Category: Students

Posts written by students

My BioBlitz Experience

Ecology is the study of the relationships between the organisms and the environment, how the roles of each part of nature, whether abiotic or biotic, work together efficiently. At the BioBlitz event, I was able to witness and experience, first-hand, how biotic and abiotic factors are related in nature, namely insects and the environments in which they are found. Insects are found all over nature and they represent a group that has some of the largest diversity, not only in species, but also in how they function in nature.

Continue reading “My BioBlitz Experience”

Hurricane Harvey and Migration Patterns

When I think about Science I am drawn to the interconnectedness events. The study of science encompasses a great many subjects, but I am often concerned with its effect on social life and human patterns. Which is why an interview published by the Atlantic piqued my interest. It studied one the possible repercussions of Hurricane Harvey on future migration patterns. Boustan observes many different types of disasters ranging from “a bad winter storm to Katrina.”

I’m interested in how people respond to events, and Boustan’s analysis bridges the economy, important historical events, and political actions. He brings up how as an economist he would have assessed the risk of living in a coastal area and a hurricane risk area (near the Gulf) before purchasing a home while most 

people tend to react after a devastating disaster. He brings up a past event, Hurricane Katrina, along with how government aid also affects the actions of migration (how people are willing to take higher risks when they are protected from them).

However, Boustan also brings up that no matter how much protection people living in high risk areas, as the repercussions of global warming get more severe the more likely people will move out of those areas.

The interview relays several interesting perspectives on Hurricane, it showed how seemingly singular events can cause catastrophic actions that continually ripple out – for years to come.  

 

 

Works Cited

Zhang, Sarah. “Will People Return to Houston After Hurricane Harvey?” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 3 Sept. 2017, www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/09/will-people-return-to-houston-after-hurricane-harvey/538719/.

Availability of Food

In thinking about “What is science?”,  one thing to consider is the scope of it. Science extends to just about everything, including food.  This video explains how closely tied science is to food in terms of food availability concerning local availability. It insightfully claims that much of the food that is eaten on a daily basis would be inconceivable without food science and technology like refrigeration.  It paints a rather scary image of a severely understocked supermarket with mostly rotten foods, highlighting the importance of science in something as routine as grocery shopping.

 

 

 

 

However, it only touches on the great importance of food science on a global scale.  Without food science and technology, the way food is produced and stored/shipped as well as the functions of nearly everyone’s daily lives would be radically changed.  Furthermore, without food science the 20th century would have been wrought with tragic famines. In an even known as the Green Revolution, scientists were able to develop more efficient agricultural practices, new technologies, and high yield staple crops, which were used to prevent the world’s rapidly expanding population from starving to death. So when you are thinking about what science is, think of the cold orange juice in your fridge and world a few steps closer to living in post-scarcity.

 

Sources:

“Availability of Food Colin Dennis, Ph.D., Previous Director-General, Campden BRI, Explains How Access to a Variety of Safe and Nutritious Foods Would Be Affected in a World without Food Science.” Availability of Food – IFT.org.

Briney, Amanda. “All You Wanted to Know About the Green Revolution.” ThoughtCo, 17 May 2017.