1 December, 2008 -- Duluth, MN
Eldest Son was home for Turkey Day this past weekend. That was something to be thankful for. He and I got an unexpected gift along the long dark stretch of Hwy 210 somewhere between McGreggor (where his ride left him at the DQ) and Aitkin. The brightest shooting star I've ever seen went streaking across the sky in front of us, leaving a neon rainbow tail as it flamed through the atmosphere. It was ten times brighter than any shooting star I've ever seen before. Youngest Son, sitting in the back seat saw the sky light up but didn't see the color show unfortunately.
Here is a "Did you know?": The rock falling through the sky is called a meteoroid. The trail of light is a meteor. If a piece of the rock survives to reach the earth, that is a meteorite.
We picked up Youngest Son's ski gear from Continental Ski Shop last week. He should now be all ready for hitting the slopes. Skiing is not exactly a low entry cost sport, but we split the cost of the skis, bindings, boots, and helmet so it wasn't quite as bad a financial jolt as it otherwise would have been. I hope he enjoys it for quite some time. Now, where is all that snow?
Monday, December 01, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Back from the Gulf
October 27, 2008 -- Two Harbors, MN
Returning home from the Gulf Coast on Friday was quite a trip. Thinking about the time and distances involved, I am amazed that it is all so easy. Still, it was a long day. We left the hotel about 7 a.m., drove through the Gulf Shores area to Pensacola, returned the rental van, and made it to the airport for my 9 o'clock conference call, only a few minutes late. Then is was a wait in the airport for our 11:30 departure. We boarded on time but sat on the plane for a good 40 minutes before takeoff. We landed in Memphis with 10 min. to make our connecting flight. Sprinted through the airport wearing my laptop backpack. Then waited another 30 minutes before that plane was ready to go. Arrived in Minneapolis/St. Paul airport at around 4:00 p.m. thanks to an unusual tailwind. Picked up the car from the ramp and drove back to Duluth. Made it home by 8:00 p.m.
Thursday was the last day of the CSO meeting and the group approved (in concept) a draft of a bill for reauthorizing the Coastal Zone Management Act. We'll have to wait and see how far and how fast that goes given the political and economic climates, but it seemed important to try to be proactive on suggesting changes that could make for better coastal management in the future.
In the afternoon, after the meeting let out, my boss and I hopped in the rental and went to check out Gulf Shores, Fort Morgan and the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge.
First we stopped for lunch at Big O's Seafood Grill (for fried flounder, beet greens and steamed cabbage) before heading out to the shore. It was pouring rain and very windy so we didn't get a chance to get out and explore much. I was glad that were appeared to be visiting in the off season. Not too much activity going on right now but it sure looks like the place would be a crazy, people-packed circus during the busy season. The number of condos for rent and 10 to 20-story hotel/condo complexes right smack on the beach was amazing.
We also made a return visit to the Weeks Bay National Estuary Research Reserve. After a couple minutes on the boardwalk from their visitors center we were soaked and gave up the idea of walking and headed back to the hotel.
We ended up at Old Bay Steamer restaurant for dinner where the Thursday special was a pound of shrimp (Royal red shrimp) and a pitcher of beer for $16. Couldn't beat that. I also had a bowl of gumbo. Good stuff.
Returning home from the Gulf Coast on Friday was quite a trip. Thinking about the time and distances involved, I am amazed that it is all so easy. Still, it was a long day. We left the hotel about 7 a.m., drove through the Gulf Shores area to Pensacola, returned the rental van, and made it to the airport for my 9 o'clock conference call, only a few minutes late. Then is was a wait in the airport for our 11:30 departure. We boarded on time but sat on the plane for a good 40 minutes before takeoff. We landed in Memphis with 10 min. to make our connecting flight. Sprinted through the airport wearing my laptop backpack. Then waited another 30 minutes before that plane was ready to go. Arrived in Minneapolis/St. Paul airport at around 4:00 p.m. thanks to an unusual tailwind. Picked up the car from the ramp and drove back to Duluth. Made it home by 8:00 p.m.Thursday was the last day of the CSO meeting and the group approved (in concept) a draft of a bill for reauthorizing the Coastal Zone Management Act. We'll have to wait and see how far and how fast that goes given the political and economic climates, but it seemed important to try to be proactive on suggesting changes that could make for better coastal management in the future.
In the afternoon, after the meeting let out, my boss and I hopped in the rental and went to check out Gulf Shores, Fort Morgan and the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge.
First we stopped for lunch at Big O's Seafood Grill (for fried flounder, beet greens and steamed cabbage) before heading out to the shore. It was pouring rain and very windy so we didn't get a chance to get out and explore much. I was glad that were appeared to be visiting in the off season. Not too much activity going on right now but it sure looks like the place would be a crazy, people-packed circus during the busy season. The number of condos for rent and 10 to 20-story hotel/condo complexes right smack on the beach was amazing.
We also made a return visit to the Weeks Bay National Estuary Research Reserve. After a couple minutes on the boardwalk from their visitors center we were soaked and gave up the idea of walking and headed back to the hotel.
We ended up at Old Bay Steamer restaurant for dinner where the Thursday special was a pound of shrimp (Royal red shrimp) and a pitcher of beer for $16. Couldn't beat that. I also had a bowl of gumbo. Good stuff.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Gulf Coast Explorations
October 23, 2008 -- Point Clear Alabama.
Yesterday we spent only a little time indoors talking about Maryland's efforts to address impacts of climate change and regional ocean governance reports from each of the regions. Then it was off on a whirlwind field tour of coastal resources in Alabama and Mississippi. Our first stop was 5 Rivers - Alabama's Delta Resource Center. It is a brand new facility on the water where Mobile Bay starts to feel more like a riverine wetland or estuary. It is the 2nd largest river delta complex in the lower 48 states.
I took a bunch of pictures of 5 Rivers and other sites we visited today. I'll upload them as soon as I can.
We had a nice box lunch at 5 Rivers and some time to explore the museum and theater as well as spend some time watching the river flow by and looking for wildlife. There were not too many critters around, but we did see some HUGE web spinning spiders, egrets, Great Blue Herons, Royal Terns, and Laughing Gulls.
As we traveled by bus into Mississippi we heard about rebuilding of bridges and other structures damaged by hurricanes Katrina and Ivan. There was a lot of damage here and along the way we saw evidence of many houses that were destroyed and not rebuilt. In one area they told us of relatively reasonably valued houses having tax rates of $2000/yr and insurance of $6000/yr.
Our next stop was the Grand Bay National Estuary Research Reserve. We drove through pine savanna habitat and did a turn around in what looked like a cool salt marsh area where they have a small boat launch facility. We stopped to talk to the reserve manager and look at the new building they have under construction. It is a 16,000 square foot building that will have two classrooms, labs, and offices. They are planning to receive a LEED Gold certification on the building.
We made our way to Biloxi MS to look at redevelopment issues along the coast after hurricanes destroyed the floating casinos along the shore. The new casinos are huge structures, built on shore within 800 feet of the water's edge. Shrimp boats still have a few places to dock here though and the Maritime and Seafood Museum operates the charter Oyster Schooners here. We got to sail aboard the Glenn L. Swetman, a 50 foot, 21 ton wooden schooner built in 1989. Unfortunately, it started to rain a bit when we got on board and the sail was cut a bit short.
After the sail we were treated to a wonderful meal of seafood by the staff of the Mississippi coastal program at the museum site on a pier out in the bay. It was great.
Yesterday we spent only a little time indoors talking about Maryland's efforts to address impacts of climate change and regional ocean governance reports from each of the regions. Then it was off on a whirlwind field tour of coastal resources in Alabama and Mississippi. Our first stop was 5 Rivers - Alabama's Delta Resource Center. It is a brand new facility on the water where Mobile Bay starts to feel more like a riverine wetland or estuary. It is the 2nd largest river delta complex in the lower 48 states.
I took a bunch of pictures of 5 Rivers and other sites we visited today. I'll upload them as soon as I can.
We had a nice box lunch at 5 Rivers and some time to explore the museum and theater as well as spend some time watching the river flow by and looking for wildlife. There were not too many critters around, but we did see some HUGE web spinning spiders, egrets, Great Blue Herons, Royal Terns, and Laughing Gulls.
As we traveled by bus into Mississippi we heard about rebuilding of bridges and other structures damaged by hurricanes Katrina and Ivan. There was a lot of damage here and along the way we saw evidence of many houses that were destroyed and not rebuilt. In one area they told us of relatively reasonably valued houses having tax rates of $2000/yr and insurance of $6000/yr.
Our next stop was the Grand Bay National Estuary Research Reserve. We drove through pine savanna habitat and did a turn around in what looked like a cool salt marsh area where they have a small boat launch facility. We stopped to talk to the reserve manager and look at the new building they have under construction. It is a 16,000 square foot building that will have two classrooms, labs, and offices. They are planning to receive a LEED Gold certification on the building.
We made our way to Biloxi MS to look at redevelopment issues along the coast after hurricanes destroyed the floating casinos along the shore. The new casinos are huge structures, built on shore within 800 feet of the water's edge. Shrimp boats still have a few places to dock here though and the Maritime and Seafood Museum operates the charter Oyster Schooners here. We got to sail aboard the Glenn L. Swetman, a 50 foot, 21 ton wooden schooner built in 1989. Unfortunately, it started to rain a bit when we got on board and the sail was cut a bit short.
After the sail we were treated to a wonderful meal of seafood by the staff of the Mississippi coastal program at the museum site on a pier out in the bay. It was great.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Coastal Alabama
October 21, 2008 -- Point Clear Alabama.
Yesterday afternoon was the start of the Coastal States Organization Fall Meeting. It was a long stretch of annual budgets, dues discussions ($8174.00 for MN again in 2009), officer elections and so forth. We also got into a meaty discussion of the states' language for a proposed bill to reauthorize the Coastal Zone Management Act. It was a line by line review of where the draft bill is now in preparation for a detailed discussion later in the week. I thought it was a worthwhile session and I was pleased to see that much of what I had suggested in September had been incorporated into the new version.
After we wrapped up the meetings for the day we were treated to a reception at the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The staff and volunteers put on a very nice reception with some great food at their new education facility right on the water. For pictures of the reserve check out their photo albums here.
Today we hear from NOAA about a variety of topics, have some work group sessions and Break-out sessions. Then we get into the discussion of re-authorization again. No field trips even though the weather beg us to get outside. Does that seem right to you?
Yesterday afternoon was the start of the Coastal States Organization Fall Meeting. It was a long stretch of annual budgets, dues discussions ($8174.00 for MN again in 2009), officer elections and so forth. We also got into a meaty discussion of the states' language for a proposed bill to reauthorize the Coastal Zone Management Act. It was a line by line review of where the draft bill is now in preparation for a detailed discussion later in the week. I thought it was a worthwhile session and I was pleased to see that much of what I had suggested in September had been incorporated into the new version.
After we wrapped up the meetings for the day we were treated to a reception at the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The staff and volunteers put on a very nice reception with some great food at their new education facility right on the water. For pictures of the reserve check out their photo albums here.
Today we hear from NOAA about a variety of topics, have some work group sessions and Break-out sessions. Then we get into the discussion of re-authorization again. No field trips even though the weather beg us to get outside. Does that seem right to you?
Monday, October 20, 2008
Mobile Bay
October 20, 2008 -- Point Clear Alabama.
Yesterday the boss and I drove from Duluth to the Minneapolis - St. Paul airport, met up with the boss's boss and flew to Memphis for a change of planes, then on to Pensacola, picked up the rental car and drove to Point Clear Alabama on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. Straight-line distance 1150 miles. We are staying at the Grand Hotel Marriott, a pretty ritzy place. It is clearly the off season here though based on the room rates we are getting and the lack of traffic and general sense of quiet so far.
Last night we went for supper at Randy's Bar and Grill. I has the steamed "Ocean Platter" with shrimp, crab, oysters, red potatoes, coleslaw and corn on the cob. It was good, tasty food. The small platter was $14 for a good sized platter of seafood. Yuengling lager on tap was $2 each so that was nice too.
