My abstract for the AAG Annual Meeting in New York, NY

I will be on my way to my second Association of American Geographers (AAG) meeting since becoming a graduate student here at Southern Miss. I am very excited to be able to go to New York city and to be able to bring my mom along for the journey! I look forward to getting feedback on my project from some of the wisest professors in the field. The following link is to my abstract for my poster session scheduled for Monday, February 27th from 12:40 to 2:40. If you happen to be at the conference, stop by and chat with me on my Thesis topic!

Abstract for AAG conference 2012

See you soon!

April

Green Peace...in a can of tuna

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/tunaleaguetable

I found this web article through Green Peace on Twitter. How do you feel about consuming tuna now? Does this change your mind? What are your thoughts?

Cleaner Energy

http://solarhbj.com/news/los-angeles-officials-mark-attainment-of-cleaner-energy-milestone-01294

I found this article through Twitter...I am glad to see our nation beginning to move in a positive direction. What are your thoughts?

My Green Places

Green pastures, rolling hills, mountains, a tree. I took this picture while visiting Gatlinburg, TN with my extended family. I absolutely love scenes like this one. I love the way this tree grows in what would be a perfect circle if there were no trunk and ground to stop it. I could see myself as a child here, playing and laughing, even though I had never been here before. These are the kinds of places, scenes, we are destroying for our ever needy lifestyles. I realize I have certain wants from this earth, but I have tried really hard to re-evaluate my position as of late. That is one of the many reasons I have persued my passion within the Geography masters program. I want to study the Earth, evaluate its pieces, and while I have but a small amount of knowledge at this time; I have found that we are tearing this Earth apart at a very rapid rate.

Rocks, trees, peaceful streams. This picture was taken on the same family trip and it is so peaceful to look at. This is becoming my passion. I knew I loved rocks, dirt, soil sampling, soil profiles, and well anything soil related! However, I had not realized how much river morphology facinated me until my first semester as a graduate student. I stumbled into the Library to do a project and found myself writing a Thesis Proposal and Annotated Bibliography that revolved around Rivers at the end of the semester. I am not sure what I will be able to contribute to the Geographic community based on my choice of study, but hopefully it will be worth my while. This particular photo of this river reveals change and stability working hand in hand. While the rushing waters move sediment, particles and aquatic life, the boulders are steadfast in their positions where they too were once carried to where they now lay.

This is a continuation of the previous river photo, and we begin to see that not only have boulders changed the wanting straight path of this river section, but fallen trees have added to the change. I look at these and feel a kind of peace. I can only hope that my children will be able to enjoy places like this when they are my age. If we begin to transform our lives now, we can begin to preserve areas like this one for future generations to look at, enjoy, and be amazed by.

The Geographic Realm: Speaker: John de Graaf on Sustainability

http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/artists/john_de_graaf_and_affluenza/

Speaker: John de Graaf on Sustainability

I listened to a great speaker today on sustainability. What is sustainability anyway? Well it does not always completely revolve around environmental issues, it can encompass a multitude of meanings. One that I grasped from de Graaf was that we Americans are less sustainable per acre than the average human. We are amongst the unhealthiest nations, and are the unhealthiest rich nation in the world. We are too fast paced, too impatient, and too demanding. We work too much and are more unhappy than most. We, as women are 50% more likely to be depressed than most other women in the world, and men are 30% more likely to have heart disease than most other men in the world.
I was amazed at how much information is right in front of us, but we fail to see the signs. There are many ways that we can slow down our lives, but we thrive for innovation and speed. If the average american just took time to spend with their family, stopped rushing through life, and stopped living beyond our means then we might live a little longer. It is shown that yes, compared to a European country, we do have more, we work longer, and we are more innovative; but at what cost? We are living to work, rather than working to live! We are trying to have the biggest and the best, but are not caring to look at what it is costing us...it is costing us our health.
Ever wonder why we pay so much for healthcare, we americans are health risks! We spend 50% of the WORLD budget in healthcare, but are a mere 4% of the population. We are killing ourselves in our efforts to out do everyone else. Why do you have to have the biggest or the best? Why does your house have to be the biggest on the block? Why do you have to have the biggest and the best car? Why are we in such a hurry to get places, or to do things? We are rushing through our lives so much that we are actually missing our lives altogether!
It is proven that since 1996 we as americans have more people file for bankruptcy than graduate from college. For the last 12 years, with increases in graduate rates, we still have more people in debt and filing for bankruptcy. We are a broken nation, economically and physically. This statistic has been this way one other time in our history, and that was the Great Depression! So what really can we say for our economic status now? It was said that we as humans have an ecologic foot print. This is in relation to our consumption rates and our trash rates. We americans have a 25 acre per human ecologic foot print, this means that it takes 25 acres a person to sustain our living right now. If this were constant for the world, then we would need 4 more planets to sustain our race! We are using too much and wasting even more!
Try to stop for a moment, exercise, live a little! Take a job for less money to have more time. Life is not about having the best, but about being "the best you" you can be! Be healthier, more active; but slow down! Decrease the stress in your life. You can decrease your stress levels by driving a little slower, taking your time and having social communication with others. It is shown that americans become more depressed because we have fewer social correspondants. We have but 2-4 people we can call upon to share our intimate secrets and lives with. We would be a happier people if we opened up and had better communication with others. Branch out, meet people, have faith, and communicate.
It also helps to be environmentally cautious. Whats best for the environment varies from person to person, but over all the theory is the same. Don't litter, use less resources, walk more or ride a bike, and be healthy! We can only help ourselves, noone else is going to do it for us. I highly suggest you look up John de Graaf. He has written several books and made several films dealing with sustainability. I think this is a great resource for starting or continuing research on this topic.

It's not about what you know, its about how you relay the message!

So, it is obviously not about what I know as a graduate student, but more about how I present myself. I both agree and disagree with my assessment! It becomes ever so easy for most to apply just the right amount of bull with the actual material, and this can cloud ones actual take on the material. One would then preceive that the presentee "really knows their stuff". But, where does the misconnection come into play? When does your appearance and attitude become not enough? Even in a sense of, you really know what you are talking about! You really have a point, a goal of making those that you are presenting to understand your logic, so why don't they see it?
I then calmed down and came to grips with my grade, honestly it was what I expected. I then got to hear what a great presentation sounded like...I was blown away. It was then obvious that I was graciously given then grade I got.
What is the point, just because you thought you tried hard doesn't mean you really did. I didn't, and it was obvious. I could have connected that material better. My sources were related to a point, but that point was a thin line of "How good am I to present this?!" While I do know how to talk, and present myself in a professional manner; I did not get my point across. I was too technical! Me, technical! Ha Well to the one that mattered I was, so for those lowly uneducated grad students that some how made it this far, sorry I did not "Dumb" it down enough for you!
My next presentation will be on Soils. That is it. Why does soil matter? If that is too technical, then I'm screwed!