It’s here – 2015 has arrived. And in a month or so, I’m headed off to Ecuador. I seem to be frequently getting the question: Are you getting excited? The answer: Well, not exactly. Not yet. Under normal circumstances, I would be. But 2014 took a lot out of me, and here, at the start of 2015, all I can say is there’s no place like home. I’m content to sit in my living room with a cat on my lap and stare out at the sunshine on bright white snow, and simply not think about anything.
Author: nococlimoprof
Keeping Creativity Alive in the Ivory Tower
I have taught for 19 semesters straight – yes, almost 10 years – two or three classes per semester, sometimes with a lab. That’s 19 sets of midterms (2-3 per semester per class), 19 sets of final exams, probably close to 2000 students, and many thousands of homework assignments, papers, and projects to grade. Now, in my 20th semester of employment, I get to take a breather.
The face of climate change in an ice giant
Near the southern tip of Iceland, a great arm of ice stretches across a mossy, gnarled landscape toward the sea. It writhes down the mountain at a snails pace, from it’s home at Myrdalsjökull, the cap of ice atop a sleeping volcanic monster.
At the foot of Sólheimajökull, near the southern tip of Iceland, June 2013.
GSA Resource Roundup
Alternate Post Title: Saving the Planet – One Website at a Time
I recently added Canada to the list of countries I’ve visited. (I know, of all the places I’ve been in this world, I had never been across the border just to the north.) Vancouver gave me a chance to experience truly cloudy skies, rain, lush green vegetation, and a rush of thousands of geoscience enthusiasts on their way to catch the next talk at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America.
Afraid of ghosts? I’ve got something scarier.
In honor of the spooky time of year, I thought I would share with you a little spookiness from a trip to Scotland awhile back.
Ardvreck Castle sits on a lonely spit of land in the middle of gloomy Loch Assynt in the northwest Scottish Highlands. If all you know about Scotland are scenes from Rob Roy and Braveheart, and descriptions from books such as Outlander, whatever you imagined the Scottish Highlands to look like, you would find it here at Ardvreck.
The ruins of Castle Ardvreck on the shores of Loch Assynt in the northwest Scottish Highlands.
An unusually spectacular autumn in Colorado?
Despite the fact that I’m a scientist, I don’t keep a year-to-year record of leaf beauty in Colorado. I wish I had, because this year seems unusually spectacular.
Late October in my front yard.
Learning to write all over again
I might be crazy, but I’ve decided to keep a blog in Spanish. I’m not linking it to FB – but if you want to read it, you can find it here: A Través de la Niebla (Through the Fog). Actually, if you speak Spanish, I’d appreciate feedback from time to time. Learning to write in another language involves going through the process of learning how to write all over again. I suddenly feeling a lot of empathy for my students – all those times I’ve returned papers slathered in red ink.
The theme photo for my Spanish-language blog ‘Through the Fog’ – courtesy of the California landscape.
Should I ban wifi in my classes?
Would there be cries of outrage if I asked students to turn off their cell phones and shut the lids of laptops and tablets? I’ve never really cared much about students using wifi in my classes. I guess I’ve figured that if they can’t control their own tendencies toward distraction, that’s their problem – and they need to figure out how to deal with it. But maybe it’s not just their problem.
Climate, Culture, and the Cauca River in Santa Fe, Colombia
Those of you carrying around an image of Colombia as a lush tropical haven are not far off when it comes to many parts of the country, I’m sure. But in a country with so many mountains, you’re bound to have a rain shadow somewhere. That would be where you would find the pueblo of Santa Fe. Resting in a topographic pocket between two cordilleras of the Andes, this place sees little rain. Surrounded by wilted vegetation and crispy golden grasses, I could almost imagine I was in California.
Santa Fe’s landmark church in the Central Plaza.
NASA’s Earth Exchange – Innovating ways to communicate climate change
I would love to see someone I know win $25,000 for designing an app to use data on NASA’s Earth Exchange (NEX). I’m so excited to see what’s happening with NASA’s Virtual Workshop and Challenge. One of the purposes of this blog is to keep track of really cool things I come across in my reading – online or otherwise – and share it with all of you. This particular opportunity is worth noting. (Note: This blog post will definitely be categorized under ‘Geeky Science’). Continue reading
Northern Colorado Climo Prof 