This morning we went into Fairhope Alabama and explored around just a bit. The best part was walking out on the 1400 foot long municipal pier and watching the fishermen cast nets or throw big double-hooked, heavily weighted rigs out in the bay for mullet or "white trout"
I took a bunch of pictures but unfortunately, I left my camera cable at home so no sharing of the pictures until I get home.
Here is a picture of the net thrower with his net full of "Shiners".
And here is the view from my balcony shortly after getting to my room.
More pictures can be found on My Photo Album on Picassa Web.
Yesterday the boss and I drove from Duluth to the Minneapolis - St. Paul airport, met up with the boss's boss and flew to Memphis for a change of planes, then on to Pensacola, picked up the rental car and drove to Point Clear Alabama on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. Straight-line distance 1150 miles. We are staying at the Grand Hotel Marriott, a pretty ritzy place. It is clearly the off season here though based on the room rates we are getting and the lack of traffic and general sense of quiet so far.Last night we went for supper at Randy's Bar and Grill. I has the steamed "Ocean Platter" with shrimp, crab, oysters, red potatoes, coleslaw and corn on the cob. It was good, tasty food. The small platter was $14 for a good sized platter of seafood. Yuengling lager on tap was $2 each so that was nice too.
This morning we went into Fairhope Alabama and explored around just a bit. The best part was walking out on the 1400 foot long municipal pier and watching the fishermen cast nets or throw big double-hooked, heavily weighted rigs out in the bay for mullet or "white trout"I took a bunch of pictures but unfortunately, I left my camera cable at home so no sharing of the pictures until I get home.
Here is a picture of the net thrower with his net full of "Shiners".
And here is the view from my balcony shortly after getting to my room.
More pictures can be found on My Photo Album on Picassa Web.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Invincible
August 20, 2008 -- Duluth, MN
After surviving an incredibly busy several weeks at work I am taking some time off for a "stay-at-home-vacation". Just slowing down a bit has been a challenge but this morning I'm feeling relaxed and enjoying my time away from work. Last Night T stopped at the library and brought home a few sailing magazines and a newly published book about the Duluth Boat Club. It is Invincible: History of the Duluth Boat Club by Michael J Cochran. This morning I sat down with my cup of coffee to flip through it and look at the pictures. I was totally captivated by the remarkable history of the people and the city that created the "best and largest water club in America" in the early 1900's. It is hard to imagine the personal philanthropy of a guy like Julius Barnes that paid for much of the development, facilities and training of rowers in the heyday of the predecessor of the
Duluth Rowing Club. It is hard to imagine also the social structure of the time that created the need/opportunity for such an organization with social and recreational facilities at two places on Park Point, one up the river at Spirit Lake and one up at Pike Lake that eventually became the Auto Club and eventually the AAA's Pike Lake Golf and Recreation Club.
According to the author of Invincible, it was the automobile that doomed the Duluth Boat Club by reducing the need for close-to-home social and recreational opportunities. I wonder if our current energy situation and the direction we need to go with reducing the amount of driving we do will mean that the efforts to revive the Duluth Boat Club will meet with greater success in the near future. After reading this book, I had to hope that this would be the case.
After surviving an incredibly busy several weeks at work I am taking some time off for a "stay-at-home-vacation". Just slowing down a bit has been a challenge but this morning I'm feeling relaxed and enjoying my time away from work. Last Night T stopped at the library and brought home a few sailing magazines and a newly published book about the Duluth Boat Club. It is Invincible: History of the Duluth Boat Club by Michael J Cochran. This morning I sat down with my cup of coffee to flip through it and look at the pictures. I was totally captivated by the remarkable history of the people and the city that created the "best and largest water club in America" in the early 1900's. It is hard to imagine the personal philanthropy of a guy like Julius Barnes that paid for much of the development, facilities and training of rowers in the heyday of the predecessor of the
Duluth Rowing Club. It is hard to imagine also the social structure of the time that created the need/opportunity for such an organization with social and recreational facilities at two places on Park Point, one up the river at Spirit Lake and one up at Pike Lake that eventually became the Auto Club and eventually the AAA's Pike Lake Golf and Recreation Club.
According to the author of Invincible, it was the automobile that doomed the Duluth Boat Club by reducing the need for close-to-home social and recreational opportunities. I wonder if our current energy situation and the direction we need to go with reducing the amount of driving we do will mean that the efforts to revive the Duluth Boat Club will meet with greater success in the near future. After reading this book, I had to hope that this would be the case.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Watching Eric
Friday July 25, 2008 -- Two Harbors, MN
I'm here in Two Harbors trying to watch a sailboat race as it finishes up in Hawai'i. The 2008 Single handed Trans Pacific race from San Francisco to Hawai'i started 7/12/08. Lake Superior Sailor Eric Thomas, aboard his Olsen 30 is showing them how it is done. Go Eric!
See below for news and links:
Position Reports
Log Reports
Duluth sailor racing solo from West Coast to Hawaii
Singlehanded Transpac - Sailing from San Francisco to Hawaii ALONE!
2008 Singlehanded Transpac - Dogbark Sails to Line Honors
I'm here in Two Harbors trying to watch a sailboat race as it finishes up in Hawai'i. The 2008 Single handed Trans Pacific race from San Francisco to Hawai'i started 7/12/08. Lake Superior Sailor Eric Thomas, aboard his Olsen 30 is showing them how it is done. Go Eric!
See below for news and links:
Position Reports
Log Reports
Duluth sailor racing solo from West Coast to Hawaii
Singlehanded Transpac - Sailing from San Francisco to Hawaii ALONE!
2008 Singlehanded Transpac - Dogbark Sails to Line Honors
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Spontaneous Addendum
I ran across a quote that says what I was trying to say about last night:
I have learned that to be with those I like is enough.
-- Walt Whitman
Enough said.
I have learned that to be with those I like is enough.
-- Walt Whitman
Enough said.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Fourth on the water
July 7, 2008 -- Duluth, MN
The whole family got to spend Independence Day cruising the Apostle Islands on Board Sweetwater, a very comfortable sailboat. She is a Pretorien 35 by Wauquiez 
The weather was great, the owners were fun to sail with and the wind was perfect for light cruising until lunch time. Then the wind dropped off, we bobbed on the lake eating lunch and then the wind came back up for a post-lunch sail. What a great day. The Apostle Islands are a wonderful place to sail too. We saw lots of other boats, including the racers out for a week of competition, but it wasn't so busy that it felt like a crowded mess.
The whole family got to spend Independence Day cruising the Apostle Islands on Board Sweetwater, a very comfortable sailboat. She is a Pretorien 35 by Wauquiez 
The weather was great, the owners were fun to sail with and the wind was perfect for light cruising until lunch time. Then the wind dropped off, we bobbed on the lake eating lunch and then the wind came back up for a post-lunch sail. What a great day. The Apostle Islands are a wonderful place to sail too. We saw lots of other boats, including the racers out for a week of competition, but it wasn't so busy that it felt like a crowded mess.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Rhode Island wrap-up
July 6, 2008 -- Duluth, MN
The whirl of my regular world swept me up as soon as I returned from summer camp. I had good connections and a short trip. Not like most of the other folks. It would have been an easy day had I had more than 2.5 hours of sleep. I can't complain too much though. We had a great time at the "final dinner" and then Bob and Virginia took us out dancing at the Narragansett Cafe where the band Chiva Bus was playing fun dance music.
T picked me up from the airport and whisked me off to the home of our good friends for an afternoon/evening of walking in the woods, games, great food and even better companionship. T took me home after I fell asleep in the chair.
So what do I say about the Summer Institute to wrap things up? What have I not said yet that might be meaningful now a week or so later? Here is a summary:
It was a great three weeks, fast-paced, demanding, intense, and full of global coastal issues presented in a way that allowed connection with opportunities for doing things better here.
I enjoyed the opportunity to get a bigger-picture view of coastal management challenges and tools, interacting with other practitioners including both the other participants and the instructors. The instructors have practical experience with program development and implementation as well as an academic understanding of coastal issues.
The accommodations on the URI campus were far from luxurious, and it was a long time to be away from home and the office but I had some really capable people back home to take care of things. And, after a few glitches, I was able to get fully connected to the Internet and my local network drives so I could stay on top of things for the most part.
The course gave me the opportunity to focus my attention on our upcoming evaluation and think about how to measure the impact of our work more broadly than I had been able to do in the past. I also came away with a pile of other tools and strategies for tackling challenges and a global network of new friends and colleagues that are all working on dealing with similar issues even if their places look different than the place I work.
I'd have to say it was well worth it.
The whirl of my regular world swept me up as soon as I returned from summer camp. I had good connections and a short trip. Not like most of the other folks. It would have been an easy day had I had more than 2.5 hours of sleep. I can't complain too much though. We had a great time at the "final dinner" and then Bob and Virginia took us out dancing at the Narragansett Cafe where the band Chiva Bus was playing fun dance music.
T picked me up from the airport and whisked me off to the home of our good friends for an afternoon/evening of walking in the woods, games, great food and even better companionship. T took me home after I fell asleep in the chair.
So what do I say about the Summer Institute to wrap things up? What have I not said yet that might be meaningful now a week or so later? Here is a summary:
It was a great three weeks, fast-paced, demanding, intense, and full of global coastal issues presented in a way that allowed connection with opportunities for doing things better here.
I enjoyed the opportunity to get a bigger-picture view of coastal management challenges and tools, interacting with other practitioners including both the other participants and the instructors. The instructors have practical experience with program development and implementation as well as an academic understanding of coastal issues.
The accommodations on the URI campus were far from luxurious, and it was a long time to be away from home and the office but I had some really capable people back home to take care of things. And, after a few glitches, I was able to get fully connected to the Internet and my local network drives so I could stay on top of things for the most part.
The course gave me the opportunity to focus my attention on our upcoming evaluation and think about how to measure the impact of our work more broadly than I had been able to do in the past. I also came away with a pile of other tools and strategies for tackling challenges and a global network of new friends and colleagues that are all working on dealing with similar issues even if their places look different than the place I work.
I'd have to say it was well worth it.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Final Words at Camp Coastal
June 29, 2008. -- Duluth, MN
I made it back home yesterday afternoon with relatively quick flights and easy connections. I don't expect that all of my new friends will be able to say the same.
I still have some thoughts and pictures to upload from Rhode Island. I'll do the wrap-up blog entry before long, but I want to post what is below sooner rather than later. The other participants asked me to speak on behalf of the group at our final dinner on Friday evening. It was fun to put together a different sort of presentation than I am used to. Fun too to be able to use a bunch of inside jokes. Here is the text of my speech:
Well!
Here we are.
Here at the end of a most remarkable three week experience. The 10th Summer Institute in Coastal Management, The 1st Advanced Summer Institute. It has been a wonderful journey has it not?
We have come together from across this precious world to learn together how to do the work of coastal management. Work that this planet so desperately needs.
We are, all of us, engaged in what may well be some of the most important work in human history.
Along the way we have learned much from our trainers. Glen, Don, Virginia, Pam, Brian, Stephen, Jen, Jim, Elin, and Lesley. Thank you.
We have learned from the people we have met along the way. From Perry and his oyster farm. From the generous Narragansett people. And from coastal managers in and around Rhode Island who gave of their time so we could learn from the lessons of your place and take them home with us. Thank you.
We have learned much from each other. From passionate coastal managers from all around the globe.
From Tanzania and Nigeria.
From the Philippines.
From Portugal, Italy, Sweden, and Spain.
From Taiwan.
From Trinidad by way of Jamaica.
And from America – American Samoa, Maryland, and Minnesota.
We have learned that despite the vast distances that may separate the places we call home, the work we do connects us in powerful ways.
We have learned that we need not feel isolated but that we can be wise and empowered and have bold ideas.
We have learned to look at coastal management issues through the lens of climate change.
And through the lens of livelihoods.
We’ve learned about evaluation and adaptation. About leadership and negotiation. And about communications, systems thinking and dissolving problems.
We’ve been given the gift of a safe place to challenge ourselves and along the way I think we’ve learned a bit about ourselves because of it. About our leadership styles and learning styles, communicating, how we work together in teams, and perhaps even where we could improve our skills in these areas.
Some have learned that the Italian word for zebra sounds a lot like “Cow”
We learned that sometimes we can do things and even though others say "cannot".
We learned to live together in a place we call “Chee-Fee” but really, a dry campus?!? Talk about challenging us. . .
