I Got Licked By A Cow

With a load of work looming for January, I decided to sneak away after my final exam (which I think I passed!) for the wilds of the snowy north. Travel from our present spot on the globe to New England just couldn't be easier--no more 5 hour plane rides and strandings in various mid-country airports! I left home exactly 1 hr. and 15 mins. before my flight and still had time to park the car, get checked in, and enjoy (?) a cup of shwag airport java before my flight. A bit over an hour later, I was over Boston Harbor.
First stop was a few days on the farm. I consider myself pretty agrarian when it comes to gardening and landscaping, but animals (other than a nutty dog, a few squirrels, and some ornery raccoons, the latter two of which I'm not really responsible for) are not in my picture, despite my best wishes to acquire some hens. So, when on the ride north, I discovered I'd be palling around with a bevy of animals (more in the summer, but they're dinner now), I was pretty excited.
With the snow falling and the light fading, I got to assist as farmhand--which, really is not all that different from fish biology: you carry lots of buckets filled with water. Thankfully, I got to duck the stall mucking in favor of child care (which sometimes may not seem that much of a trade, but at this time was a favorable exchange). The next morning it was bright and sunny with several inches of fluffy snow everywhere, so I took another stroll outside and introduced myself to "Bob" and Buddha, two steers (not cows!). Before I knew it Buddha gave be a big old wet one right across the belly--he lifted up my 6 layers of down, fleece, and wool, and got me! The girly scream was perhaps unnecessary but hilarious all the same. Steers have raspy tongues! Funny dudes, these two are.

Also on tap was to check in on the ladies--17 hens of various colors, sizes and plumage--and pick up some breakfast. Apparently, according to the farmer, I must have lost the Easter egg hunt when I was a kid, as I left a few tucked-away, hidden eggs un-gathered. Ooops. Good thing for quality control. These are some fluffy chickens living in a pretty deluxe coop--and they must be happy because they lay lots of very yummy eggs! Apparently, I'm not the only visitor to the farm that got excited about collecting eggs, I guess I just need to hone my technique.

With a storm looming, everyone's plans were thrown into high gear and I had to say goodbye to Crooked Rainbow Farm--I will for sure be back!




Of course, I couldn't leave before getting a few good runs in on the hill with the old flying saucer. The snow was perfect sledding snow and with the dogs chasing me down the hill, I let out another girly scream before filling my farm boots full of snow and lodging myself in a snow drift downslope.

A Energy Ethic--Is There Hope Still?

An exam I'm writing had me pondering the finer points of Aldo Leopold's call (in 1949) to take up a "Land Ethic." I'm really not sure we're there (but read below, as I've decided my exam response-which was really an extra credit question-could serve double duty as pontificating blog post too). However, I got a bit distracted while writing that response and stumbled upon the news that Obama has assembled his environmental and energy team. After reading the article and doing a little deeper research, I am hopeful: I am thinking we may be headed toward an energy ethic.

This crack team (notably lacking any marine or biological scientists, I might add, not to diminish the credentials of the selected few, but to point out that it's still not perfect), will be headed by Dr. Steven Chu from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (who, while not trained in biology, has shown an increasing interest in biosciences in recent years). This guy is a smarty-pants. He won a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997 and has written a ton, taught a ton, innovated a ton, and seems kind of engaging to boot (see video of him at the National Energy Summit). Additionally, he was a part of ScienceDebate2008, showing that science and public support of science is a priority. I hope, despite the falling gas prices and distraction of the flailing economy, that as we move into 2009 we will take energy efficiency, energy policy, energy dependence and more importantly, energy and non-energy science, in general, more seriously.

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In “A Sand County Almanac” Aldo Leopold wrote of his observations of nature, the changes that had befallen much of the American West, and he culminated with his chapter “The Upshot,” a call to arms about what the future could hold, given a commitment to “The Land Ethic.” He wrote:

“An ethic, ecologically, is a limitation on freedom of action in the struggle for existence…In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it…A land ethic, then, reflects the existence of an ecological conscience, and this in turn reflects a conviction of ecological responsibility for the health of the land.”

What Leopold was invoking was the need for each citizen to be a part of the land and to act accordingly as a steward—he observed that we saw the land too much as a commodity belonging to us and needed to view it “as a community to which we belong.” Leopold was a forester by trade and had seen the destruction not only to the landscape, but also to the waterways, resulting from poor agricultural and forestry practices. In 1949, when he published this book, he acknowledged a fundamental flaw of natural resources: that when the emphasis is put on the economic value of the land and the products we extract from it, comes detriment to the land itself. This was obviously before the era of off-road vehicles, large-scale industrial agriculture, and off-shore drilling, yet his message seemed as urgent and timely then as it seems now, 60 years later.

Sadly, we (the collective “we”) have not grabbed ‘hold of “The Land Ethic” of which Leopold wrote. The current spate of research and published papers describing “ecosystem services” (see Costanza 1997 and Balvanera 2001) in effect acknowledges our need to see the environment as a commodity in order to justify conserving, protecting, and restoring it. This is as true in the marine system as it is on land. Off-shore drilling, industrial fisheries, eutrophication and contamination of our coastal waterways are evidence of our continued role as conquerors rather than stewards.

