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22 December 2016
Maine Shake Map Using Surficial Geology and Crowd-Source Responses
Researchers in Maine (Marvinney and Glover 2015) have created a clever earthquake risk shake map using readily available surficial geology maps and online responses from state residents. Did you feel it? That is the name of a USGS Earthquake Hazards Program interactive website that “collects information from people who felt an earthquake and creates maps that show what people experienced and the extent of damage.” I first became interested in …
28 December 2012
Dustbowl Adaptations: Conservation, Irrigation
The excellent Ken Burns documentary, “Dustbowl” (see previous post) featured personal accounts of many individuals who experienced the disaster first hand. The film emphasized a mostly non-technical, human perspective that, I thought, did a good job of placing us into the shoes of those who endured incredibly tough circumstances – within the United States. In the second half of the film, Burns introduced Hugh Hammond Bennett and other soil scientists …
7 July 2011
USGS Raises World Lithium Estimate
Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni (Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons). As a college student around 1976 I took a general ecology class taught by Jim Strayer. There was much discussion of non-renewable resources and the inevitable prospect of running out of gas. We’d already experienced gas shortages in 1973-74. Mr. Strayer wanted us to think forward and prepare for significant changes in our consumer lifestyle. At some point, someone suggested electric cars …
22 December 2010
House and Senate Pass America COMPETES Re-authorization
America COMPETES Re-authorization, amended by the Senate last Friday, passed the House Tuesday and is headed for Obama’s Signature Reported by the Triangle Coalition for Science and Technology Education: Christmas came early today for STEM education. In an unexpected move at the tail end of the “lame duck” session, Congress passed the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (H.R. 5116) this afternoon (December 21, 2010). The bill is now on …
1 April 2010
A Look at Rivers from Space
The above photo is a false-color image taken from the Landsat 7 satellite in 2000. The Lena River Delta is frozen most of the year but, during the summer, thaws into an enormous wetland complex of about 11,000 square miles. It’s a wildlife refuge. The Lena River flows into the Laptev Sea, on the north coast of Russia. Here’s a view of the Lena River Delta taken near the ground. …
John Freeland earned a PhD in Soil Science (Pedology) at North Dakota State University and is a consultant working in the private sector. He has published soils research and taught at the high school and college levels. John is interested in wetlands, soil genesis, science communication, the intersection of art and science, and soil-water-landscape processes. John lives near the Ohio-Michigan border and plays bass in multiple music projects.