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I typically make a few charitable donations a year. One or two of these are to specific causes and organizations that I care about. Some will be in lieu of a gift and therefore meaningful to another person. And the rest are for causes that I care about but associated with some sort of athletic … Continue reading
Several years ago, while I was living in my previous home, I had a wasp crawl up my pants on Halloween (October 31, which by the way is pretty cold where I live), while I was standing at the sink washing dishes. This didn’t end well for me (they figured I had been stung around … Continue reading
In the past several weeks I’ve been reflecting a lot on racism and systemic racism. I’ve read Superior: The return of race science by Angela Saini and White Fragility: Why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism by Robin Diangelo. I’ve added other books to my summer reading list as well. This … Continue reading
So yesterday I completed a sprint duathlon. Just for fun and on my own because we are still in the midst of social distancing due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the morning I got up and had some Greek yogurt and fruit and then I went and did a 5 km run, 20 km bike, … Continue reading
When you’re used to clear water coming out of the tap it’s easy to make assumptions about how clean a water body is based on how clear it is. This means that most people assume that the North Saskatchewan River through Edmonton, Alberta, Canada is pretty dirty, particularly in the spring. The visible brown colour … Continue reading
This is an excerpt from a paper I wrote for a class during my PhD so it is a little more academic sounding than most of my posts, but I am constantly being reminded of this book and how it broadened my perspective and awareness of how society shapes science but then how the science … Continue reading
Typically when I sit down to write my blog post each week I go looking for research that I find interesting or for answers to questions that I or others have (if you have questions feel free to send them my way). But, what I have realized is that, as a result, I rarely consider … Continue reading
Nature should invite everyone, but it doesn’t. National parks have a long history of excluding Indigenous peoples. A group of teenagers walking through the woods is viewed with suspicion. Women fear being alone in nature because of who might come around the corner or out of the bushes. Dog walkers and cyclists have a long … Continue reading
With the Alberta Government planning to get rid of a long list of provincial parks of various forms, I thought it was worth revisiting the benefits of parks. There are multiple types of parks that vary in the balance between conservation and human recreation. But if the presence of a tree on my street can … Continue reading
As summer starts up so do campfires and toasted marshmallows. So what gives a golden brown, melty marshmallow its amazing flavour? What makes them puff up? And why isn’t a burnt one as sweet anymore? Let’s start with the ingredients of a marshmallow. A marshmallow is around 50% air. This actually starts to answer our … Continue reading
Connecting with Science 