“oh dear”
We learned that when Kim says “The van is leaving.” We better be on it.
And we learned the incredible value of laughing together with people who understand and share the challenges, and the vision for better coastal management. Laughing a lot helps eh?
Those of us who have had the privilege of participating in this 10th summer institute are very grateful to everyone who made it happen.
To folks like Luke and Theresa and Kim and the instructors who picked us up from the airport, drove us back and forth to the Bay Campus everyday and stayed over at Cheefee as our house mothers (and house fathers). To Cindy and the other CRC folks. To Bob who got us connected to the Internet when the URI system seemed designed to make us crazy. To Pam and Brian who opened their homes and especially their kitchens to us for wonderful social gatherings. Thank you.
Kim.
I’m not sure how you stay sane.
You have done a masterful job of logistical juggling, responding quickly and graciously to our needs and desires and have demonstrated high-speed adaptive management. Thank you.
We have a couple of gifts here for you to help you with the transition once we are gone. We have gotten you some chocolates, something sweet to help you remember us, and some wine to perhaps help you forget a little bit.
Glen and all the other CRC trainers and staff that helped us learn so much though the week, on behalf of all the participants please accept this plant, the group picture and some chocolates as tokens of our thanks. They are small things that we hope remind you of us as we head out again into our own places and challenges.
Well.
Here we are.
Here at the beginning of whatever comes next. We are taking away lessons learned and personal projects, text books and a big binder full of tools. More importantly, we are moving on to whatever is next with a new set of colleagues and friends who care about the things we care about and who care about each other.
Virginia forwarded me a poem that sums up a bit of our experience here together. It is from a recent Heron Dance newsletter:
Yesterday, up before dawn
I placed my canoe in the river
And pushed off into the current.
Trying to make no noise.
Wild waters sweep me along.
Shifting shafts of light, flickering leaves
Past wildflowers, through an avalanche of birdsong.
The sun rises,
Dappled patterns, light and leaf.
In quiet waters,
I stop paddling to watch the day unfold.
A dragonfly lands and rests,
on the bow of my canoe.
The river was here long before I happened by,
It will be here long after I’m gone.
The dragonfly
Even more temporary than me.
But today our lives touched.
Today the green river world
Both hers and mine.
Here at Summer Institute, our lives touched.
This coastal planet, both yours and mine.
Thank you all for this remarkable moment.
Manuia!
I made it back home yesterday afternoon with relatively quick flights and easy connections. I don't expect that all of my new friends will be able to say the same.
I still have some thoughts and pictures to upload from Rhode Island. I'll do the wrap-up blog entry before long, but I want to post what is below sooner rather than later. The other participants asked me to speak on behalf of the group at our final dinner on Friday evening. It was fun to put together a different sort of presentation than I am used to. Fun too to be able to use a bunch of inside jokes. Here is the text of my speech:
Well!
Here we are.
Here at the end of a most remarkable three week experience. The 10th Summer Institute in Coastal Management, The 1st Advanced Summer Institute. It has been a wonderful journey has it not?
We have come together from across this precious world to learn together how to do the work of coastal management. Work that this planet so desperately needs.
We are, all of us, engaged in what may well be some of the most important work in human history.
Along the way we have learned much from our trainers. Glen, Don, Virginia, Pam, Brian, Stephen, Jen, Jim, Elin, and Lesley. Thank you.
We have learned from the people we have met along the way. From Perry and his oyster farm. From the generous Narragansett people. And from coastal managers in and around Rhode Island who gave of their time so we could learn from the lessons of your place and take them home with us. Thank you.
We have learned much from each other. From passionate coastal managers from all around the globe.
From Tanzania and Nigeria.
From the Philippines.
From Portugal, Italy, Sweden, and Spain.
From Taiwan.
From Trinidad by way of Jamaica.
And from America – American Samoa, Maryland, and Minnesota.
We have learned that despite the vast distances that may separate the places we call home, the work we do connects us in powerful ways.
We have learned that we need not feel isolated but that we can be wise and empowered and have bold ideas.
We have learned to look at coastal management issues through the lens of climate change.
And through the lens of livelihoods.
We’ve learned about evaluation and adaptation. About leadership and negotiation. And about communications, systems thinking and dissolving problems.
We’ve been given the gift of a safe place to challenge ourselves and along the way I think we’ve learned a bit about ourselves because of it. About our leadership styles and learning styles, communicating, how we work together in teams, and perhaps even where we could improve our skills in these areas.
Some have learned that the Italian word for zebra sounds a lot like “Cow”
We learned that sometimes we can do things and even though others say "cannot".
We learned to live together in a place we call “Chee-Fee” but really, a dry campus?!? Talk about challenging us. . .
“oh dear”
We learned that when Kim says “The van is leaving.” We better be on it.
And we learned the incredible value of laughing together with people who understand and share the challenges, and the vision for better coastal management. Laughing a lot helps eh?
Those of us who have had the privilege of participating in this 10th summer institute are very grateful to everyone who made it happen.
To folks like Luke and Theresa and Kim and the instructors who picked us up from the airport, drove us back and forth to the Bay Campus everyday and stayed over at Cheefee as our house mothers (and house fathers). To Cindy and the other CRC folks. To Bob who got us connected to the Internet when the URI system seemed designed to make us crazy. To Pam and Brian who opened their homes and especially their kitchens to us for wonderful social gatherings. Thank you.
Kim.
I’m not sure how you stay sane.
You have done a masterful job of logistical juggling, responding quickly and graciously to our needs and desires and have demonstrated high-speed adaptive management. Thank you.
We have a couple of gifts here for you to help you with the transition once we are gone. We have gotten you some chocolates, something sweet to help you remember us, and some wine to perhaps help you forget a little bit.
Glen and all the other CRC trainers and staff that helped us learn so much though the week, on behalf of all the participants please accept this plant, the group picture and some chocolates as tokens of our thanks. They are small things that we hope remind you of us as we head out again into our own places and challenges.
Well.
Here we are.
Here at the beginning of whatever comes next. We are taking away lessons learned and personal projects, text books and a big binder full of tools. More importantly, we are moving on to whatever is next with a new set of colleagues and friends who care about the things we care about and who care about each other.
Virginia forwarded me a poem that sums up a bit of our experience here together. It is from a recent Heron Dance newsletter:
Yesterday, up before dawn
I placed my canoe in the river
And pushed off into the current.
Trying to make no noise.
Wild waters sweep me along.
Shifting shafts of light, flickering leaves
Past wildflowers, through an avalanche of birdsong.
The sun rises,
Dappled patterns, light and leaf.
In quiet waters,
I stop paddling to watch the day unfold.
A dragonfly lands and rests,
on the bow of my canoe.
The river was here long before I happened by,
It will be here long after I’m gone.
The dragonfly
Even more temporary than me.
But today our lives touched.
Today the green river world
Both hers and mine.
Here at Summer Institute, our lives touched.
This coastal planet, both yours and mine.
Thank you all for this remarkable moment.
Manuia!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Measurment and evaluation and outcomes -- Oh Dear!
June 24, 2008 -- Kingston RI
Today we got a chance to spend some significant time on our personal projects. The presentations and materials I have gotten from the CRC folks and the reading I've done over the past couple of weeks have helped me better conceptualize some of the issues I've been struggling with when it comes to evaluating the performance of Minnesota's Coastal Program. Most of the things we measure or assess, and almost everything included as a "finding", whether it was an "accomplishment" or a "suggestion" for improving the program from the previous review falls into what Stephen classifies as First Order Outcomes, those types of things that can be considered minimum "enabling conditions" for a program to function. These are things like government commitment, authority to act, funding, institutional capacity in terms of staff and plans. Very few of the findings even came close to Second Order Outcome issues, those changes in behavior of stakeholder groups, institutions, or resource users that lead towards higher outcomes of things like socially and environmentally sustainable coastal ecosystems (a Forth Order Outcome) or even Third Order Outcomes like improvements in environmental or social conditions. Maybe that was appropriate for the previous review since it was the first one we ever had and evaluating our program's initial efforts at establishing an effective program was needed.
Part of the framework that I like, (although I'm still just wading in and trying to understand it) is that "Outcome mapping recognizes challenges beyond the scope of the program but limits performance assessment to the program's direct sphere of influence (Page 14 of Outcome Mapping). It also provides a matrix for a "Strategy Map" which allows for teasing out differences between areas of activity where we as a program can be the causal mechanism for change, where we can be a persuasive force for change and where we can be a supportive influence for changes, all at the Second Order Outcome level. This is particularly interesting to me because I think our program is much more active (and effective based on deliberate program design decisions) in the persuasive and supportive arenas rather than in the causal arena. However, I think some important constituents believe we operate far more in the causal domain. That can create some problems for us.
So, now I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate some of these concepts into our pending programmatic review, a review that has a relatively restrictive framework, even if it is seemingly unwritten. As Gwen is fond of saying, "oh dear."
Today we got a chance to spend some significant time on our personal projects. The presentations and materials I have gotten from the CRC folks and the reading I've done over the past couple of weeks have helped me better conceptualize some of the issues I've been struggling with when it comes to evaluating the performance of Minnesota's Coastal Program. Most of the things we measure or assess, and almost everything included as a "finding", whether it was an "accomplishment" or a "suggestion" for improving the program from the previous review falls into what Stephen classifies as First Order Outcomes, those types of things that can be considered minimum "enabling conditions" for a program to function. These are things like government commitment, authority to act, funding, institutional capacity in terms of staff and plans. Very few of the findings even came close to Second Order Outcome issues, those changes in behavior of stakeholder groups, institutions, or resource users that lead towards higher outcomes of things like socially and environmentally sustainable coastal ecosystems (a Forth Order Outcome) or even Third Order Outcomes like improvements in environmental or social conditions. Maybe that was appropriate for the previous review since it was the first one we ever had and evaluating our program's initial efforts at establishing an effective program was needed.
Part of the framework that I like, (although I'm still just wading in and trying to understand it) is that "Outcome mapping recognizes challenges beyond the scope of the program but limits performance assessment to the program's direct sphere of influence (Page 14 of Outcome Mapping). It also provides a matrix for a "Strategy Map" which allows for teasing out differences between areas of activity where we as a program can be the causal mechanism for change, where we can be a persuasive force for change and where we can be a supportive influence for changes, all at the Second Order Outcome level. This is particularly interesting to me because I think our program is much more active (and effective based on deliberate program design decisions) in the persuasive and supportive arenas rather than in the causal arena. However, I think some important constituents believe we operate far more in the causal domain. That can create some problems for us.
So, now I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate some of these concepts into our pending programmatic review, a review that has a relatively restrictive framework, even if it is seemingly unwritten. As Gwen is fond of saying, "oh dear."
Monday, June 23, 2008
Week three of Coastal Summer Camp
June 23, 2008 -- Kingston, RI
Week three of Coastal Summer Camp is going to be mostly about our personal projects that we began today and will complete with the help of the CRC staff and resources here. My project is to prepare a report for our upcoming programmatic evaluation for Minnesota's Lake Superior Coastal Program. I talked with Stephen about monitoring and evaluation and about Section 312 of the Coastal Zone Management Act (the section that mandates periodic programmatic evaluations). Pino from Spain and I are working together in a 'study group' on our projects since she is also working on the thorny issue of evaluation. Our challenges form and interesting contrast since the biophysical and legal landscapes of our places are so different. The nub of both our challenges is very similar however. How do you effectively measure (and communicate) the effectiveness of the kind of work we do given the context of the environmental and social landscapes in which we do that work?
I hope to develop a document that incorporates responses to the findings of Minnesota's last evaluation report with a summary of accomplishments and covers some strategic planning for the next few years. I have to get this thing done as part of the preparation for our review scheduled for August so the opportunity to take advantage of some to the staff expertise here seems too good an opportunity to pass up. I've gotten a book on Outcome Mapping from Virginia, a couple of papers on evaluation from Stephen and have plans to line up some interview time with some others with experience in these evaluations in other states.
Today also gave me an opportunity to do a short (30 min.) presentation on using the principles of aikido to illustrate concepts of conflict management and conflict communication. The session was used as an "energizer" for our agenda and it succeeded very well in getting peoples' energy level pumped up after lunch. I hope it also worked to show some physical examples of things like active listening, systems thinking, and using out-of-the-box solutions to conflict problems. I got some good feedback after the session so I think it went pretty well.
