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Tai Munro

I am passionate about making science, sustainability, and sport accessible through engaging information and activities.
Tai Munro has written 589 posts for Connecting with Science

Changing the message about mistakes

As an athlete I know that mistakes are part of how I improve. I fall when figure skating, I eat the wrong food at a dragon boat festival, I forget to put my goggles down for the first lap of a triathlon swim. These were all part of my learning process and the point was … Continue reading →

Is simulated nature the same?

I’ve written before about the physical and psychological benefits of seeing and spending time in nature. Similarly, I’ve written about some of the barriers that people face in accessing natural settings. Which leads to the question of whether simulated nature has the same benefits as the real thing. Browning et al (2020) asked this question … Continue reading →

Why I love grading

I have always found grading students uncomfortable, so I adjust or change the assessment in courses whenever I can. I inherited a course once that had a paper, but writing a paper wasn’t a relevant skill for the course so I took it out and replaced it with a video which related to the presentation … Continue reading →

Is anyone else talking to their animals?

Okay, so the other day a friend called me out for having conversations on Instagram between myself, my cats, and the service dog in-training I am currently raising (@tai.m42, @arielandtempest, and @dww_chico respectively). I’m definitely missing my social interaction at the moment and that is definitely manifesting itself as some conversations with my animals only … Continue reading →

Reparations and Community Health

It is well documented that Black and other marginalized communities have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Rates of infection, hospitalization, and death are all higher for individuals who are Black compared to white. A new study led by Harvard Medical School examined how monetary reparations to the descendants of Africans enslaved in the US could … Continue reading →

The role of climate change in the current pandemic

Most of the discussion around climate change and the current pandemic focuses on how actions to combat climate change have been set back by the battle against the covid-19 pandemic or perhaps the opportunity to integrate climate policy into the global and local recovery plans. But research by Beyer, Manica, and Mora (2021) indicates that … Continue reading →

Why I give a group assignment

The introduction to sustainability course I teach has one group assignment that students need to do if they want an A in the course. (I use a grading approach called specifications grading where letter grades are determined by the amount and type of work rather than the overall quality which all must meet a particular … Continue reading →

Wandering Brains

When I was a camp leader we used to joke that the secret to being a good leader was having a shorter attention span than the kids in the camp. I use a variation of this same philosophy in my teaching. I try to use a variety of different approaches to teaching and learning, and … Continue reading →

All about puppies

I have an 8 week old puppy in the house and he’s making writing my blog post this week a little more challenging, so I thought I may as well use him for inspiration. I’ve noticed that if he can see the training food pieces he doesn’t really care that I have one in my … Continue reading →

Birds that change colours AND wear snowshoes

I find ptarmigan quite fascinating. They live in alpine and tundra areas. These areas are not typically bird habitat, but ptarmigan like grouse primarily live on the ground. They walk around foraging for plants and occasional insects. They will live in these barren areas all year round, so it isn’t surprising that they are well … Continue reading →

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