          The group is year has already split into two parts. I don't think it has to do with pace. I think it’s about involvement. Maybe some are seeing this more as a vacation than an experience. Near the front, Purple and I were burst ahead, away from what seemed like incessant chatter. We felt that a conversation about the environment could be achieved with observation coupled with our knowledge. She had taken a geomorphology class and was swing some of the landforms natural and man-made alike. I added my input with knowledge of soils and hydrological systems perspective. We noticed where tillage (inversion of the soil) was beneficial and where it was unnecessary and self-defeating. It was obvious where the people had some education or more sense for n the issues associated with water and soil interactions.

          During our walk, near the bridge (shown on the map as a pair of squiggly lines) we saw the second Amish buggy. There was no hood over this one. They seemed to be average on the bell curve of happiness.

          We ended in Geneva where we had a long conversation about small towns. Some of the kids had hurried resentment for their situation in the small area. There was a twenty-year-old that didn't really have aspirations beyond working in a factory. He started out in Florida... And then moved to Bern then to Geneva. In Geneva, there is a strange old fashion mentality where the kids are pitted against the older generation.
          The older people in n the community control most of the money and are the larger part of the decision-making process. The large complaint was that any god idea would be taken away and rebranded as the leadership's ideas. The kids didn't feel as if their opinions would he valued if they were given in for approval.

          Perhaps the worst part I see is that the kids may fall and not the same cycle as their predecessors. Think of the moms that put their daughters through valet because they didn't do that as children and wanted to do it themselves. Ellie, a fellow planet walker, suggested the awesome grant. The grant is given out to groups that want to pull it off a small project and project and they are given out frequently. That would free them from some of the autonomy issues that they face. 

Men!

That's the very first strike in Kendo that is learned. It is a cut to the head. a straight beautiful arc. 

It's a 45 degree angle from over the kendoka's head, extending the angles between the wrist and elbows simultaneously. 

The strike is completed when the tsuba (hilt) is in front of the striker's face. Upon impact the striker grips the shinai to let inertia finish the hitting.

Speaking of Fridays...

I want to try something out on Fridays. It's not really a game thing but a game thing... kind of.


           What I'm imagining is me "playing Mabinogi and having conversations going on in the background. The reason for doing that would be to have something "to watch" while listening to something that was kinda interesting. (It would be interesting for me to do (both parts that is)). The weird thing is that I'm not sure if i should actually play the game or do auto things. 

           The game I'm talking about is Mabinogi. It's one of those Korean MMORPGs(massive multiplayer online role-playing game) but it has a very interesting combat system. After playing it back in '08 I didn't really like any other MMO. One interesting part is that you don't have to hack and slash to be successful in the game. The life skills are nice to do (I think I would be doing fishing and potion-making if I were to do this. (of course only if other people would rather see other things too. 

           If you have opinions, do share.

Dangerous stuff.

I was opening a container today.
It was impossible to open. One of those plastic containers that don't have a tab... One of those packages that's sealed with itself.

I realized this after I got it (of course)...

So I struggled trying to open it.

That didn't solve anything. Twist! So I started twisting it. After a bout twelve seconds, I had an annoying imprint of 'edge of plastic' on my thumb and index finger. Bite? yeah, I guess I was thinking of opening a thin plastic cover-slip like thing. 

So the reason why I didn't try something obviously smarter like a pair of scissors, is that I don't have a pair at my office. 

Things I have in my office
[Black History] Calendar from Tastee Patee Bakery & Grill in NYC
Some maps,
Lots of tea.
paper (computer, lined, graph)
normal pencils (good for scribbling on journals) 
permanent makers (good for lending to people (you tend to not need them when you have 'em))
RED sharpie pen (excellent for marking up papers (making them bleed( with constructive criticism)))
etc. 

Right, No scissors. 

So finally, I thought, maybe there's a pair down here in the common-ish area. (We all like communism to some extent) Magically, there was a pair of scissors. Well, it was scissor-like. Are they fabric scissors, sheers? 

In any case, they worked and of course, the next danger jumped out. The plastic once cut had blade-like qualities. 

The Shilvian Spiral [part 2]

Sei rets! (Line up)

Seiza! (Sit)

Kiotsuke! (Be at attention)

Mokuso! (

I plunge again into myself to see what I will find,
the spinning world the tumultuous waves, the world within my mind.

Within my mind are words and deeds done with in conscious thought,
Blended with ideas both bright and dark the ones today taught.

Within myself I plow and parse through ideas I call myself  ,
As time slows down they settle down and pack neatly on the shelf.

Finally reset.

With peace,
Without stress,
Without fear.

Finally realigned.

Without indecision,
Without restriction,
With poise,
With purpose.

Know the paths to take,
Know their sinuosity's,
Know their  steepness's,
Anticipate their ends.

I am ready
I stand renewed


Mokuso yame! (Stop/end)

Rei! (bow)