Week three of Coastal Summer Camp is going to be mostly about our personal projects that we began today and will complete with the help of the CRC staff and resources here. My project is to prepare a report for our upcoming programmatic evaluation for Minnesota's Lake Superior Coastal Program. I talked with Stephen about monitoring and evaluation and about Section 312 of the Coastal Zone Management Act (the section that mandates periodic programmatic evaluations). Pino from Spain and I are working together in a 'study group' on our projects since she is also working on the thorny issue of evaluation. Our challenges form and interesting contrast since the biophysical and legal landscapes of our places are so different. The nub of both our challenges is very similar however. How do you effectively measure (and communicate) the effectiveness of the kind of work we do given the context of the environmental and social landscapes in which we do that work?
I hope to develop a document that incorporates responses to the findings of Minnesota's last evaluation report with a summary of accomplishments and covers some strategic planning for the next few years. I have to get this thing done as part of the preparation for our review scheduled for August so the opportunity to take advantage of some to the staff expertise here seems too good an opportunity to pass up. I've gotten a book on Outcome Mapping from Virginia, a couple of papers on evaluation from Stephen and have plans to line up some interview time with some others with experience in these evaluations in other states.
Today also gave me an opportunity to do a short (30 min.) presentation on using the principles of aikido to illustrate concepts of conflict management and conflict communication. The session was used as an "energizer" for our agenda and it succeeded very well in getting peoples' energy level pumped up after lunch. I hope it also worked to show some physical examples of things like active listening, systems thinking, and using out-of-the-box solutions to conflict problems. I got some good feedback after the session so I think it went pretty well.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Weekend in New England
Sunday June 22, 2008 -- Kingston, RI
Three more days have flashed by. On Friday, our Camp Coastal activities included a very brief presentation by Jeremy Gault from Ireland's Coastal and Marine Resources Center. One of the things he talked about was a rather intriguing concept he called "expert couplets" where they pair up a research group or institution with a local authority responsible for coastal resources management and the two organizations work together to identify research needs and management improvements.
Next on the agenda was a discussion of the CRC approach to a project to implement ICRM in Xcalak, Mexico with a comparison to what our small groups had thought up in our 45 minute proposal-writing/brain-storming exercise. One of the useful things about this course is that we get to talk to folks like Pam and Don after they have completed a project and spent time reflecting on what went well, what didn't, what was anticipated, and what surprised them. They have some incredible experiences to share with us and talk very candidly about their successes and failures.
After Xcalak we talked about our personal projects, the focus of the last week of the class. I proposed to work on the document I need to produce for our programmatic evaluation in August that should include a combination of accomplishments report, response to findings of our last review, and a bit of strategic planning for the next few years. It seems to fit with the themes of measurement and evaluation, systems thinking and leadership that we've been covering in the past two weeks.
The last item for the day was mysteriously labeled "leadership retreat" on the schedule. It turned out to be a small group exercise using mind-mapping as a technique to capture a wide array of information that might not seem to be connected and to discover interrelationships between the seemingly disparate elements. We first worked on a map dealing with our personal lives and then did one for our programs or a project at work. After discussing the maps we all came up with I was struck again with just how fortunate I am in both my personal life and career right now. I'm a lucky guy.
Saturday A vanload of us visited Newport, RI for much of the day. I struck out on my own and spent the day looking at boats in a very, very busy harbor, and exploring the waterfront district. There were lots of t-shirt shops and tourist-traps but there were also some neat old buildings and a few interesting shops hiding among all the tourist bustle. Along the way I found an Irish pub and had a Murphy's Irish Stout and a Reuben sandwich. Very tasty. I like to put a little mustard on my Reuben, and they gave me a very nice, very hot Coleman's English mustard. It has a wasabi-like affect on the nose that worked well with the sandwich.
Today (Sunday) Pam picked up me and Gwen and took us to the free community yoga event at a place called "All That Matters" in Wakefield. Gwen and I took the Kundalini yoga class while Pam did the basic yoga session. I've only done one other Kundalini class and my abs burned during and after the class. It is a bit too far into the eastern mystical tradition for me in terms of philosophy but I was looking for a more energetic class than what the basic session had to offer. This Kundalini class did have some chanting and a bit of the philosophy but it also had enough movement and body work to get me completely drenched with sweat. Perhaps the most surprising part was the seated dancing to a powerful drum-dominated song and just how much of a workout that can be. It was kinda fun too.
We closed the day with a cook-out at Brian's house. There was a wide variety of good things to eat with lots of seafood (including milkfish and a big bushel of Perry's Matunuck oysters), Philippine food and a bit of decent wine and beer. Brian has a nice, comfortable place with gardens in the back yard. It was a nice way to conclude the weekend.
Three more days have flashed by. On Friday, our Camp Coastal activities included a very brief presentation by Jeremy Gault from Ireland's Coastal and Marine Resources Center. One of the things he talked about was a rather intriguing concept he called "expert couplets" where they pair up a research group or institution with a local authority responsible for coastal resources management and the two organizations work together to identify research needs and management improvements. Next on the agenda was a discussion of the CRC approach to a project to implement ICRM in Xcalak, Mexico with a comparison to what our small groups had thought up in our 45 minute proposal-writing/brain-storming exercise. One of the useful things about this course is that we get to talk to folks like Pam and Don after they have completed a project and spent time reflecting on what went well, what didn't, what was anticipated, and what surprised them. They have some incredible experiences to share with us and talk very candidly about their successes and failures.
After Xcalak we talked about our personal projects, the focus of the last week of the class. I proposed to work on the document I need to produce for our programmatic evaluation in August that should include a combination of accomplishments report, response to findings of our last review, and a bit of strategic planning for the next few years. It seems to fit with the themes of measurement and evaluation, systems thinking and leadership that we've been covering in the past two weeks.
The last item for the day was mysteriously labeled "leadership retreat" on the schedule. It turned out to be a small group exercise using mind-mapping as a technique to capture a wide array of information that might not seem to be connected and to discover interrelationships between the seemingly disparate elements. We first worked on a map dealing with our personal lives and then did one for our programs or a project at work. After discussing the maps we all came up with I was struck again with just how fortunate I am in both my personal life and career right now. I'm a lucky guy.
Saturday A vanload of us visited Newport, RI for much of the day. I struck out on my own and spent the day looking at boats in a very, very busy harbor, and exploring the waterfront district. There were lots of t-shirt shops and tourist-traps but there were also some neat old buildings and a few interesting shops hiding among all the tourist bustle. Along the way I found an Irish pub and had a Murphy's Irish Stout and a Reuben sandwich. Very tasty. I like to put a little mustard on my Reuben, and they gave me a very nice, very hot Coleman's English mustard. It has a wasabi-like affect on the nose that worked well with the sandwich. 
Today (Sunday) Pam picked up me and Gwen and took us to the free community yoga event at a place called "All That Matters" in Wakefield. Gwen and I took the Kundalini yoga class while Pam did the basic yoga session. I've only done one other Kundalini class and my abs burned during and after the class. It is a bit too far into the eastern mystical tradition for me in terms of philosophy but I was looking for a more energetic class than what the basic session had to offer. This Kundalini class did have some chanting and a bit of the philosophy but it also had enough movement and body work to get me completely drenched with sweat. Perhaps the most surprising part was the seated dancing to a powerful drum-dominated song and just how much of a workout that can be. It was kinda fun too. We closed the day with a cook-out at Brian's house. There was a wide variety of good things to eat with lots of seafood (including milkfish and a big bushel of Perry's Matunuck oysters), Philippine food and a bit of decent wine and beer. Brian has a nice, comfortable place with gardens in the back yard. It was a nice way to conclude the weekend.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Busy Busy
June 19, 2008 -- Kingston RI
We've had a busy couple of days here at Camp Coastal. Yesterday started with a de-brief of the oyster farm field trip and a discussion of the difference between the definitions of sustainable livelihoods and "just business". Some felt that "livelihoods" dealt more with subsistence level issues and what we saw was a more sophisticated economic development, or business model. We also talked about concerns with aquaculture development that might argue against using it as a one-size-fits-all tool in coastal management. Finally we wrapped up that session with some discussion about the features of "sustainable aquaculture" before moving into a discussion about the value of "voluntary compliance" versus law enforcement. I really don't think a lot about it but we have a high level of voluntary compliance in the US compared to other places.
We moved on to the issue of eco labeling, ecological certifications of products and the market values of such things. One of the major areas of discussion was seafood labeling and programs like Seafood Watch. There is a Marine Stewardship Council that certifies seafood from the producer side which is different than the consumer side focus of Seafood Watch. It is interesting to note that some types of eco labels have become more of a "price of entry" into the market place wherein producers without the label (like "dolphin safe tuna") can't even compete. In these cases, the eco label does not ensure a higher price, it simply means that they can join in the competitive marketplace with other products that also have the label.
After the eco labeling exercise we began a negotiations module by doing a relatively simple non-resource management exercise and the moved on to a more complicated and complex problem dealing with an Ecuadoran estuary named Cojimies Estuary. The site has lost most of its mangrove forest to shrimp farming and suffers from extreme poverty. I got to play the part of an eco-tourism business owner whose interests include protecting the resources, establishing basic infrastructure, improving the health and safety of the residents and getting the chaotic land development patters under control. It was a good role, but it was difficult to figure out where to start with all the problems in the area. We continued the exercise on into the next day for the morning session before wrapping it up and having a long de-brief about the outcomes, and the facilitation process. Two of our group had volunteered to facilitate the sessions and I think that before we were done, they had to wonder why they put themselves through that.
We ended Wednesday with a feast hosted by the Narragansett Indian Tribe. They also put on a great program for us that included storytelling, dancing and music. They were very generous with their time and their culture, including giving us all small medicine pouches and a feather from a Canada goose.
Today, in addition to finishing up the Cojimies exercise, we worked on a very fast example of a facilitated coastal management program project addressing the southern part of the Riviera Maya area in Mexico, south of Cancun, focusing on the area around Xcalack, Mexico. We plan to finish this exercise up tomorrow with a comparison of our plans with what CRC actually did when they worked on the project there.
We ended the day at Champlin's Seafood restaurant at Point Judith, RI. I had white chowder, stuffed flounder, red potatoes, and coleslaw (along with a couple glasses of Samuel Adams Lager.) It was good. We all had a great deal of fun and lots of pictures were taken. I loaned out my camera cable to another coastal camper so I'll have to wait for another time to load up photos from the past day or two. Stay tuned.
We've had a busy couple of days here at Camp Coastal. Yesterday started with a de-brief of the oyster farm field trip and a discussion of the difference between the definitions of sustainable livelihoods and "just business". Some felt that "livelihoods" dealt more with subsistence level issues and what we saw was a more sophisticated economic development, or business model. We also talked about concerns with aquaculture development that might argue against using it as a one-size-fits-all tool in coastal management. Finally we wrapped up that session with some discussion about the features of "sustainable aquaculture" before moving into a discussion about the value of "voluntary compliance" versus law enforcement. I really don't think a lot about it but we have a high level of voluntary compliance in the US compared to other places. We moved on to the issue of eco labeling, ecological certifications of products and the market values of such things. One of the major areas of discussion was seafood labeling and programs like Seafood Watch. There is a Marine Stewardship Council that certifies seafood from the producer side which is different than the consumer side focus of Seafood Watch. It is interesting to note that some types of eco labels have become more of a "price of entry" into the market place wherein producers without the label (like "dolphin safe tuna") can't even compete. In these cases, the eco label does not ensure a higher price, it simply means that they can join in the competitive marketplace with other products that also have the label.
After the eco labeling exercise we began a negotiations module by doing a relatively simple non-resource management exercise and the moved on to a more complicated and complex problem dealing with an Ecuadoran estuary named Cojimies Estuary. The site has lost most of its mangrove forest to shrimp farming and suffers from extreme poverty. I got to play the part of an eco-tourism business owner whose interests include protecting the resources, establishing basic infrastructure, improving the health and safety of the residents and getting the chaotic land development patters under control. It was a good role, but it was difficult to figure out where to start with all the problems in the area. We continued the exercise on into the next day for the morning session before wrapping it up and having a long de-brief about the outcomes, and the facilitation process. Two of our group had volunteered to facilitate the sessions and I think that before we were done, they had to wonder why they put themselves through that.
