Brain dump proceeds childbirth

Well I'm officially ready to be a parent. In other words, I want our spawn out of my body. His foot is perma-lodged in my ribs and the dog thinks I'm glued to the couch as his personal petting machine. Work is going a bit better than couch time at home. Submitted 2 papers this month- one of them I am especially proud of because it represents three years of dissertation toil including 24-hour and seasonal studies conducted on stream geochemistry in the polar desert of Antarctica. During this toil, I developed better sampling and writing methods- but this paper was filled with growing pains and revisions (much like my pregnato body and my soon-to-be son, Alex). Isn't it bodily revision to grow outward?... or to develop fingernails and a brain? Or maybe it isn't so much growth as it is a transfer of knowledge/energy/mass. My brain shrivels and grays and Alex's grows stronger and shiny. My son will soon be a genius an I will soon be eating peanuts with my toes. But I get to change his diapers first. May he never change mine.

International Applied Geochemistry Symposium

Here's a picture of me, Kirk Nordstrom, Russell Harmon, and LeeAnn Munk. LeeAnn and I were heading the IAGS Trace and Toxic element session in New Brunswick this June. It was a success! We had great speakers and good attendance. I was really happy at the diversity of people who presented both demographically and topic-wise. Kirk was the guest speaker in our session due to his long time trace element expertise (he made some of the first measurements of negative pH, & conducts much of his research at some of the coolest Acid Mine drainage (AMD) sites around while working for the US Geological Survey.) Russ is the enthusiastic president of the International Applied GeoChemistry Society (IAGC) and does exciting work on chemical weathering in Panama and last but not least LeeAnn is my AMD researching colleague who determined which metals adsorbed to sediments as conditions became more basic at naturally acidic sites (not to mention AMDs). We spent time eating blocks of cheese staying up crazy hours in Antarctica... and will soon be releasing a series of exciting Antarctic discoveries!!! Also of note, I am 7 months pregnant in this picture. I can't imagine giving up the creativity of academia, nor the joy that having a new family will bring. Balance is good!

Blurry picture in a well-defined blog

I realize that my blog suffers from being nerdy. I avoid topics that might paint me as something other than the most serious or inspired of scientists, enthused by the prospect of discovery. I refuse to link to other blogs that don't relate to life in the Antarctic, Peru, or other regions that cry out- discover new things. In my secret life I write a blog that is more like chocolate or dog barf- something a bit more creamy and alluring but at the same time repulsive. The poetic things and the burps that repeat in my head.

But the best I can do here, is to show this blurry picture of the landscape between the Andes and Lima. Barren. The little water that their is suctioned into agricultural plots that are exported out of the country. The lack of water and the associated climate and character relating to that water are subjects sciencey enough for this blog. They make me want to write another proposal requesting money to continue examining these issues. (another topic that fits with the genre I've dedicated this blog to). Anyway, don't expect me to become more poetic here. I'll save that for a book of shorts when I retire from the science life in my 80s.

Denman Undergraduate Research Forum

Just a quick update- both Carla and Michael presented their research at the OSU Denman Undergraduate Research Forum!  Carla presented alkalinity and cation data from Coshocton, showing that storm events are the major downstream contributor of both--- we'll be working more on the climate implications.  Michael presented silicate flux and relative cation abundance data to understand how the Cordillera Blanca compares to other glacier covered regions.  Similar silica yield normalized to flow-area, but much different weathering mechanisms (much of the silica is dissolved in the highly acidic-sulfide rich waters, rather than silicate weathering.)  

Pictured below: Me and Carla (Berry is not pictured)

&

Me, Michael, and Bryan

Pictures from our 87 degree-day April sampling

Annette & I took some pictures from our recent cornfield endeavors.  (Thanks for bringing your camera Annette!)

Me waiting for the Licor to take a soil respiration measurement from a no-till corn field prior to planting.
Me taking a groundwater percolation sample from the large, in-ground, lysimeter in Coshocton, Ohio.  

Surface water runoff from the mixed landuse site.  The water is cloudy because the weir was recently dredged to remove sediment from the water-chemistry auto-sampler.

Annette and Carla sample the stream above the dredging activity. 

 

The microbial underworld, undergraduates, and exciting implications

It has been a while since I've blogged.  I've been sciencing away

Also, Carla and Michael, the two undergrads working with me, have been working up their data on agricultural land alkalinity and tropical glacier silicate weathering, respectively for posters coming up this week and in May!  Nice Work!  

And I have some new very, very, very, very exciting data from the cornfields that has some implications for the affects of landuse on the carbon cycle.  I am dying to bust it out here, but I haven't seen anything similar published to date, so for the moment, I'm like a kid waiting for the tooth fairy... jumping up and down in my seat. I hope I'm not leaking.

