Environmental awareness

How environmentally aware are you? Do you have a memory of who it was that first enlightened you about how humans affect their environments and not always in a sustainable way?

I am of course talking here from the perspective of our physical environments. Those which are the providers of our physical nourishment. In the shadow of the Live Earth concerts,I've been considering how I grew in awareness of human exploitation of natural resources. At a great girls out dinner in Chinatown recently, two friends were discussing their anticipation and expectations of the Live Earth concert the following evening. Ever the eco-bunny I considered going along for the 'cause' but declined on the grounds that I'm not all that into crowds and concerts.

It was at this evening that I recalled the theme tune to The Wombles - "...making good use of the things that we find, things that the everyday folks leave behind". We laughed about the fact that I actually have this theme song on my iPod and it crops up quite regularly in the song shuffle.

Seriously though, even though I only remembered one of the characters names from childhood memories of the show, I now believe that these guys are an icon of environmental awareness for me. Should I be surprised? I am a child of the 70s after all.

Thanks to The Wombles, I'll carry on recycling my household waste as I have done for many years, "even bottles and tins". It feels like I'm doing something small to "answer the call" as Live Earth are imploring us to do. Also thanks to The Wombles, one day, when I own a golden spaniel, I already have his name worked out - Orinoco!

Missed me? I was on holiday for 4 weeks. I was convinced I had blogged my leave of absence before I departed. I noticed now that I hadn't. Our holiday was only slightly too long, which has made the return of focus to my PhD a little challenging. It's only Day 2 back at the desk, so I'm treading lightly. It's not all that amusing how a short holiday can make my Action-list bulge at the seams.

In these 2 days some progress has been made - mainly financial. Considering it's June and I had not yet been paid for being here since November last year, it's high time. I'm hoping you're nodding with me.

I'm also back in the field next week. Not for my project yet, sadly, however it will be a good exercise nonetheless because it's for the bigger project that mine forms part. I'm sure this expedition will go along way to me adjusting my state of mind with respect to how far I am. Can you believe I've been doing this for a year already? Some days I wonder how I've spent all that time.

Yesterday I also heard that I have been short-listed for an associate lecture post here. This is very exciting since I applied nearly 2 months ago and was beginning to think that the lack of communication was because I was not successful this time around. The interview is tomorrow. The lecturing will actually be for those courses that my supervisor can no longer present due to her other commitments. There are 3 undergraduate courses and a Master's level course. The courses are all right up my alley of scientific knowledge and experience and should slot into my career building aspirations quite nicely, thank you. *dreamily considering my own office in these hallowed halls*

Watch out soon for some more paper-based writings of mine. I'm working on 2 for industry-related periodicals while I blog. If you can imagine the world-wide collection of scientific periodicals as a continuum, you'd see the one I'm submitting to on the layman-side for the non-technical reader. The other is sort of in the middle, scientific enough for local (South African) industry specific readers. Here's hoping that they are both accepted on submission and need no revisions. To finish the mental picture, the other end of the continuum are Science and Nature. The 'one-day' list for every aspiring scientist.

Back to building the "Published Papers" part of my resume!

With gratitude

One of the best things about reading theses and dissertations is reading the acknowledgments. It's about finding out a little bit about the writer, who thereafter is usually referred to in the third person and past tense. As though some amorphous mind created and engineered a piece of work that now contributes to the body of science. In my humble opinion it's never as simple or removed from reality as that. I guess that's where the tradition came from - including a page or so recognizing those who assisted along the way.

I have recently learned that it's more surprising to find yourself, at that point in time - the reader, mentioned.

Claire - I didn't read your whole dissertation. And I probably only gave the acknowledgments a cursory glance. However it is praise indeed that I made a very honorable mention, especially for all the 'computer stuff'. LOL! *bow* Thank you for the nod.

And most importantly: Congratulations on the submission of your MSc. A grand achievement indeed. Now while your work is in the system, you get some well earned time-off. Let your brain rest so that you can start your doctorate at some yet-to-be-decided-UK-university, refreshed and rearing to go.

Welcome to the club of esteemed scientists.


Todays Vocab Word : Secchi depth (pronounced "secky") a measurement that indicates water clarity.

It seems to have slipped my mind...

One of the intensions of this blog was to include in amongst my ramblings, a Vocab word of the day. Well I noticed that it's been a while since I remembered one of those. So here's one on it's own. As a reminder token.

Todays Vocab Word : Lysimeter A device for measuring the percolation of water through soils and for determining the soluble constituents removed in the drainage.

Now it seems I have to start reading again to find some more words to keep this objective going.

The heat is on!

Somebody open the fridge door! It's been crazy hot these last few days. Which I guess is not that unseasonable, and nonetheless leaving a strong sense of discomfort. Sure feels like climate change scientists are right about it getting hotter.

And apparently there was rain last night in some areas of Joburg. Not even that far from us. Storm cells must have completely missed us. Either that or I was so tired I slept through a storm of near apocalyptic intensity. No wonder today it's humid in the city.

It's at this time of the year that I remember how pleasureable it was to be an undergrad - with 3 months summer holiday. Spending time chilling (or burning) by the pool in preparation for a challenging year ^H^H^H^H 9 months ahead, seems like a perfect way to spend 3 years. And so those days are over and we're back to the office early in January to get ahead start on our projects.

Speaking of which mine is slowly getting off the ground. This week's action list is to make contact with all those people who will be suppling some input and or data to this whole process. Then at least any delays are on their part and I can continue with my stuff. Additional good news is that the corporate financing this whole deal has finally agreed with some caveats and changes to the bigger project scope and approach. This is good news especially since I didn't get the bigger bursary I had applied for. The sad news is that the physical money may not be seen until probably June - I'm sure you have an idea of bureaucratic process in any good corporate.

One year on from leaving Obsidian and the happiness quotient is well up compared with this month 2005. The bank account is depleted rather, and it's a little inconvenient without a car of my own. Thankfully I have a fabulous mom and sister who subsidise a little and lend out their cars a lot. They will be remembered in heaven.

*raises imaginary glass* Here's to a happy, healthy and progressive year 2007!