We ended Wednesday with a feast hosted by the Narragansett Indian Tribe. They also put on a great program for us that included storytelling, dancing and music. They were very generous with their time and their culture, including giving us all small medicine pouches and a feather from a Canada goose.
Today, in addition to finishing up the Cojimies exercise, we worked on a very fast example of a facilitated coastal management program project addressing the southern part of the Riviera Maya area in Mexico, south of Cancun, focusing on the area around Xcalack, Mexico. We plan to finish this exercise up tomorrow with a comparison of our plans with what CRC actually did when they worked on the project there.
We ended the day at Champlin's Seafood restaurant at Point Judith, RI. I had white chowder, stuffed flounder, red potatoes, and coleslaw (along with a couple glasses of Samuel Adams Lager.) It was good. We all had a great deal of fun and lots of pictures were taken. I loaned out my camera cable to another coastal camper so I'll have to wait for another time to load up photos from the past day or two. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Mariculture
June 17, 2008 -- Kingston RI
Today we focused on learning more about Mariculture, the practice of raising seafood in marine environments. It really is agriculture in the seas. The reason this practice is so important is because capture fisheries, the fisheries we have relied on for so long to provide relatively cheap, high quality protein, has reached a peak and is most likely in decline due to over harvest, pollution, and other environmental insults. Fish farming on the other hand is increasing rapidly.
Approximately 41 million people make their living from fishing today, 11 million of them are engaged in aquaculture.
We learned about seaweed and half-pearl cultivation in Zanzibar Through these relatively new initiatives, women in Zanzibar have been able to earn money and they have learned to swim and developed other business skills. The group had an interesting and lively discussion about gender equity issues, cultural differences, and the advisability of trying to change the current cultural gender conditions. It is a complicated question, with a whole suite of issues to consider. In some cases, when women start becoming more productive in terms of economic activity, the men become less so. However, according to our peers from Tanzania, the reality is that this improved economic status for women is seen as a good thing all around and that the men do not feel threatened by the change. Gilbert says "Men are actually happy that women are earning extra money."
The other African example had to do with farming milkfish in ponds converted from the production of salt. It is an interesting case study because the practice has the potential to be lucrative for the farmers, but there is also the danger that farmers will convert mangrove forests into milkfish ponds. Because mangroves are so important ecologically, the impacts to the environment could be really bad.
The last of our indoor activities had to do with analyzing value chains. Value Chains represent the whole series of activities that products pass through from raw resources to ourchase by the end consumer. Each step along the way adds value and provides an entry point for possible revenue enhancement. The example we used to examine this concept further was the developing half pearl mariculture efforts in Zanzibar. Half pearls are easier to seed into adult oysters than whole pearls. As a result, the entry requirements to participate are lower and more people can potentially engage in half-pearl farming.
One of the things that CRC learned from doing a project with half-pearls in Zanzibar was that just focusing on getting production of a commodity started is not sufficient in developing countries. One also needs to consider other points along the value chain else the project will likely fail.
The last learning exercise for the day was to take a field trip down to the Matunuck Oyster Farm where we talkd first with the coastal program's aquaculture specialist about the permitting process for oyster farms, and then with Perry, the founder of the oyster farm. Perry then took us wading out into the oyster farm to show us his operation.
It was a great field trip. Perry was a master educator and kept our crew moving through the farm, our minds busy with taking in information and our curiosities engaged. Perry is the guy in the picture at the top of the blog entry. The oyster in the photo ended up in my belly a few seconds after Perry gave us a lesson in oyster shucking and anatomy. It was wonderfully briny and fresh tasting.
We ended the day with a dinner out at Chelos and lots of laughter. I've loaded a bunch more photos from today on my photo album for the class (see the 'my photo albums' link on the left-hand navigation bar.) Now it's late and I'm off to bed.
Ciao
Today we focused on learning more about Mariculture, the practice of raising seafood in marine environments. It really is agriculture in the seas. The reason this practice is so important is because capture fisheries, the fisheries we have relied on for so long to provide relatively cheap, high quality protein, has reached a peak and is most likely in decline due to over harvest, pollution, and other environmental insults. Fish farming on the other hand is increasing rapidly.
Approximately 41 million people make their living from fishing today, 11 million of them are engaged in aquaculture.
We learned about seaweed and half-pearl cultivation in Zanzibar Through these relatively new initiatives, women in Zanzibar have been able to earn money and they have learned to swim and developed other business skills. The group had an interesting and lively discussion about gender equity issues, cultural differences, and the advisability of trying to change the current cultural gender conditions. It is a complicated question, with a whole suite of issues to consider. In some cases, when women start becoming more productive in terms of economic activity, the men become less so. However, according to our peers from Tanzania, the reality is that this improved economic status for women is seen as a good thing all around and that the men do not feel threatened by the change. Gilbert says "Men are actually happy that women are earning extra money."
The other African example had to do with farming milkfish in ponds converted from the production of salt. It is an interesting case study because the practice has the potential to be lucrative for the farmers, but there is also the danger that farmers will convert mangrove forests into milkfish ponds. Because mangroves are so important ecologically, the impacts to the environment could be really bad.
The last of our indoor activities had to do with analyzing value chains. Value Chains represent the whole series of activities that products pass through from raw resources to ourchase by the end consumer. Each step along the way adds value and provides an entry point for possible revenue enhancement. The example we used to examine this concept further was the developing half pearl mariculture efforts in Zanzibar. Half pearls are easier to seed into adult oysters than whole pearls. As a result, the entry requirements to participate are lower and more people can potentially engage in half-pearl farming.
One of the things that CRC learned from doing a project with half-pearls in Zanzibar was that just focusing on getting production of a commodity started is not sufficient in developing countries. One also needs to consider other points along the value chain else the project will likely fail.
The last learning exercise for the day was to take a field trip down to the Matunuck Oyster Farm where we talkd first with the coastal program's aquaculture specialist about the permitting process for oyster farms, and then with Perry, the founder of the oyster farm. Perry then took us wading out into the oyster farm to show us his operation.
It was a great field trip. Perry was a master educator and kept our crew moving through the farm, our minds busy with taking in information and our curiosities engaged. Perry is the guy in the picture at the top of the blog entry. The oyster in the photo ended up in my belly a few seconds after Perry gave us a lesson in oyster shucking and anatomy. It was wonderfully briny and fresh tasting. We ended the day with a dinner out at Chelos and lots of laughter. I've loaded a bunch more photos from today on my photo album for the class (see the 'my photo albums' link on the left-hand navigation bar.) Now it's late and I'm off to bed.
Ciao
Monday, June 16, 2008
Coastal Livelihoods
June 16, 2008 -- Kingston, RI
This week we are looking at coastal management issues through the lens of coastal livelihoods. How do we ensure that we are sustaining the economic environment for people on the coast while we are managing the other resources? What is a sustainable livelihood?
For many of the other participants it seems that this terminology is somewhat familiar. I had a hard time translating some of the concepts into something relevant to the place I live and work. What it seems to boil down to is what we would call sustainable development or sustainable economic development. Many of the examples we talked about today, such as seaweed farming in the Philippines or paprika farming in Tanzania require such a different approach to implementation than I think about when it comes to sustainable development just because of the vast difference in social and institutional capacity.
Even with some of those huge differences, I saw some application and a few common themes that resonated with my experiences. A paper I read on seaweed farming stressed that approaches to sustaining livelihoods have to been seen in a more complex way than we like to do. Something like seaweed farming as an approach to reduce fishing pressure may have positive benefits when market prices are good, and diseases don't decimate the crop. However in some places seaweed farming may just provide more cash for fishers to buy more fishing gear or it may spur immigration and result in more pressure on the fish stocks when the seaweed crop fails or prices fall. We looked at a few examples of these complex suites of issues using systems maps that Don and others worked up. One case from Tanzania linked a wide variety of factors together that related to protection of the fish and wildlife populations in a nearby park with paprika farming and HIV AIDS health status in a complex web of interactions. What was fascinating was how one could link healthy families (with members not living with AIDS) to less poaching and how AIDS prevention measures helped protect wildlife.
We also talked a bit about how one measures the effectiveness of projects to improve livelihoods and sustainability. This approach is sometimes thought of as having three "bottom lines", including 1) quality of life, 2) ecosystem health, and 3) societal health and human services. I find a lot of appeal for measures that try to address quality of life in particular over simply measuring economic growth. There is one country, Bhutan, that measures "Gross National Happiness" instead of Gross National Production. That makes sense to me. The production should be for a reason, right? We are not just working for the sake of working are we? Do we make money just to make money or is there something more important that we are striving for? I'm a big fan of Ted.com and really like this talk on Habits of Happiness. I remember seeing another presentation there that addressed this issue as well, but now I can't remember just what talk it was. Hmm...
Anyway, I am certain that economic growth just for the sake of growth is not only unsustainable, but just simply misguided. In this season of presidential campaigns however, how often are we going to hear about growing our economy and creating more jobs? A lot I'll bet. I don't expect we'll hear much about enhancing our national quality of life though.
A few threads that I picked up from the overall discussions about sustainable livelihoods both here today and previously include the following. To develop a sustainable system on this planet so humans can survive a while longer we need to:
-- educate and empower women
-- significantly reduce poverty
-- manage our behavior within the ecological capacity of the system in which we live
-- diversify our economic base in our communities
-- focus on improving quality over increasing quantity
-- consume less, understand more
-- build happiness within ourselves rather than from external things
Hmm... I think I've gotten off on a tangent and a bit distracted by TED.com (it's easy to do if you are at all curious about things) so I guess I'll wrap it up for today.
Be happy.
This week we are looking at coastal management issues through the lens of coastal livelihoods. How do we ensure that we are sustaining the economic environment for people on the coast while we are managing the other resources? What is a sustainable livelihood?
For many of the other participants it seems that this terminology is somewhat familiar. I had a hard time translating some of the concepts into something relevant to the place I live and work. What it seems to boil down to is what we would call sustainable development or sustainable economic development. Many of the examples we talked about today, such as seaweed farming in the Philippines or paprika farming in Tanzania require such a different approach to implementation than I think about when it comes to sustainable development just because of the vast difference in social and institutional capacity.
Even with some of those huge differences, I saw some application and a few common themes that resonated with my experiences. A paper I read on seaweed farming stressed that approaches to sustaining livelihoods have to been seen in a more complex way than we like to do. Something like seaweed farming as an approach to reduce fishing pressure may have positive benefits when market prices are good, and diseases don't decimate the crop. However in some places seaweed farming may just provide more cash for fishers to buy more fishing gear or it may spur immigration and result in more pressure on the fish stocks when the seaweed crop fails or prices fall. We looked at a few examples of these complex suites of issues using systems maps that Don and others worked up. One case from Tanzania linked a wide variety of factors together that related to protection of the fish and wildlife populations in a nearby park with paprika farming and HIV AIDS health status in a complex web of interactions. What was fascinating was how one could link healthy families (with members not living with AIDS) to less poaching and how AIDS prevention measures helped protect wildlife.
We also talked a bit about how one measures the effectiveness of projects to improve livelihoods and sustainability. This approach is sometimes thought of as having three "bottom lines", including 1) quality of life, 2) ecosystem health, and 3) societal health and human services. I find a lot of appeal for measures that try to address quality of life in particular over simply measuring economic growth. There is one country, Bhutan, that measures "Gross National Happiness" instead of Gross National Production. That makes sense to me. The production should be for a reason, right? We are not just working for the sake of working are we? Do we make money just to make money or is there something more important that we are striving for? I'm a big fan of Ted.com and really like this talk on Habits of Happiness. I remember seeing another presentation there that addressed this issue as well, but now I can't remember just what talk it was. Hmm...
Anyway, I am certain that economic growth just for the sake of growth is not only unsustainable, but just simply misguided. In this season of presidential campaigns however, how often are we going to hear about growing our economy and creating more jobs? A lot I'll bet. I don't expect we'll hear much about enhancing our national quality of life though.