And it is back to the cornfields on Monday.  It will be as pictured below, the weather is supposed to be summeresque. 

 

Cornfields & Polar Days

Last week was a big week!  I went to the fields and sampled storm runoff from till and no-till plots as well as the forested and mixed landuse sites. It was a rare solo trip because we're approaching the busy season near the end of the quarter at OSU and the undergraduates all have exams to study for and reports to turn in.  The cornfields were far muddier than the forested sites and I suspect filtering those samples might take a while. I had a fun time getting the truck up one of the valleys and stayed in 4wd most of the day. From Friday's storm it is evident that much carbon is lost from plowed landscapes..., but I really have no idea what to expect in terms of soil respiration.  It doesn't seem that much could be living and breathing in the cornfield or even the other plots right now.  Temperatures have dropped from 50 F to 10 F today and won't be much warmer tomorrow.  Carla and I will head back to the fields tomorrow to hook the Licor up at our plots and see what baseline respiration is...pretty soon those plots will move from near flatline to robust exhaling. 

At any rate, on Saturday I went to COSI the Columbus Center of Science and Industry with Rachel Hinz and we led a group of 30 8th grade girls in flubber explorations.  They modeled glacier flow. Flubber is a mesmerizing glue substance that flows viscously and  shares some properties with glaciers... although as the girls noticed, flubber doe not melt.  After this, I flew down the stairs to give a brief slide show of Antarctic travels to a group of 3 to 50 year olds... my slide show followed an explosion set off to draw listeners in... I have to say COSI knows how to draw a crowd.  I may have to begin all my talks with a loud clang and some smoke.

  

A New President

On this historic day, Barack Hussein O'Bama became the first African American President of the United States of America. My parents were young children when public spaces still had 'white' and 'black' water fountains. Today it seems that race no longer divides us, that we are people first, a new united states. Yet, still we face many threats, some with distant enemies, and others we create in-country- like our love for fossil fuel and wreckless emission of greenhouses gases into the atmosphere. Our new president acknowledged all of these threats.

(I have special hope for a new energy policy featuring reduced carbon dioxide emissions. See aforemost NASA scientist's, Dr. Jim Hansen's recent letter Barack and Michele O'Bama).

Obama spoke "That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet."

"Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real... But know this, America - they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord."

Hobbies other than science?

The snow blazes down and fizzles out on our Ohio pavement and fieldwork feels distant. During this season, my poor schnauzer is skittish on the ice and our walks grow shorter. As gray blankets us, I miss the aesthetic aspects of being in the field. And when not working, I find myself reading dark literature until I get into a funk and become one with my couch.

And now, I'm attempting new hobbies; pretty and far away from writing manuscripts or proposalling. Today, I officially enrolled in an evening watercolor class at the Columbus Arts Council. This blog is primarily focused on science capades, but the awescapes I've been fortunate to visit trigger a gut need to do something artistic. For the rest of the winter, I shall stay away from sad literature. That being said, if you want a good couch cry read "The Blinding Absence of Light". It's even sadder than "Blindness" and "The Road".

Flood Year!!!

Rumor has it that this is a big water year in the Taylor Valley Antarctica! Similar to the 2001-2002 season during my first trip south. Hearing about it makes me think of the teal ponded water on the glacier surface and the gush of water pouring from Canada Glacier near my tent. It will be exciting to see what experiments will be conducted this year now that there has been more thought as to how "floods" change the landscape, geochemistry, and biotic activity in this most unusual polar desert!

Freeze-thaw-freeze

Carla and I have been sampling several times now. Each time, my fingers are becoming more solid as the air temperatures drop. To prevent the loss of sensation in my fingers, I put on layer after layer of clothing, which makes me fumble with the bottles more. Fortunately, Carla is much more dexterous than me.

We have also analyzed many of the samples we collected as well as some from storm events that the USDA collected for us. Most of all, I'm happy that we were able to get the pvc soil collars into the ground last week before the ground became to solid to pound them into the ground. Now, we are ready to use the Licor to measure the breath of the earth, or the carbon dioxide emitted from the different land use types. I marked our locations with flags... it seems that we are overdue for a big Ohio snowfall. However, I suspect we may have a good snow free day in January to make our first measurements.

Meeting and Mingling

I'm at an International meeting in San Francisco with other earth scientists... the turnout is amazing. We overfill the escalators and spill out of the lecture halls. There is no shortage of meaningful & inspiring discussions. Also, because the meeting is broad in scope, I've run into friends and mentors from times past. Admittedly, I am exhausted now, but can't wait to do it again tomorrow.