Mid-Point Check In

I have done some actions the past few weeks for my month of action. Some of my actions are still in progress right now, such as my water conservation action. I have been limiting myself to 1 minute showers everyday and when I brush my teeth, I have been limiting the water running to around 30 seconds. I have also mailed a letter to my representatives, both state and local governments. My month of action is going very well so far and I think I am going to continue some of my actions through the one month. I don’t see any reason for me to change my plan thus far in the month, which is really great for me. I have learned that taking short showers really helps me get going in the mornings. I have also learned that contacting your representatives is actually very easy and worth doing, especially when you have a strong passion for an issue. Some unexpected challenges has been to reduce meat in take. Its hard for me to eat less meat, but I’ve been limiting myself to a meal with meat twice a week. It has also been hard to not drive places, especially during spring break. I have actually been good with car pooling with my parents and friends and not going out very often.

Month of Action: Plan

Actions:

  1. Call or write state or federal officials about what stance they have on the issue and how they are going to try to pass legislation related to the issue.
  2. Call or write local officials to make them aware of the problems and try to help them address the problems that can be fixed on the local level.
  3. Organize a group to help do research on the acidification of rivers, streams, and lakes.
  4. Volunteer for a group that helps clean up and maintain rivers, streams, and lakes to reduce the acidification of these water ways.
  5. Reduce carbon emissions through car pooling or using public transportation.
  6. Talk with people in the community about water acidification and educate them about what they can do to help the problem.
  7. Conserve water by any means such as shorter showers, not letting water run when not in use, or water yards and plants during early or late times to reduce evaporation.
  8. Buy less things or buy locally to ensure that the smallest carbon footprint is left.
  9. Recycle and reuse items to prevent pollution and reduce your carbon footprint.
  10. Reduce or consume less meat to lower livestock need, which creates large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane.

Bold= Addresses root causes

Italicized= What I plan to do

Challenges:

Some challenges that I might face are going outside my comfort zone. I am a very quiet person and I don’t try to put myself out there a lot, but for the sake of my issue I need to put myself out there to raise awareness. I plan to drive/ ride less while during this month which will be difficult for me because I know that I will want to go places. I also plan to contact my representatives which is something I have never done before and will be a new experience for me.

Learning:

This month I hope to learn how to effectively raise awareness for a specific issue that I am concerned about. I also hope to get more people involved in my issue so that it can be resolved or drastically slowed down. I want to learn how to get out of my comfort zone and make an impact in my community.

References:

https://climateinterpreter.org/content/humans-can-take-action-slow-process-ocean-acidification

therevolutionmovie.com/index.php/open-your-eyes/ocean-acidification/solutions/

Causes, Effects and Solutions of Ocean Acidification

Issue Exporation

Root Causes and Contributing Factors

  1. The burning of fossil fuels is a major contributing factor to this world wide problem. Fossil fuels give off harmful gases, CO2, NO2, and SO2, which accumulate in the atmosphere. These gases then condense and fall back to the earth as acid rain and lower pH levels in bodies of water.
  2. Surface runoff of nitrogenous fertilizers is a major contributing factor. Large farms established in flood plains use heavy amounts of fertilizers for their crops. These fertilizers contain nitrogen, which when add to water makes the water very acidic. The runoff of this soil adds large amounts of nitrogen to nearby lakes, streams, and rivers.

Challenges

The challenges in finding the root causes of freshwater acidification is essentially addressing the problems with the way the world gets its energy and food. The burning of fossil fuels and use of fertilizers are two things that we can’t get rid of quite yet if we want to continue as a species, but reform is not impossible in these areas. Finding alternative energy is one main way to solve a large portion of the problem and the other portion is to remove any possible acidic additive to fertilizers.

Policies

Policies like the Clean Water Act are very connected to the issue of water acidification. The EPA has many regulations and policies on thins such as acid rain and clean drinking water. There are not really any specific regulations or policies dealing with water acidification. No regulations control how much acidic compounds get into the water and cause major damage to areas around the US. There should be more regulations in place so that major water acidification issues are stopped and prevented in the future. One major step to this is decreasing carbon emissions and helping to slow down and stop climate change. The US really needs to act on these issues as the are major root causes of the water acidification issues.

Effects On Ohio

One major effect that this issue has on Ohio is the algal bloom problem that Lake Erie faces. These algal blooms are caused by fertilizer runoff and increase the acidification of the water. The more acidic the water gets, the better the environment for algal blooms to grow. The acidification will also affect aquatic organisms and will lead to possible extinction of local species. If the acidification isn’t slowed down, the life in the water of Ohio will be affected forever.

TedTalk:

This tedtalk was very insightful in many of the problems with water, especially ocean, acidification. I learned that if we don’t try to slow down or fix the acidification of the ocean, then by 2100 the water will be over 170% more acidic. The acidity of the ocean will lead to a mass extinction of marine organisms, most of which rely on coral reefs or shells which will dissolve in acidic water. The bias in this talk is towards the anti-climate change side, the main focus is to explain how human actions producing carbon dioxide are affecting the climate and oceans.

