Hi blog fans,
Here I am at the tail end of my college career and I'm already working. I just finished up a wildfire plan for a zipline operation potentialy coming to Port Angeles. It was an interesting project because I didn't have much information specifying what the plan should look like. The DNR had a couple of examples, but they were for housing developments and not a zipline operation. Anyhow I got positive feedback from the zipline developer and the district fire chief. I did need a good bit of editing assistance from Dwight but that's too be expected. I was a good primer project because now I'm knee deep in writing a wildfire plan for the whole county. It's a big project but I think it will turn out to be a well done plan that will benefit the community. I've also been working on a website that will act as a hub for links and job openings in natural resource careers for the peninsula. You can find the website here: http://opnaturalresourcecareers.weebly.com
Monday, August 3, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Stats!
Hey blog fans!
Your web hero and his snow team have been moving forward with data analysis and we've achieved some useful SWE modeling. Yeah!! As would be expected, SWE in the upper elevation snowcourses models fairly close to the snotel sites while the lower elevation sites do not. What methods are we using to model SWE you ask? Well were doing a standard linear regression of SWE to Elevation by month for all snowcourses and snotel sites. Because of the data spread, due to differences in siting and elevation between sites, we also log transformed the data as log SWE/elevation and log SWE/log elevation to get tighter models. We also did a standard regression model of each snowcourse SWE values to each of the three snotel sights to determine which snotel models which snowcourse most accurately. We are currently in the process of evaluating each model by laying all the printouts on a table in the NASA lab to get the best viewpoint. Tune back in later for our forthcoming tech report.
Monday, May 11, 2009
More snow samples!
Dwight and I took our last trip up to Hurricane Ridge to collect depth and SWE values from the snowcourse we inherited from Bill Baucus of Olympic National Park. It was a beautiful day with clear skies and sunny weather. We stumbled upon some bear tracks while we were out there. He didn't seem too big, based on paw size, but his tracks looked like he was in a hurry. We also got our May 1st(or close to it anyway) snow samples for DNA analysis. We sterilized the shovel, dug two snow pits, got samples of surface and bottom snow, labeled everything and toted it back the the freezer at the college. It'll be exciting to see what we find and if there's anything difference between these and our samples from April 1st. We should be starting our extraction soon so tune back in for the results.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Snowstats
Ah...Data analysis. Wouldn't science be nice if all you had to do was collect the data and then let it organize and present itself? Since that's not the case, I'm spending a sunny afternoon sitting in a lab crunching numbers in R. At least there is the payoff at the end of a job completed and knowledge gained. If only there weren't so many outliers and everything fit into nice regression lines; explanations would be so much easier. This is where the art of interpretation comes in, when you need find order in the chaos of numbers. I think I might default to a nihilistic interpretation of my data and just say that there really is no meaning to the universe or anything in it beyond the subjective meaning we give it; there is no truth, only opinions. I wonder how many projects I can get away with that conclusion on before people stop paying attention to anything I say.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
update
Hi everyone,
It seemed as though we were heading into spring then, whammo, we got more snow dumped on us here on the North Olympic Peninsula. Oh well, at least we'll have snow to sample for the next few weeks. Me and my crack sampling team of one (Rebecca) hiked up to Deer Ridge for sampling on friday, Mar 6th. It was good to get the exercise and it wasn't too cold out either. We only had enough snow for sample at the top two sites, the rest were bare or only dusted. The weather station data seems to be more important though. We had a meeting with Andre from Battelle labs, he's one of the designers of the hydrologic forecasting model, and he stated that they haven't used the snow data as much as they've used the weather station data. The snow data is only used as a comparison for predicted depth while the met station data is downloaded as an input into the model. One of the interesting things I took from that meeting is that there are still some information gaps in the hydrologic modelling world, namely evapotraspiration rates. This was good news as gaps in data often equates to jobs for aspiring scientists. While there are general rates for ground cover type, there hasn't been much fine-tuning as far as evapotranspiration rates for different species types at different temperatures and levels of moisture. If I apply for a masters program at a later date, I think this is a project I would be interested in.
