So, it's been a while, but it's really been pretty hectic as the deadlines are quickly approaching..
Last weekend was basically a frenzy of getting our outlines completed for monday and I presented a
powerpoint for my individual project on Polynesian Conservation on Wednesday. Recent lectures have included Celestial Navigation, Western Navigation, Biological Productivity in the Tropical Pacific, as well as guess lectures presented by Sheila Walsh from Stanford/Scripps/Brown and Sam Low (former professor at Harvard and Bowdoin, producer/writer/director of several documentaries including NOVA ones...!)
I was really impressed with each presenter's personal experiences and enthusiasm for their respective fields.
We even had a blow up planetarium set up in our common area yesterday to study constellations.
Our introduction to traditional Polynesian navigation was particularly interesting. Sam Low, who has written a book on the subject as well as producing a documentary, was especially attached to the matter and his descriptions of the Polynesian connection with nature in navigating the pacific was so intense, he almost cried.
It is quite inspirational to know that people were once so connected to their natural environment that they could solely navigate thousands of nautical miles based on observations of the oceans and celestial guidance...
Free time is pretty restricted after classes, making dinner, and reading a million articles. We had two of our professors over for dinner the other night and we made an epic amount of sushi as well as curried butternut soup. Another professor is also supposed to come tomorrow night, so making dinner with the house has eaten a lot of my time in the house after classes... (literally)
The more I read research papers, the more I am beginning to understand how integral a part human society is with the health of the ecological environment. A lot of people try to understand the environment unintentionally removing themselves as part of the picture. But from my understanding so far, I've come to personally define sustainability as a delicate balance between environment and society achieved through conservation...
It's pretty hard to believe it's already thursday night for me, and today was also busy.... We got a behind the scenes look at Harvard's Peabody Museum and their collection of Polynesian artifacts in the storage area, not on display (the perks of having a harvard prof?) and spent the rest of the day roaming around Harvard square. I have the drafts of my four papers due on monday, so still a TON of papers to go through and alot more to write! Despite some frustrations of being in the first SPICE program SEA has conducted, our professor's enthusiasm and awesome attitude has really made up for some of the minor program disorganization. Really really excited to get on the boat though!!!
I'll add some pictures of the past week when I get some free time later.. haha sorry for rambling along..
Last weekend was basically a frenzy of getting our outlines completed for monday and I presented a
powerpoint for my individual project on Polynesian Conservation on Wednesday. Recent lectures have included Celestial Navigation, Western Navigation, Biological Productivity in the Tropical Pacific, as well as guess lectures presented by Sheila Walsh from Stanford/Scripps/Brown and Sam Low (former professor at Harvard and Bowdoin, producer/writer/director of several documentaries including NOVA ones...!)
I was really impressed with each presenter's personal experiences and enthusiasm for their respective fields.
We even had a blow up planetarium set up in our common area yesterday to study constellations.
Our introduction to traditional Polynesian navigation was particularly interesting. Sam Low, who has written a book on the subject as well as producing a documentary, was especially attached to the matter and his descriptions of the Polynesian connection with nature in navigating the pacific was so intense, he almost cried.
It is quite inspirational to know that people were once so connected to their natural environment that they could solely navigate thousands of nautical miles based on observations of the oceans and celestial guidance...
Free time is pretty restricted after classes, making dinner, and reading a million articles. We had two of our professors over for dinner the other night and we made an epic amount of sushi as well as curried butternut soup. Another professor is also supposed to come tomorrow night, so making dinner with the house has eaten a lot of my time in the house after classes... (literally)
The more I read research papers, the more I am beginning to understand how integral a part human society is with the health of the ecological environment. A lot of people try to understand the environment unintentionally removing themselves as part of the picture. But from my understanding so far, I've come to personally define sustainability as a delicate balance between environment and society achieved through conservation...
It's pretty hard to believe it's already thursday night for me, and today was also busy.... We got a behind the scenes look at Harvard's Peabody Museum and their collection of Polynesian artifacts in the storage area, not on display (the perks of having a harvard prof?) and spent the rest of the day roaming around Harvard square. I have the drafts of my four papers due on monday, so still a TON of papers to go through and alot more to write! Despite some frustrations of being in the first SPICE program SEA has conducted, our professor's enthusiasm and awesome attitude has really made up for some of the minor program disorganization. Really really excited to get on the boat though!!!
I'll add some pictures of the past week when I get some free time later.. haha sorry for rambling along..
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