Monday, May 9, 2016

Panama research expedition

Video of forest research in Panama, uploaded January 2016

A video based on research I did while working for McGill/Smithsonian researchers Dr. Catherine Potvin and Javier Mateo-Vega. I undertook two expeditions to a remote region of eastern Panama to measure forest carbon stocks with help from the local Indigenous Kuna people. It was a wonderful but very difficult expedition. 

Explore to build your 'geo-sense'

November 28th, 2015

Climb a mountain, bring a map, and study the Earth to build your 'geo-sense.' 

From Mount Seymour, Vancouver is below and beyond it is the Salish Sea. Across the Salish Sea 40km or so is Vancouver Island.

Yesterday I hiked up to watch sunset from the summit of Mount Seymour located in North Vancouver, BC. We had sweeping views of the landscape, which I know very well, and this gave me chance to reflect on a valuable perspective I've gained synergistically through bicycle touring, mountaineering, and my university studies. Through these different modes of learning, I've built geo-sense, an intuitive sense of the scale and geographic complexity of the Earth. I've done this by personally cycling several transects across North America, climbing mountains across the continent, and through intensive study of maps and Google Earth. I value having a perception of the Earth because it grounds me, and provides me an added perspective to understand the sense of scale involved in travel, trade, and environmental challenges which can emanate from a single point (e.g., a forest harvesting operation) or can occur diffusely across huge regions (e.g., climate change). In recent years, my focus has been to understand how forest ecology differs across these spatial gradients, which I learn by studying the tree species distributions as I go. 

The viewshed I had from Mount Seymour (depicted above) links to my other experiences exploring across wide areas of North America so that as I look at the viewshed before me, I can link it to my other intuitive familiarities with the much broader-scale landscape of North America

I encourage people to actively build their own geo-sense, so here is a map I've hastily sketched using Google Earth images to give you an idea of what I mean. To gain a geo-sense you can climb to the top of mountains within a region (such as Garibaldi, Rainier, Baker and Arrowsmith shown above) to gain multiple visual perspectives of the region. Then, from the top of each mountain observe the regions further beyond. Bring a topographic map and compass so that you can actively link your observations to different mountains, lakes and drainages seen on a map. In my example, I hiked up Mount Seymour, spotted Mount Garibaldi in the distance, but because I've already been on the top of Mount Garibaldi I hold mental imagery of the mountains further north (the incredible Tantalus range!), which I can link to my observations gained from Mount Seymour. I have done this reconnaissance over the course of about 15 years, and the multiple summit perspectives I've gained stitch together seamlessly in my mind to provide an intuitive mental model of the shapes and complexity of the landscapes across the region. To supplement the visual perspective gained from mountain summits, I've also cycled across portions of the North America (e.g., Canada) to build an intuitive sense of the distances between each mountain. I now hold mental models for large expanses of North America and Central America (from climbing volcanoes and cycling across the region), and to some extent South America. The outcome is that I have a strong feeling that the earth is my home, no matter where I am on it. Additionally, it gives me optimism that humans are indeed capable to grapple with and learn to understand the complex scales and finite limits of our planet, and that we can readjust our activities so that our home, the Earth, is managed within it's finite bounds. 


 Mount Brunswick winter of 2009 while camping on its summit. On this day, and from this higher peak I could see about twice the area as I did from Mount Seymour, including about 25% of Vancouver Island (seen on the horizon)

No place like home on a mountain

November 2015

In the great outdoors I'm content with simple possessions, such as a stove, a warm sweater, and a tent. I realize that many people have not had this revelation of finding contentment through simplicity, but instead tend to fulfill their desires through admiring other people's lives —many admire Hollywood stars, the rich and the famous. Click bait internet sites scattered across the internet lure us in with promises to reveal the secrets of Hollywood's famous actors, and most of all, the great wealth of their homes. Here is my fun spoof on that Hollywood mansion clickbait with a simple message that follows:

Top ten most gorgeous homes that Hollywood stars can't even dream of 



Cycling the Blue Ridge Parkway

Aug 2015

I have good news.  In August, I presented at the Ecological Society of America conference in Baltimore, Maryland, from where I then submitted my MSc thesis, bought a mountain bike, and cycled 1000km along the Appalachian mountains to Asheville, North Carolina. I followed Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway, which both skirt along the crest of the mountain range. The cycling conditions were superb, with great scenery, low traffic volume, and tall floristically-diverse hardwood forests. I cycled 1000km in 10 consecutive days through hilly terrain. The fatigue, combined with fresh air, and the simple purpose of cycling 100 km a day, rejuvenated my mind and spirit. It was a great trip!

Here is the daily tweets of my 1000 km bike ride (@Ira_Sutherland):

Thesis done! Bicycle purchased! In , now embarking on a 600mile ride along and Parkways to Asheville, NC. :)




55 miles of freeway super maze and swamp forest on Day 1: Baltimore to DC. Very humid, very lost. Arrived in DC 3 hours into the night


Potomac River, District of Columbia
Day 2: DC is beautiful! . Jungly vegetation along Potomac river 40 miles. 15 miles into Virginia I was invited to stay with locals




Day 3: Sweet Virginia countryside gives way to a 2400 ft climb into Nat Park. 2 black bears, coyote, stick bug. 60 miles total


Like out of a dream: 100's miles of smooth, traffic-free bike route cresting a mountain range to . Yippee!
Skyline Drive, Virginia.



















D4 65 miles: Mtn bike goes up and down, up and down. I'm on a road cresting a mountain range! Knee getting soar. Butt long since aching.




Day 5: begins with long descent, but hit a bee, got stung. Swollen hand. 85 miles into BEAUTIFUL purple sunset mountains :)







I climbed 3300 feet to start DAY 6. HOT and humid. Restocked oats and rice in . Now settling into simple, rhythmic  lifestyle.




On Day 7, its the country: , , , & . Stronger but fatigued. 98 mile & cross into North Carolina!



Day 8: State line to , NC. 70 miles. Stopped for a brew at , good beer, great-spirited locals, so stayed the night.

Tunnels on the Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina

Day 9 begins late, but bound for a big objective: I cycled 70 miles from to Mount Mitchell, highest point in East US. Camped on top.
Mount Mitchell, (2037m)  North Carolina. Highest point in the USA, east of the Mississippi River
Day10 Awake in alpine Fraser fir forest. Begin 18 mile downhill! To final destination! Baltimore to Asheville. 10 days, 4 states, 650 miles!
THE END


Actually the real end, is when I sold my now beloved mountain bike in Asheville, NC. I sold it to this Hearn's bike shop at a fair price, thus making my trip across four states nearly free, transportation-wise:
 It was really, really sad to sell this bike, but it would have cost me $300 to get it home. 


Thesis in 60 seconds - winning video

May 2015

I won the NSERC Science, Action! video contest. The video is below.
Thanks for everyone who cast a vote in my favour!! Congratulations to everyone who submitted a video into the contest!

 


Communicating ecology research with film

Nov 1st, 2014

This film gives an overview of my MSc thesis, which investigates the impact of clear-cut forest harvesting on the multiple benefits provided by forests of Vancouver Island, BC. 



My MSc thesis is supervised by Dr. Sarah Gergel and Dr. Elena Bennett.

Making protest signs for climate action

Sept 25th, 2014

 A few days ago I participated in the peoples Climate March here in Montreal with a message for all Canadians and also for the Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper. I had not expected this to happen, but the media took quite an interest in my statement. I recovered a few of the clips and interviews then edited it together with some photos I took during the event.