It seemed as though we were heading into spring then, whammo, we got more snow dumped on us here on the North Olympic Peninsula. Oh well, at least we'll have snow to sample for the next few weeks. Me and my crack sampling team of one (Rebecca) hiked up to Deer Ridge for sampling on friday, Mar 6th. It was good to get the exercise and it wasn't too cold out either. We only had enough snow for sample at the top two sites, the rest were bare or only dusted. The weather station data seems to be more important though. We had a meeting with Andre from Battelle labs, he's one of the designers of the hydrologic forecasting model, and he stated that they haven't used the snow data as much as they've used the weather station data. The snow data is only used as a comparison for predicted depth while the met station data is downloaded as an input into the model. One of the interesting things I took from that meeting is that there are still some information gaps in the hydrologic modelling world, namely evapotraspiration rates. This was good news as gaps in data often equates to jobs for aspiring scientists. While there are general rates for ground cover type, there hasn't been much fine-tuning as far as evapotranspiration rates for different species types at different temperatures and levels of moisture. If I apply for a masters program at a later date, I think this is a project I would be interested in.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Pacific Northwest water forecast draft podcast
Here's a draft of a podcast I'm doing in relation to the irrigation monitoring project and the NASA forecasting model and snow sampling project. This is more of an overview of the regional issue.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
The PSGB Conference
Hi again blog fans,
I'm recently back from the Puget Sound Georgia Basin Conference which was held in Seattle this year. It was very exciting and I got to rub elbows with a number of high ranking and respected scientists in their many fields. When I say many fields, I'm not joking. I met terrestial ecologists, marine ecologists, terrestrial-marine interaction (nearshore) ecologists, fish toxicologists, water quality specialists, resource managers, policy makers, and others whom I didn't even ask for a job description. It was a smorgasbord of people with information. I was happy that Anne Shaffer from the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife requested I put together a poster. It's always nice to feel wanted (unless it's by the law). The poster is attached to the right, although in a much smaller size than real life. In some ways it was a fishing attempt for funding, but it also helped promote the work of the Elwha Nearshore Consortium (ENC) and link their goals to the goals of the Puget Sound Partnership and the Washington Sea Grant. It was nice to get to answer questions about the ENC for people who were already aware of the PSP and WSG, but not the ENC. I also like going to conferences more as a presenter than as a spectator, it feels more important when you also have information to share. I had such a great time over two days that I think when the PSGB returns two years from now I'll probably go for all three days and the pre-event functions. Maybe I'll see some of you there?
I'm recently back from the Puget Sound Georgia Basin Conference which was held in Seattle this year. It was very exciting and I got to rub elbows with a number of high ranking and respected scientists in their many fields. When I say many fields, I'm not joking. I met terrestial ecologists, marine ecologists, terrestrial-marine interaction (nearshore) ecologists, fish toxicologists, water quality specialists, resource managers, policy makers, and others whom I didn't even ask for a job description. It was a smorgasbord of people with information. I was happy that Anne Shaffer from the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife requested I put together a poster. It's always nice to feel wanted (unless it's by the law). The poster is attached to the right, although in a much smaller size than real life. In some ways it was a fishing attempt for funding, but it also helped promote the work of the Elwha Nearshore Consortium (ENC) and link their goals to the goals of the Puget Sound Partnership and the Washington Sea Grant. It was nice to get to answer questions about the ENC for people who were already aware of the PSP and WSG, but not the ENC. I also like going to conferences more as a presenter than as a spectator, it feels more important when you also have information to share. I had such a great time over two days that I think when the PSGB returns two years from now I'll probably go for all three days and the pre-event functions. Maybe I'll see some of you there?
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
let it snow
Hi everybody,
Snow is the theme for my current REU research work load. We're still doing weekly (or every other week) snow sampling in the Dungeness for the NASA forecasting model. I'm also working on the protocol for snow microbial sampling, which will be done at some of the same sites in the Dungeness. This friday the snow team is heading up to Hurricane ridge to do a snow survey with Bill Baccus of Olympic National Park for their climate and mountain lakes program. So I should be knee deep (heh heh heh) in snow for a while.