Sources:

http://air-quality.org.uk/13.php

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-royal-society-of-edinburgh-section-b-biological-sciences/article/freshwater-acidification-its-effects-on-species-and-communities-of-freshwater-microbes-plants-and-animals/8141A4F525B599FBC2B43EEFA8E5B20E

http://www.sustainable-environment.org.uk/Environment/Freshwater.php

https://phys.org/news/2015-06-freshwater-ocean-acidification-stunts-growth.html

http://enviropedia.org.uk/Acid_Rain/Freshwater.php

http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~kagan/phy367/P367_articles/AcidRain/effects-on-lakes.html

Sustainability Issue

The issue that I’m going to explore this semester is the acidification of freshwater. I chose this issue because it is something I can reasonably make a difference for in a short period of time. I also chose this issue because I am an Earth Science major and this relates directly to my field of study. Most of the acidification is based around the tailings of mines and the introduction of certain minerals to the water. Other issues I have explored were fracking, which really interests me, but I can’t really do anything as of now to help fix the issues, and climate change, which also interests me, but I also can’t really help the issues. My final decision was based around what I can actually do to help the issue I’m interested in. Some things I might have trouble with would be to do actual experiments or samples.

My plan for the project is to find a way to increase awareness and possibly find root problems for the acidification of the water in my local area and the world as a whole. I plan to take samples of the water and soil in the surrounding areas around the creeks in my hometown and compare them to data collected around the world to find the severity of acidification in my local area. I have previously done small experiments with this issue with my high school in my AP environmental science class and my earth science class. I hope I can make an actual impact on my hometown.

References:

Solutions for Neutralization of Acidic Lakes

https://webcam.srs.fs.fed.us/pollutants/acidification/

http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/420/420-254/420-254.html

Columbus To Do List Part 2

The list I chose to do this semester was the nature and outdoor adventure list. I really enjoyed this list for many reasons. One reason being that I love to be outside especially in parks. Another reason is that I went to most of the places at night so the Christmas lights in the park really stuck out. I would highly recommend this list to other people, it is definitely worth it. I learned that Columbus is very alive, even during the night time hours around parks. Columbus has a lot to offer when it comes to holiday sights and lights. My favorite experience was going to the Scioto Mile and Columbus Commons Parks.

 

Scioto Mile:

This park was one of my favorite places to go on the list. The park is located along the Scioto River and has some amazing views of it. When I went to the park it was at night, but that was a good thing. The park was completely lit up with Christmas lights and other decorations. This was definitely a good place to go to get me in the holiday spirit. The park was pretty busy considering it was dark, but I didn’t mind the crowd. I would definitely recommend that people go to the Scioto Mile Park during the holidays to see the amazing lights on display.

Columbus Commons Park:

This park is also one of my favorite places that I went to on the list. This park is more inside of the city and is smaller than the Scioto Mile, but it was still a great place to go. The park was lit up with lights a decorations just like the Scioto Mile. There were so many lights in the park that made it seem like a Christmas wonderland. Columbus takes the holiday season seriously and this park is an example of that. I would highly recommend someone go to this park before the season is over and the lights are gone.

Goodale Park:

I have been to Goodale Park twice now. This park is a great place to be in the Short North. The park has a beautiful gazeebo next to a pond that has a fountain in it. The first time I went was with the Scholars class on our trip to the Short North. The Second time I went was at night last weekend and that didn’t hinder my experience at all. The park is a beautiful place day or night and is very peaceful. The park isn’t too busy, which makes it a great place to relax. I would recommend someone go to the park if they do the nature and outdoor adventure list.

Scioto Audubon Metro Park:

This park was a great place to go. The park is located just outside of downtown Columbus and is very large. The main part of the park has an obstacle course in it that is fun to complete. The park also has a large rock wall that many people go to climb. I did not do the obstacle course or rock climbing, but I did go to the nature centers in the park. They are very educational and they were a good source to get to know the wildlife of the area. I would recommend that someone go to this park if they do my list.

Career Exploration

I believe that I am in the career implementing part of the career process. I have found a career that I enjoy and have always wanted to do. I have gone through the other parts of the process and have decided on a career I love. The process for me was very quick since I have done a lot research in the fields that I am interested in. I know that I want a career where I am outside a lot, have the ability to make new discoveries, and has the satisfaction of all the hard work I put into it. I also know that I definitely want to do something science based. From the workshops I learned about the major characteristics that I have. I found out that I am realistic, investigative, and enterprising. These characteristics definitely match me and are a true showing of who I am.

Some of the careers that O*Net gave me were commercial pilot, soil and water conservationist, range manger, forester, mining and geological engineer, and environmental restoration planner. The career that I want is something in paleontology. The career I want is very similar to the mining and geological engineer career that O*Net gave me. The mining and geological engineering career is something that I have thought about doing and definitely interests me. I have a love for fossils and paleontology though, so I don’t plan on changing my plans as of now. I am majoring in Earth Sciences which is something that most of my suggested careers are involved with. I am also minoring in Evolution and Ecology which is something else that many of my suggested careers have in common.