A few threads that I picked up from the overall discussions about sustainable livelihoods both here today and previously include the following. To develop a sustainable system on this planet so humans can survive a while longer we need to:
-- educate and empower women
-- significantly reduce poverty
-- manage our behavior within the ecological capacity of the system in which we live
-- diversify our economic base in our communities
-- focus on improving quality over increasing quantity
-- consume less, understand more
-- build happiness within ourselves rather than from external things
Hmm... I think I've gotten off on a tangent and a bit distracted by TED.com (it's easy to do if you are at all curious about things) so I guess I'll wrap it up for today.
Be happy.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Rainy day in RI
June 15, 2008, Kingston RI
Plans to spend the day in Newport, RI got changed since it was pouring rain this morning. I stayed closer to the campus and did a little grocery shopping, some laundry, cleaned my room, and worked on the computer. My GroupWise connection is finally working thanks to Bob and I was able to clear up some of the backlog of messages. I talked to my dad for a while on the phone and later my boys called and we got caught up a bit. Sounds like they are having a pretty good summer so far.
I also worked on getting pictures loaded onto my web album for the course. It is easy to lose a lot of time working with pictures, sorting, culling, and adding captions to get them ready to share with others.
It was a slow, rainy day in Rhode Island.
Plans to spend the day in Newport, RI got changed since it was pouring rain this morning. I stayed closer to the campus and did a little grocery shopping, some laundry, cleaned my room, and worked on the computer. My GroupWise connection is finally working thanks to Bob and I was able to clear up some of the backlog of messages. I talked to my dad for a while on the phone and later my boys called and we got caught up a bit. Sounds like they are having a pretty good summer so far.
I also worked on getting pictures loaded onto my web album for the course. It is easy to lose a lot of time working with pictures, sorting, culling, and adding captions to get them ready to share with others.
It was a slow, rainy day in Rhode Island.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Mystic Seaport
June 14, 2008 -- Kingston, RI
Today I got to visit the Farmers Market on the URI campus. They have a few things I'm not used to seeing at local produce markets at home, including fresh live lobsters, clams, and oysters. I also got a good cup of organic coffee, a whole wheat pineapple scone and picked up a potted geranium to add a bit of color to my room.
After visiting the farmers market, Kim took me, Otto, Thess and Gwen to Mystic Connecticut to the Mystic Seaport where they were having a "Sea Music Festival" and lots of other stuff going on. It was a neat place with a mix of folk music, museum displays and big old wooden ships including a huge old whaling ship the Charles W Morgan and a recreation of the Amistad. The weather and all the boats really made me want to get out sailing. They did have boats for rent for $20/hour but there were also so many other things to see and do that I didn't try to go for a sail.
Today I got to visit the Farmers Market on the URI campus. They have a few things I'm not used to seeing at local produce markets at home, including fresh live lobsters, clams, and oysters. I also got a good cup of organic coffee, a whole wheat pineapple scone and picked up a potted geranium to add a bit of color to my room. 
After visiting the farmers market, Kim took me, Otto, Thess and Gwen to Mystic Connecticut to the Mystic Seaport where they were having a "Sea Music Festival" and lots of other stuff going on. It was a neat place with a mix of folk music, museum displays and big old wooden ships including a huge old whaling ship the Charles W Morgan and a recreation of the Amistad. The weather and all the boats really made me want to get out sailing. They did have boats for rent for $20/hour but there were also so many other things to see and do that I didn't try to go for a sail.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Field Trip Day!
June 13, 2008 -- Kingston RI
Two fast days just went by in a flash here at summer camp. Yesterday we worked on finishing up the major part of the climate change section of the course with a focus on systems thinking and talking about all the challenges we face in dealing with this and all the other complex issues around Integrated Coastal Management.
Don gave another one of his outstanding 100 mph presentations and talked about how a systems thinking approach is needed since the problems are so big and complex. He talked aoubt addressing feedback loops and using mental models to try to account for complexities. Several things he brought reminded me of basic Aikido principles. Thing like paying close attention to the energy you are really recieving rather than what you thought you were going to get or what you wished you were getting. The principle of circularity (what goes around, comes around). If you push back against a pushing attack, you are just going to generate more resistance, etc. Cool stuff.
We then moved on to more local coastal issues with a review of US coastal policy history (Don needs to update his slide that shows Minnesota "developing" a coastal program before we get to our 10-year anniversary next summer.) We also got a presentation on Rhode Island's coastal issues with a focus on their use of Special Area Management Plans (SAMPs).
Today, (Friday) we took a field trip to visit several sites in the area covered by the Metro Bay SAMP. We met at the new building developed by Save the Bay, a very well established non-governmental organization that works for environmental protection and restoration first. They have some very nice Low Impact Development (LID) features for stormwater management at their facility. It is a very impressinve building and the programs, connected with the waterkeepers network sounds like it is very effective. It is nice to see such an influential NGO enjoying that kind of success. It proves how much power a body of committed, engaged citizens can have in driving change.
Our second stop was with the City Planner and Asst. City Planner for Pawtucket, RI. They were both very enthusiastic about the Metro Bay SAMP and its value for helping them raise funds, get land donated and justify requirements for good development design in their community. We had a good discussion with them about the value of the SAMP at Slater's Mill, a hydropower mill where the American industrial revolution began.
From there we went to the American Locomotive Works, site of a brownfield redevelopment project to provide offices, housing and other mixed uses in a former industrial complex. A representative from the Rhode Island Coastal Management Council and one from the Economic Development Commission talked about the development of the Urban Greenways Policy that allows for development closer to the coast than it would otherwise be allowed in the metro are in exchange for public access and LID features in the site development. The permitting process in RI appears very complicated. While they have some coordination between agencies, it appears that the only joint permitting they do is between agencies at the same governmental level. Between cities for example and not with state and federal agencies.
After the work of the day was over we spent a little time exploring downtown Providence (and having a couple Sam Adams Lagers), and eating dinner at Fire and Ice before heading back to the frat house.
Two fast days just went by in a flash here at summer camp. Yesterday we worked on finishing up the major part of the climate change section of the course with a focus on systems thinking and talking about all the challenges we face in dealing with this and all the other complex issues around Integrated Coastal Management.
Don gave another one of his outstanding 100 mph presentations and talked about how a systems thinking approach is needed since the problems are so big and complex. He talked aoubt addressing feedback loops and using mental models to try to account for complexities. Several things he brought reminded me of basic Aikido principles. Thing like paying close attention to the energy you are really recieving rather than what you thought you were going to get or what you wished you were getting. The principle of circularity (what goes around, comes around). If you push back against a pushing attack, you are just going to generate more resistance, etc. Cool stuff. We then moved on to more local coastal issues with a review of US coastal policy history (Don needs to update his slide that shows Minnesota "developing" a coastal program before we get to our 10-year anniversary next summer.) We also got a presentation on Rhode Island's coastal issues with a focus on their use of Special Area Management Plans (SAMPs).
Today, (Friday) we took a field trip to visit several sites in the area covered by the Metro Bay SAMP. We met at the new building developed by Save the Bay, a very well established non-governmental organization that works for environmental protection and restoration first. They have some very nice Low Impact Development (LID) features for stormwater management at their facility. It is a very impressinve building and the programs, connected with the waterkeepers network sounds like it is very effective. It is nice to see such an influential NGO enjoying that kind of success. It proves how much power a body of committed, engaged citizens can have in driving change.
Our second stop was with the City Planner and Asst. City Planner for Pawtucket, RI. They were both very enthusiastic about the Metro Bay SAMP and its value for helping them raise funds, get land donated and justify requirements for good development design in their community. We had a good discussion with them about the value of the SAMP at Slater's Mill, a hydropower mill where the American industrial revolution began.
From there we went to the American Locomotive Works, site of a brownfield redevelopment project to provide offices, housing and other mixed uses in a former industrial complex. A representative from the Rhode Island Coastal Management Council and one from the Economic Development Commission talked about the development of the Urban Greenways Policy that allows for development closer to the coast than it would otherwise be allowed in the metro are in exchange for public access and LID features in the site development. The permitting process in RI appears very complicated. While they have some coordination between agencies, it appears that the only joint permitting they do is between agencies at the same governmental level. Between cities for example and not with state and federal agencies.
After the work of the day was over we spent a little time exploring downtown Providence (and having a couple Sam Adams Lagers), and eating dinner at Fire and Ice before heading back to the frat house.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
A Full Day
June 11, 2008 -- Kingston, RI
Here was today's schedule:
6:00 alarm goes off, crawl out of bed
6:10 Do some yoga in the dorm room
6:40 Shower, shave, get dressed
7:15 Get the iron from down stairs and iron a couple of shirts
7:30 Walk up to the Rams Den (the dining hall) for breakfast
7:45 Breakfast
8:10 wait for the van to take us to the Bay Campus
8:20 Van ride to Bay Campus
8:40 Begin classes for the day with a major module on assessing vulnerability to climate change impacts and hazards like erosion, flooding, habitat loss.
12:00 Lunch at the Mosby building nearby
12:30 return to the classroom and deal with a grant problem from home
1:00 classes resume and deal with assessing adaptation measures to deal with impacts from earlier in the day; tools for adaptation, communication (with a focus on developing better powerpoint presentations). Get group homework assignment
5:20 depart Bay campus for the dorm, make a plan to meet group to complete homework at 7:30
5:45 return to the Chi Phi frat house, grab gym bag and walk down to Mackel Field House, get my rec center pass, find locker room and change.
6:00 work out in the gym (5 min on the eliptical machine, 45 min weight lifting, 10 min cool-down and stretching) Sons would have liked the music selection in the weight room, loud metal. Not quite the same vibe as "my" gym. Sweat a lot.
7:00 shower and walk back to dorm
7:15 get down to the common room early in case group is getting started, drink a liter of water since I forgot to bring anything to the gym.
7:30 no sign of the group. Look though the big binders full of local information on activities, find the phone number for the Newport yacht club, plan to call to see about crewing for races. Back home the Duluth Yach Club race is canceled. The cancellation email says:
'Winds ENE 32 – 37; Temp 43 degrees. Rain; Small craft warnings. Gale warnings posted. And the bad stuff hasn't hit yet. DYC Racing will be canceled for this evening.'
7:45 give up on the group showing up and walk up the hill to the emporium to get food.
8:00 find some group members at the emporium just heading back to work on homework. I tell them I'll join them as soon as I eat. Get a tasty grilled chicken pesto wrap and more water.
8:15 Walk back to the frat house to meet the group. No group. Wait around, still no group.
8:40 give up on getting homework done. Return to my room to try to resolve the problem with getting onto the DNR email site (got some suggestions from the CRC IT guy this afternoon). My efforts result in lost ground. Wireless and network cable access denied again.
9:30 give up on email, blogging. Call home. No answer. Organize the pile of handouts and notes from class today and yesterday. Look over some materials, read a bit for recreation.
10:00 turn out the light, put in the earplugs
10:30 wake up from the conversation and laughter in the room next door. Try to get back to sleep, Noise and sore muscles keep me awake.
11:15 give up on getting back to sleep, fire up computer and the wireless connection lets me in! At least to some things. I can read the first page of my DNR email account but can't reply or look past the first 20 emails. Blog.
11:55 guys next door either leave or quiet down. Maybe I can get back to sleep.
Here was today's schedule:
6:00 alarm goes off, crawl out of bed
6:10 Do some yoga in the dorm room
6:40 Shower, shave, get dressed
7:15 Get the iron from down stairs and iron a couple of shirts
7:30 Walk up to the Rams Den (the dining hall) for breakfast
7:45 Breakfast
8:10 wait for the van to take us to the Bay Campus
8:20 Van ride to Bay Campus
8:40 Begin classes for the day with a major module on assessing vulnerability to climate change impacts and hazards like erosion, flooding, habitat loss.
12:00 Lunch at the Mosby building nearby
12:30 return to the classroom and deal with a grant problem from home
1:00 classes resume and deal with assessing adaptation measures to deal with impacts from earlier in the day; tools for adaptation, communication (with a focus on developing better powerpoint presentations). Get group homework assignment
5:20 depart Bay campus for the dorm, make a plan to meet group to complete homework at 7:30
5:45 return to the Chi Phi frat house, grab gym bag and walk down to Mackel Field House, get my rec center pass, find locker room and change.