The snowpack microbial survey is probably the coolest part of what I'm doing right now. It's a fairly young field so any work is considered significant. The thing I'm learning first off is how important it is to write a thorough methods section in papers. Dr. Barry has stressed as much in the past but it didn't hit home untill I had to try and write up a methods protocol off of science papers. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to fill in the blanks when someone has neglected to include a half-step here or there. Luckily I have knowlegeable proffesors I can rely on to help me connect the dots (right Dwight?....Bill?....anyone?). I've also learned some pretty cool things about microbes and snow. Bacteria is one of the most common sorces of nuclei for snow flakes to form around and microbial blooms in surface snow can reduce albedo and increase snowmelt rates up to three times. Cool huh? Tune in later (as if you weren't anyway) to find out more as my research progresses.
Snow is the theme for my current REU research work load. We're still doing weekly (or every other week) snow sampling in the Dungeness for the NASA forecasting model. I'm also working on the protocol for snow microbial sampling, which will be done at some of the same sites in the Dungeness. This friday the snow team is heading up to Hurricane ridge to do a snow survey with Bill Baccus of Olympic National Park for their climate and mountain lakes program. So I should be knee deep (heh heh heh) in snow for a while.
The snowpack microbial survey is probably the coolest part of what I'm doing right now. It's a fairly young field so any work is considered significant. The thing I'm learning first off is how important it is to write a thorough methods section in papers. Dr. Barry has stressed as much in the past but it didn't hit home untill I had to try and write up a methods protocol off of science papers. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to fill in the blanks when someone has neglected to include a half-step here or there. Luckily I have knowlegeable proffesors I can rely on to help me connect the dots (right Dwight?....Bill?....anyone?). I've also learned some pretty cool things about microbes and snow. Bacteria is one of the most common sorces of nuclei for snow flakes to form around and microbial blooms in surface snow can reduce albedo and increase snowmelt rates up to three times. Cool huh? Tune in later (as if you weren't anyway) to find out more as my research progresses.
Monday, January 12, 2009
2009 - the future is now!
Hi again my friends,
I hope 2008 treated you well, I know I had a blast. 2009 looks like it will be even better, especially after I graduate. Collecting snow samples has gotten a bit more exciting this year with the increased amount of early snow. I'm getting ready to head back out with Rebecca in the morning to sample from our hardest to access site. I'm hoping the recent rain we've had has melted some of the snow. I have the feeling however, that our recent rain in town was more recent snow up at elevation. It's nice to have challenges in life from which to grow, right?
I'm looking forward to going to the Puget Sound, Georgia Basin Conference in Seattle this Feb 8-11. I have to go as part of a class but I get to use water management in the Puget Sound as the subject for my paper in the class. I'll be able to apply some of my knowledge in water management gained from the NASA project in my paper research. It'll also be an opportunity to widen my focus from hydrology and decision making in the Dungeness and Elwha watersheds, to that of the greater Puget Sound region. I always enjoy overlapping projects because they help reinforce and expand my understanding of an issue. It also increases the bird kill rate per stone throw ;)
I hope 2008 treated you well, I know I had a blast. 2009 looks like it will be even better, especially after I graduate. Collecting snow samples has gotten a bit more exciting this year with the increased amount of early snow. I'm getting ready to head back out with Rebecca in the morning to sample from our hardest to access site. I'm hoping the recent rain we've had has melted some of the snow. I have the feeling however, that our recent rain in town was more recent snow up at elevation. It's nice to have challenges in life from which to grow, right?
I'm looking forward to going to the Puget Sound, Georgia Basin Conference in Seattle this Feb 8-11. I have to go as part of a class but I get to use water management in the Puget Sound as the subject for my paper in the class. I'll be able to apply some of my knowledge in water management gained from the NASA project in my paper research. It'll also be an opportunity to widen my focus from hydrology and decision making in the Dungeness and Elwha watersheds, to that of the greater Puget Sound region. I always enjoy overlapping projects because they help reinforce and expand my understanding of an issue. It also increases the bird kill rate per stone throw ;)
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