Leopold wrote that “The ordinary citizen today assumes that science knows what makes the community clock tick; the scientist is equally sure that he does not. He knows that the biotic mechanism is so complex that its workings may never be fully understood.” Our role as marine scientists is to communicate to Leopold’s “ordinary citizen” that science doesn’t know what makes the community clock tick in its entirety, but that the discipline of science, in its compartmentalized fashion, is learning more and more with each question asked and it is the ordinary citizen’s responsibility to be as keenly interested in the “biotic mechanism” as he is in his 401K. Additionally, with this “biotic mechanism” changing so rapidly due to our actions, we must devote increasing efficiency to the pursuit of understanding, lest we have no land-community and water-community to write about in 60 years.


Balvanera, P., G.C. Daily, P.R. Ehrlich, T.H. Ricketts, S.Bailey, S. Kark, C. Kremen and H. Pereira. 2001. Conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services. Science 291: 2047.

Costanza, R., R. d'Arge, R. de Groot, S. Farber, M. Grasso, B. Hannon, K. Limburg, S. Naeem, R.V. O'Neill, J. Paruelo, R. G. Raskin, P. Sutton, M. van den Belt. 1997. The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387(6230):255.

I am Thankful for McIntosh Apples

As I popped into Trader Joe's today to finish up the last of my Thanksgiving shopping (namely, The Bird) I stumbled upon a display of absolutely scrumptious looking McIntosh apples. I'm an impulse food shopper anyway, but this was really too much of a magnet to just bypass. So, I scanned the offerings and selected for myself a bag of bright red, modest sized McIntosh apples.

For the uninitiated (all you West Coasties who just have to have your Cameos and Braeburns), the McIntosh is the quintessential New England apple, with a dark reddish skin, tender white flesh, and a pleasing crispness when fresh--additionally, they smell wicked good! For years living on the Left Coast, I have tried each fall to find a reasonably good McIntosh in the local markets, only to be disappointed by mealy middles and no sweet-tart bite. Like fresh haddock, I decided the Mac's place was firmly rooted in the Northeast and it was better to stick to the local varieties.

So, not exactly being in New England at the moment, I was prepared for more shattered apple dreams and broken apple promises. But, with my first bite delivering a resounding pop, I knew I had bit into the apple of my childhood! It seems Sunrise Orchards of Cornwall, VT had delivered!

So, in addition to everything else I am thankful for this week, the humble yet noble McIntosh Apple is high on my list. And I can once again savor it's fragrant, apple-y goodness each fall.

Is the Missing Carbon Wrapped up in Leaves or Dog Fur???

For years I have been convinced that the so called "Missing Carbon" in the global carbon pool was actually wrapped up in dog fur. The ephemeral nature of dog fur makes it exceptionally difficult to quantify the amount of carbon from this source; however, judging by the immense quantities of fur vacuumed up from various corners in our house and houses like ours, it seemed no doubt, a potentially significant contributor (disclaimer: I actually have no idea how much carbon a single strand of Canis lupus familiaris might contain). Fortunately, in our new abode, the fur tends to be masked by a carpet of a similar color, so my ability to ponder the finer points of dog fur and the carbon cycle has also been obscured.


But, looking out at our yard, I'm thinking tree leaves may be another under-represented carbon source. These leaves seem to be infiltrating our house every time the door opens ("entropy" MN says). Now, I know New England lays claim to the most beautiful fall colors, and having spent a significant part of my life in that region and forever maintaining a fondness for the little states, I'm not about to deny that. But, in sheer volume of leaves generated, I think my new adopted state may take the cake. Granted, there are a lot of oaks, which just don't hold a candle to the beautiful deep reds and bright oranges of maples, so while this fall was one of the most spectacular I've been in the middle of in the last decade, it was the quantity of changing trees in hues of yellow, gold, orange and brown (with the occasional bright red maple), that really captivated.

While many of my neighbors (including the National Park Service) have succumbed to the scourge of humanity known as a leaf blower, we went out and purchased a super-sized rake to deal with our problem. But, not being silly or inclined to do more work than is necessary, I'm not going to be the first on our block to rake up the earthy, decaying, golden-brown bits of carbon! That would be silly...because of entropy.

Smart = Cool?

Maybe being the Smart Kid will become cool.
Kristof said it better than I could in his most recent column, Obama and the War on Brains.

Swinging No More...We're Blue, Baby!

My new adopted home state is, in fact, as blue as the great big sea.
With relief and gratification, I can sleep easily!
Congratulations, President-Elect Obama!

Cake by Obambastic baker, M. Dolan

Obama Wins Election

By ADAM NAGOURNEY

Published: November 5, 2008

Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, as the country chose him as its first black chief executive.

Swinging For A Little Bit Longer!

I cast my vote a few hours ago and, yes, it felt good! No lines, no waiting and the Diebold didn't flip my vote so far as I could tell. It seems we're in Swing-State Limbo still for the moment, but things are looking good and Obama is in fact in the lead in what I figured to be this McCain stronghold of southern VA. Mark Warner pulled out a can of whoop-ass on Jim Gilmore for the Senate seat! Woohoo!

In other election news, bummer that Tom Allen couldn't unseat Susan Collins in Maine, but it looks like a few more Senate seats are going to the Dems with Tom Udall, Jeanne Shaheen, and Kay Hagan with early wins!

Hoping the West Coasters got out the vote and we can wrap this thing up as soon as the polls close on that coast!