6:00 work out in the gym (5 min on the eliptical machine, 45 min weight lifting, 10 min cool-down and stretching) Sons would have liked the music selection in the weight room, loud metal. Not quite the same vibe as "my" gym. Sweat a lot.
7:00 shower and walk back to dorm
7:15 get down to the common room early in case group is getting started, drink a liter of water since I forgot to bring anything to the gym.
7:30 no sign of the group. Look though the big binders full of local information on activities, find the phone number for the Newport yacht club, plan to call to see about crewing for races. Back home the Duluth Yach Club race is canceled. The cancellation email says:
'Winds ENE 32 – 37; Temp 43 degrees. Rain; Small craft warnings. Gale warnings posted. And the bad stuff hasn't hit yet. DYC Racing will be canceled for this evening.'
7:45 give up on the group showing up and walk up the hill to the emporium to get food.
8:00 find some group members at the emporium just heading back to work on homework. I tell them I'll join them as soon as I eat. Get a tasty grilled chicken pesto wrap and more water.
8:15 Walk back to the frat house to meet the group. No group. Wait around, still no group.
8:40 give up on getting homework done. Return to my room to try to resolve the problem with getting onto the DNR email site (got some suggestions from the CRC IT guy this afternoon). My efforts result in lost ground. Wireless and network cable access denied again.
9:30 give up on email, blogging. Call home. No answer. Organize the pile of handouts and notes from class today and yesterday. Look over some materials, read a bit for recreation.
10:00 turn out the light, put in the earplugs
10:30 wake up from the conversation and laughter in the room next door. Try to get back to sleep, Noise and sore muscles keep me awake.
11:15 give up on getting back to sleep, fire up computer and the wireless connection lets me in! At least to some things. I can read the first page of my DNR email account but can't reply or look past the first 20 emails. Blog.
11:55 guys next door either leave or quiet down. Maybe I can get back to sleep.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Day 2 -- Happier Camper
June 10, 2008 -- Kingston RI
Day Two of Coastal Summer Camp saw the internet get fixed, the temperature go down and I got food before I got quite so cranky. No whining today.
I don't know what the temp was today but it felt soooo much better than yesterday. It's good that the temp was down 'cause we were in the same room (still no AC)as yesterday since the alternate room in another building lost AC yesterday too. We had doors open and fans on and a nice sea breeze kept us comfy. Maybe tomorrow I'll remember to bring both the camera and its battery so I can take some pictures of the bay from the Bay Campus of URI.
It was the heat that did in the internet yesterday. The room with the machine that authenticates wireless login connections overheated and the system was shut down prior to melting down. tonight it is up and running again.
Classwork today focused mainly on climate change. Early in the day we got a presentation from Kate Moran on the science of climate change. She has done some really cool polar expeditions to collect ice cores from the arctic to reconstruct climatic records for that part of the world. She gave an overview of the status of climate science today, focusing on the 2007 report from the International Panel on Climate Change. Some other points she made:
-- what we don't know is an important part of what we need to communicate;
-- there are 6,673,277,921 people living on this blue marble in space (see the world pop clock)
-- Summer sea ice may disappear in the arctic within 15 years so solar radiation will be absorbed by the sea rather than being reflected.
-- sea level rise so far has been caused by the thermal expansion of the water in the oceans. Now land-based ice is beginning to melt and contribute to the rise.
-- If the ice on Greenland melts, it has the potential to raise sea level by 7.5 meters or about 25 feet!
She also recommended a report by an insurance giant called Climate Change: adapt or bust. It's encouraging that industry leaders are getting with the picture.
Later in the day we had another good presentation on Climate change impacts by Pam Rubinoff. She lead an interesting discussion about how we need to change our behavior and our infrastructure in response to changing conditions due to climate. She mentioned a guidance manual published by USAID on adapting to changing climate that I need to check out.
Just before lunch, Stephen Olsen, the Director for CRC talked about what needs to change in the 21st century for "Integrated Coastal Governance". He talked about how whatever we do needs to: 1)forge links across current vertical/horizontal/temporal barriers; 2) be learning-based (adaptive management); 3) be science based; and 4) be collaborative/collective. He says "Integrated Coastal Management is not rocket science; It's much more complicated."
He went on to describe the current epoch of history as the "anthropocene". We have left the Holocene and are into a new epoch of planetary history where one species is rapidly changing the planetary ecology. He also talked about how we need to move from ICM (management) to ICG (governance) wherein our work needs to include integration of market forces, and civil society as well as governmental institutions. The focus must be on managing human activities, not managing species like fish or birds or trees.
Stephen presented a concept called "Orders of Outcome Framework" (see also this article). What I like about the concept is that it places the various goals that we talk about in a context of what can be accomplished at different stages of social and institutional readiness. We can't achieve long-term sustainable development without reaching some other milestones first. We have to include both human and environmental considerations (social sciences with the physical/biological/ecological sciences). We have to change 1) behaviors, 2) institutions/processes, and 3) investments. We need to grow capacity for coastal ecosystem governance. Unfortunately, there has been little connection between the ideas that Stephen and his colleagues have been developing here at CRC and the recent efforts to Envision the future of Coastal Management through re-authorization of the Coastal Zone Management Act. I think some of the framework ideas would also be useful in the development/revision of the coastal programs' performance measures system.
At lunch Stephen recommended a book by HT Odum that I need to check out. It is titled "A prosperous way down". I also ran across a summary from a lecture in 2000.
The other topic of the day was leadership and how to strengthen our leadership skills. We did a little exercise, took a leadership assessment (I came out with a collaborative style preference), and talked about leadership versus management. My observation of the difference is that "managers have authority, leaders have influence."
We wrapped up the day with a dinner gathering with participants in the Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environmental Reporting's annual workshop for journalists. I got to talk with Kelly, a reporter with a paper in the Daytona Fl area. She deals a lot with city issues but also gets to work on environmental topics from time to time.
It was a good day, filled with lots of new information and perspectives.
Day Two of Coastal Summer Camp saw the internet get fixed, the temperature go down and I got food before I got quite so cranky. No whining today.
I don't know what the temp was today but it felt soooo much better than yesterday. It's good that the temp was down 'cause we were in the same room (still no AC)as yesterday since the alternate room in another building lost AC yesterday too. We had doors open and fans on and a nice sea breeze kept us comfy. Maybe tomorrow I'll remember to bring both the camera and its battery so I can take some pictures of the bay from the Bay Campus of URI.
It was the heat that did in the internet yesterday. The room with the machine that authenticates wireless login connections overheated and the system was shut down prior to melting down. tonight it is up and running again.
Classwork today focused mainly on climate change. Early in the day we got a presentation from Kate Moran on the science of climate change. She has done some really cool polar expeditions to collect ice cores from the arctic to reconstruct climatic records for that part of the world. She gave an overview of the status of climate science today, focusing on the 2007 report from the International Panel on Climate Change. Some other points she made:
-- what we don't know is an important part of what we need to communicate;
-- there are 6,673,277,921 people living on this blue marble in space (see the world pop clock)
-- Summer sea ice may disappear in the arctic within 15 years so solar radiation will be absorbed by the sea rather than being reflected.
-- sea level rise so far has been caused by the thermal expansion of the water in the oceans. Now land-based ice is beginning to melt and contribute to the rise.
-- If the ice on Greenland melts, it has the potential to raise sea level by 7.5 meters or about 25 feet!
She also recommended a report by an insurance giant called Climate Change: adapt or bust. It's encouraging that industry leaders are getting with the picture.
Later in the day we had another good presentation on Climate change impacts by Pam Rubinoff. She lead an interesting discussion about how we need to change our behavior and our infrastructure in response to changing conditions due to climate. She mentioned a guidance manual published by USAID on adapting to changing climate that I need to check out.
Just before lunch, Stephen Olsen, the Director for CRC talked about what needs to change in the 21st century for "Integrated Coastal Governance". He talked about how whatever we do needs to: 1)forge links across current vertical/horizontal/temporal barriers; 2) be learning-based (adaptive management); 3) be science based; and 4) be collaborative/collective. He says "Integrated Coastal Management is not rocket science; It's much more complicated."
He went on to describe the current epoch of history as the "anthropocene". We have left the Holocene and are into a new epoch of planetary history where one species is rapidly changing the planetary ecology. He also talked about how we need to move from ICM (management) to ICG (governance) wherein our work needs to include integration of market forces, and civil society as well as governmental institutions. The focus must be on managing human activities, not managing species like fish or birds or trees.
Stephen presented a concept called "Orders of Outcome Framework" (see also this article). What I like about the concept is that it places the various goals that we talk about in a context of what can be accomplished at different stages of social and institutional readiness. We can't achieve long-term sustainable development without reaching some other milestones first. We have to include both human and environmental considerations (social sciences with the physical/biological/ecological sciences). We have to change 1) behaviors, 2) institutions/processes, and 3) investments. We need to grow capacity for coastal ecosystem governance. Unfortunately, there has been little connection between the ideas that Stephen and his colleagues have been developing here at CRC and the recent efforts to Envision the future of Coastal Management through re-authorization of the Coastal Zone Management Act. I think some of the framework ideas would also be useful in the development/revision of the coastal programs' performance measures system.
At lunch Stephen recommended a book by HT Odum that I need to check out. It is titled "A prosperous way down". I also ran across a summary from a lecture in 2000.
The other topic of the day was leadership and how to strengthen our leadership skills. We did a little exercise, took a leadership assessment (I came out with a collaborative style preference), and talked about leadership versus management. My observation of the difference is that "managers have authority, leaders have influence."
We wrapped up the day with a dinner gathering with participants in the Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environmental Reporting's annual workshop for journalists. I got to talk with Kelly, a reporter with a paper in the Daytona Fl area. She deals a lot with city issues but also gets to work on environmental topics from time to time.
It was a good day, filled with lots of new information and perspectives.
Monday, June 09, 2008
HOT!
June 9, 2008 -- Kingston Rhode Island.
Class started today for the tenth Summer Institute on the Bay Campus of URI, in Narragansett, RI. The classes are at the Graduate School of Oceanography. Unfortunately they decided to replace the air conditioning in the building with the conference room this week. Heat index was 104F. Even just standing in the room I was dripping with sweat. We got started with some overview stuff and an exercise with "hopes and fears" for the next few weeks. So far so good (except for the heat.) After class, I headed back to the frat house to catch up on email, blog, and get news. But, the wireless was down ("due to technical difficulties. . . until further notice . . ." Argh. So plug into the wall with the Ethernet cable. . . no go. Got some message about "evaluating the computer for compliance with policy . . ." dead end. Argh. Try every way to get around the problem I can think of. Nothing works. I can only browse the URI website. Help desk is just a recording 'after hours' Argh.
So, I give it a break and walk down to the field house to sign up for a pass to use the weight room and cardio machines. The young lady behind the desk wanted to charge me $51 rather than the $26 we were told. Oh, that $26 rate is for just one summer session (which happens to end in two weeks.) Then it's another $26 for the last week of our stay here. Argh. By the way, it was still hot outside. I couldn't see paying $51 for a pass to a gym that is closed early in the morning, closed late in the evening, and closed on weekends. So I walked up the hill to find dinner. The Mexican place I saw yesterday was out of business. Most of the others were either not air conditioned or 'closed due to the extreme heat' Argh! Not a great evening. The Chinese place was open and had AC and the food was okay. There was a bit of a scare when the power flickered off and on a few times but then it stayed on and they were able to feed me. After vegetable lo mein, chicken wings with oyster sauce and most of a pitcher of water I started to feel a bit better.
The restaurants within walking distance here are certainly geared toward collage age kids. You can get subs, pizza, fast food Mexican, run-of-the-mill Chinese, and not a lot else. I did meet one other foodie today. She and I are going to have to figure out how to find some real food before long. Did I mention that this is a 'dry campus'? Yeah, I found that out after I got here. Argh again.
Now I'm blogging on the computer set up in the common computer room so I can login at all. At least the frat house AC is still working. Sigh.