My plans now involve completing my bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in Earth Sciences to become a paleontologist. In the near future I hope to join a research group and try to get some internships in careers in the Earth Sciences to ensure that paleontology is where I want to focus. I have known that I wanted to be a paleontologist since I was about 5 years old. I fell in love with dinosaurs and all the other ancient creatures that once roamed the Earth. Their fossils and the rocks they are preserved in are all that remains of the history of life on the Earth. I know that I will enjoy paleontology and I am very excited to begin my journey to what will hopefully become my career.

Columbus To Do List

The list I have chosen to do this semester is the Nature and Outdoor Adventure list. I am looking forward to a lot from this list. I am looking forward to seeing the great nature spots around the city of Columbus. I am also looking forward to relaxing at beautiful parks and walking some amazing trails. I hope to know more about Columbus and all it has to offer from this assignment.

The first place I visited was the Olentangy Trail. I walked this this trail after I had finished classes for the day while it was still nice outside. The trail was very busy with people biking and jogging. One of the nice things about this trail is that the Olentangy River runs along it. This is great scenery especially when you want to get away from the stress of school. Walking along the trail I enjoyed the wildlife that lived in and along the river. Many birds like ducks and cranes were on the river as I was walking. As an Earth Science student I was also able to enjoy the plenty of rocks and geologic features of the Olentangy River. The river is a great spot to find fossils that I haven’t been able to find before. I would highly recommend that people walk the Olentangy Trail. It is very relaxing and the views are amazing. The trail is also very close to Morrill Tower so I definitely plan on going back before the semester is over.

Mentor Meeting

My mentors are Serena and Kyle. The mentor that I chose to meet with was Serena. We had our meeting at the 18th Avenue Library.

Academics:

  • How did you decide on the major you have chosen?- Serena is majoring in Astronomy and Astrophysics. She decided to do this major because so has always loved space.
  • What has been your most challenging class thus far?- Her most challenging classes thus far have been physics and calculus. Serena is in the same calculus class as me and gave me good advice on how to succeed in the class.

Involvement:

  • How have you chosen to get involved on campus?- Serena started her own club called the Casual Sports Club. She is also involved in the Astronomy Society.
  • What benefits have you received from being involved outside of the classroom?- Being involved has given Serena many benefits. She has learned leadership skills by creating a club and she has met many people in her major through one of her clubs. I learned that being involved is fun and a great way to meet new people.

ENR Scholars:

  • How have you grown because of your participation in ENR Scholars?- Serena has become more involved with the environment and has been more active outdoors since joining ENR.
  • What ENR Scholars opportunities are you glad you participated in?- ENR has given Serena a chance to experience new things. She has experienced new things like archery and rock climbing through ENR.
  • What was your favorite first year event?- Serena’s favorite first year event was archery with the Archery Club. I learned that there are many events in ENR that are exciting and that I look forward to doing.

Careers:

  • What do you plan on doing with your major after college?- Serena plans on going to grad school for her PhD in her major. After college she plans on working for a university in research in her field.
  • What is your dream job?- Serena’s dream job is to work for NASA, but plans on working in research prior to trying to work for NASA.
  • Do you have a backup plan in case something goes wrong?- Serena doesn’t have an exact backup plan, but loves to write so she could try to find a career in scientific journalism. I learned that many people actually don’t have a backup plan and that I should consider the possibility that something could go wrong.

General Advice:

  • Do you have any tips on balancing classes and involvement?- Serena said to not join a million clubs and to focus on one or two and become really involved in them. She also said to not become too engulfed in one of the two and to find a middle ground.
  • What advice do you wish someone gave you your first year?- Serena said that she wished someone told her not to worry about every little assignment and to focus most of the time to studying for big tests and exams.
  • Do you have any tips on studying?- She suggested that I make a list to study and mark stuff off as I go. I learned that studying for exams or tests can be beneficial if you find the right people to study with.

VIA Strengths Inventory

1: Perseverance- Finishing what one starts; persevering in a course of action in spite of obstacles; “getting it out the door”; taking pleasure in completing tasks.

2: Prudence- Being careful about one’s choices; not taking undue risks; not saying or doing things that might later be regretted.

3: Love- Valuing close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing & caring are reciprocated; being close to people.

4: Teamwork- Working well as a member of a group or team; being loyal to the group; doing one’s share.

5: Judgment- Thinking things through and examining them from all sides; not jumping to conclusions; being able to change one’s mind in light of evidence; weighing all evidence fairly.

 

I agree with the ordering of most of my strengths. My top 5 are definitely my strongest attributes and I agree with them completely. One example of my strengths, my perseverance and love, is that I’ve wanted to go to Ohio State and become a paleontologist since I was 5 years old. I have followed through with that dream as I am currently enrolled at Ohio State studying Earth Sciences to one day become a paleontologist. Of my strengths on the list, I wish that creativity and humor were higher on my list. I know that these are definitely weaker parts of my personality, but I have been working on them and hope they improve. My favorite strength by far is my teamwork. I have played on many sports teams throughout my life and I take pride in being a good teammate.