Class started today for the tenth Summer Institute on the Bay Campus of URI, in Narragansett, RI. The classes are at the Graduate School of Oceanography. Unfortunately they decided to replace the air conditioning in the building with the conference room this week. Heat index was 104F. Even just standing in the room I was dripping with sweat. We got started with some overview stuff and an exercise with "hopes and fears" for the next few weeks. So far so good (except for the heat.) After class, I headed back to the frat house to catch up on email, blog, and get news. But, the wireless was down ("due to technical difficulties. . . until further notice . . ." Argh. So plug into the wall with the Ethernet cable. . . no go. Got some message about "evaluating the computer for compliance with policy . . ." dead end. Argh. Try every way to get around the problem I can think of. Nothing works. I can only browse the URI website. Help desk is just a recording 'after hours' Argh.
So, I give it a break and walk down to the field house to sign up for a pass to use the weight room and cardio machines. The young lady behind the desk wanted to charge me $51 rather than the $26 we were told. Oh, that $26 rate is for just one summer session (which happens to end in two weeks.) Then it's another $26 for the last week of our stay here. Argh. By the way, it was still hot outside. I couldn't see paying $51 for a pass to a gym that is closed early in the morning, closed late in the evening, and closed on weekends. So I walked up the hill to find dinner. The Mexican place I saw yesterday was out of business. Most of the others were either not air conditioned or 'closed due to the extreme heat' Argh! Not a great evening. The Chinese place was open and had AC and the food was okay. There was a bit of a scare when the power flickered off and on a few times but then it stayed on and they were able to feed me. After vegetable lo mein, chicken wings with oyster sauce and most of a pitcher of water I started to feel a bit better.
The restaurants within walking distance here are certainly geared toward collage age kids. You can get subs, pizza, fast food Mexican, run-of-the-mill Chinese, and not a lot else. I did meet one other foodie today. She and I are going to have to figure out how to find some real food before long. Did I mention that this is a 'dry campus'? Yeah, I found that out after I got here. Argh again.
Now I'm blogging on the computer set up in the common computer room so I can login at all. At least the frat house AC is still working. Sigh.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Summer School
June 8, 2008 -- Kingston Rhode Island
I'm off to summer school today. Today is Sunday and it is a travel day. I flew out of Duluth at about 6:10 a.m. to Detroit and on to Providence RI for an 11:37 a.m. arrival. I was met at the airport by Luke, a student at the University of Rhode Island and an employee of the Coastal Resources Center. It was then about a 40 minute ride by van to the Kingston Campus and the Chi Phi fraternity house where I'll be staying for the next three weeks. I just hope the weather cools off a bit. The 90's are too hot for this Lake Superior boy.
The room is spacious but pretty bare. I'm going to have to do something to add a bit of color. The 5x7 family portrait I brought along is not quite big enough to brighten up the walls.
We have an informal orientation later this afternoon but stuff doesn't really get started until tomorrow. I'll go out into the heat in a bit to explore around a little before the orientation and see what the campus looks like. I'll try not to melt.
I'm off to summer school today. Today is Sunday and it is a travel day. I flew out of Duluth at about 6:10 a.m. to Detroit and on to Providence RI for an 11:37 a.m. arrival. I was met at the airport by Luke, a student at the University of Rhode Island and an employee of the Coastal Resources Center. It was then about a 40 minute ride by van to the Kingston Campus and the Chi Phi fraternity house where I'll be staying for the next three weeks. I just hope the weather cools off a bit. The 90's are too hot for this Lake Superior boy.
The room is spacious but pretty bare. I'm going to have to do something to add a bit of color. The 5x7 family portrait I brought along is not quite big enough to brighten up the walls. We have an informal orientation later this afternoon but stuff doesn't really get started until tomorrow. I'll go out into the heat in a bit to explore around a little before the orientation and see what the campus looks like. I'll try not to melt.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
More about Bonaire
What more should I say about diving on Bonaire?
It's hard to describe the overwhelming complexity and diversity of the coral reef community I got to experience. I could list all the fish, coral, and sponges I was able to identify but that doesn't seem likely to do justice to the ecosystem. I suppose that is one of the main reasons I like to dive so much. It is literally an opportunity to immerse oneself in a completely different, vibrant world full of action and color and life.
The protective approach to the reef and the sea in general by the people of Bonaire is also impressive. Part of it I suppose is the realization that the economy of the island depends on diving and without the spectacular coral reef system they would have a harder time competing with all the other tropical Caribbean islands. Even so, not too many other places would think to put "Divers Paradise" on their license plates. 
While my trip was focused almost entirely on diving until I was exhausted, I did get out to do a little birding too. My roomie Jeff and I took a couple of quick trips toward the end of the week to the north end of the island to see flamingos and to the south end to see the salt ponds, old slave huts and look for birds. 
The northern end of the island feels very different than most of what I had come to think of as typical Bonaire landscape. It was hilly, almost mountainous and much greener than I'd previously seen. We also saw a few farms with goats and the revered donkey. I'm not sure why donkeys are so popular, but they sure seem to be well respected here. We found the flamingos as well as stilts, pintail ducks and some beautiful scenery. The following day we made our way south looking for larger concentrations of flamingos but didn't see them. We did see the old slave huts that once housed the people that made the salt back in the 1800s. I climbed into one of the huts and thought about how brutal the conditions must have been for those unfortunate people. The interpretive signs nearby seemed to romanticize the era a bit too much for my taste. Even so, the little dog-house sized huts arranged neatly on the coral beaches made for a deceptively lovely scene. Perhaps it is easy to romanticize the horrors of the past when we can view the remnants from such a position of luxury, removing ourselves from the reality of the situation that existed then.
Monday, May 05, 2008
A Divers Paradise
I returned from Bonaire yesterday exhausted but very happy with my first ever dive trip.
The results: 26 dives, 17 hours, 37 minutes underwater.
I saw thousands of fish, many species of coral, sponges, invertebrates and a few really cool new birds. We left the St. Paul/Minneapolis airport around 5:30 a.m on Saturday April and arrived in Bonaire, the Netherlands Antilles at about 2:30 p.m. It took a while futzing around with luggage, customs, car rental and all that stuff but we got to the Sand Dollar in time to pay our "Nature Fee" and pick up our tags that will allow us to dive on Bonaire. The $25 fee for divers ($10 for non-divers) funds the Washington Slagbaai National Park. I also had time for a snorkel in the sea that afternoon.
On Sunday we had our mandatory briefing before being allowed to dive. It was a long (1.75 hour) session where we learned about the marine park rules and the procedures used by the resort's dive operation, Bonaire Dive and Adventure.
We were finally able to dive shortly before noon and we wasted no time before we geared up and dove on Bari Reef just off the Sand Dollar dock. Bari Reef is, according to Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) surveys THE most diverse site in the Tropical Western Atlantic (i.e., the Caribbean) with more than 370 fish species recorded. According to the information compiled by REEF, 8 of the top ten sites for species richness are on Bonaire. Quite a place!
A typical day included an early dive on Bari Reef at 6:30 a.m. A quick rinse and change of clothes for the breakfast buffet, which included an omelet cooked to order, fresh fruit (like papaya, mango, pineapple), granola, yogurt and bananas, orange juice and coffee. Then a boat dive out to Klein Bonaire, the little island just to our west. Returning to the dock allowed for another dive at Bari Reef before a quick lunch. After lunch we would load a couple of tanks for each of us and head off to one or two sites for a couple of shore dives at Oil Slick Leap or 1000 steps. By the time we got done with those two shore dives I was usually more than ready for dinner, a beer and bed. On Wednesday morning after breakfast Paul and I participated in the class offered by the dive shop's naturalist Jerry Ligon. He offers an opportunity to "Dive with the Naturalist" a couple times each week. It's a half day class that includes fish ID, discussion of fish behavior and a variety of marine biology topics. I liked the way Jerry took the information from REEF surveys and put together a very informative program using the new Reef Fish Identification DVD by ReefNet Inc. We then dove with Jerry for close to an hour at Bari Reef while he identified fish and pointed out behaviors we had just discussed.
Stay tuned for more details from the trip . . .
Friday, April 25, 2008
Off to Bonaire!
I'm finishing up packing for my trip to the Twin cities. My flight leaves MSP at 5:30 am and arrives in Bonaire at 2:30 pm. It's 39 degrees and cloudy in Duluth right now with winter storms in the forecast. Bonaire is 88 with scattered clouds. I'll be back on the 4th of May, hopefully with lots of cool pictures, stories and about 25 new tropical dives in my dive log book! (The photos are from Webshots.com)
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
The Blizzard of '08
The big storm predicted for April 10-12 hit Duluth as forecast, at least for the most part. The snow started a bit later than predicted and we only got about 5 or 6 inches of accumulation at our house (about 10 at the airport) but it was wet, heavy stuff. If the temp. had been lower and the snow fluffier, we probably would have gotten the 12-18 inches in the forecast.
The really spectacular part of the storm was the wind. Gusts up to 62mph were clocked at the airport. I heard that higher wind speeds were likely experienced in Canal Park but because the snow was sticking to the anemometers and freezing, the instruments were working only intermittently. Waves started building during the day on Thursday and by Saturday morning were 15+ feet. They were crashing over the piers in the ship canal and were close to touching the bridge deck of the Aerial Lift Bridge. The vertical clearance on the bridge when down is 15 feet. If the waves were that high deep into the canal, they must have been something out at the end of the pier.
There are some cool videos of the storm driven waves available. The first shows an old, formerly submerged crib from a pier at the site it washed up last fall:
Storm waves hitting the crib at its original location
The second shows the crib as it is arriving close to its current location
The Duluth News Tribune has a good storm summary here.
There is another little article about the Crib in today's newspaper with yet another theory about the structure's origin. Look toward the bottom of the Eh? column.
To view the articles on the Duluth News Tribune you need to register at the site but the registration is free.
The photo today is of the crib where it ended up on the beach. It looks like it lost quite a few timbers as it got pounded by the storm.
NOAA satellites captured some cool pictures of the sediment plume stirred up by the storm. My guess is that this is more due to bank erosion rather than sediment coming out of rivers. It seems likely to me that the waves were high enough and lasted long enough to do some serious shoreline erosion. The amount of precipitation didn't seem to really raise the river levels enough or quickly enough to account for this much sediment. Here is a link to the NOAA page with the images. Be aware that the individual images are fairly large.
State offices in St. Louis and Lake Counties were closed on Friday so I got to enjoy the storm without having to worry about trying to get into work. It was nice to have a 'snow day'. We even had the power go out for several hours on a few different occasions throughout the day. It was a good excuse to stay off the electronic stimulants.
Even though the snow day was fun, I'm ready for spring to finally arrive and the snow to melt away.
The really spectacular part of the storm was the wind. Gusts up to 62mph were clocked at the airport. I heard that higher wind speeds were likely experienced in Canal Park but because the snow was sticking to the anemometers and freezing, the instruments were working only intermittently. Waves started building during the day on Thursday and by Saturday morning were 15+ feet. They were crashing over the piers in the ship canal and were close to touching the bridge deck of the Aerial Lift Bridge. The vertical clearance on the bridge when down is 15 feet. If the waves were that high deep into the canal, they must have been something out at the end of the pier.
There are some cool videos of the storm driven waves available. The first shows an old, formerly submerged crib from a pier at the site it washed up last fall:
Storm waves hitting the crib at its original location
The second shows the crib as it is arriving close to its current location
The Duluth News Tribune has a good storm summary here.
There is another little article about the Crib in today's newspaper with yet another theory about the structure's origin. Look toward the bottom of the Eh? column.
To view the articles on the Duluth News Tribune you need to register at the site but the registration is free.
The photo today is of the crib where it ended up on the beach. It looks like it lost quite a few timbers as it got pounded by the storm.
NOAA satellites captured some cool pictures of the sediment plume stirred up by the storm. My guess is that this is more due to bank erosion rather than sediment coming out of rivers. It seems likely to me that the waves were high enough and lasted long enough to do some serious shoreline erosion. The amount of precipitation didn't seem to really raise the river levels enough or quickly enough to account for this much sediment. Here is a link to the NOAA page with the images. Be aware that the individual images are fairly large.
State offices in St. Louis and Lake Counties were closed on Friday so I got to enjoy the storm without having to worry about trying to get into work. It was nice to have a 'snow day'. We even had the power go out for several hours on a few different occasions throughout the day. It was a good excuse to stay off the electronic stimulants.
Even though the snow day was fun, I'm ready for spring to finally arrive and the snow to melt away.
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