Ami T Consulting on Facebook!
May 27th, 2011
Check out the NEW Ami Thompson Consulting Facebook Page!
State Park Stroll, By Ami Thompson
Geology is Beautiful
May 26th, 2011
Geomorphology and the Mississippi
I stumbled across these stunning maps of the lower Mississippi at the blog The Rocks Know. From the blog, ‘ “This gorgeous map was drawn by Harold Fisk in 1944. It, and the other beautiful images are available for download at the Lower Mississippi Valley Engineering Geology Mapping Program Image Credit: Fisk, Harold “Geological Investigation of the Alluvial Valley of the Lower Mississippi River,” Plate 22-9. United States Army Corps of Engineers” ‘
As noted, all the the plates Fisk drew are downloadable from the Army Corps of Engineers (beware of the crazy huge file sizes!).
An incase your have an hankering to download all the plates and line them up, you should know someone has already done that for you. It is ridiculously awesome, enjoy!
Urban Wilderness Canoe Adventure
May 18th, 2011
I had the honor of padding the Mississippi through downtown Minneapolis yesterday with a crowd of Urban Wilderness Canoe Adventure Supporters. It was a wonderful time and a great celebration of a hugely successful program.
When I was a Ranger with the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (2004-2008) the on-river programing was just in its tepid beginnings and now its grown into this giant, solid, well-rounded experience in partnership with Wilderness Inquiry and the Mississippi River Fund (and many others). The program brings 10,000 students a year onto the river (I believe I’m remembering that stat correctly…)!
From the UWCA website:
Urban Wilderness Canoe Adventures is intended to:
- Build a stronger connection between urban youth and the environment
- Increase community integration by youth with disabilities
- Instill an understanding and respect for the environment, specifically the unique Mississippi River watershed
- Improve personal health by charting a path to a more active lifestyle
If you would like to donate your time or money to the program you can do so through the Wilderness Inquiry website.
The Mountain by Terje Sorgjerd
April 21st, 2011
The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.
From the film maker:
“This was filmed between 4th and 11th April 2011. I had the pleasure of visiting El Teide. Spain´s highest mountain @(3718m) is one of the best places in the world to photograph the stars and is also the location of Teide Observatories, considered to be one of the world´s best observatories.
The goal was to capture the beautiful Milky Way galaxy along with one of the most amazing mountains I know El Teide.”
He has another amazing video of the northern lights posted on his Vimeo page – go watch it!
Big History Project
April 11th, 2011
I came across this Ted Talk introducing the Big History Project started by Bill Gates and David Christian. In addition to introducing a exciting new project the video is a wonderfully succinct history of the universe.
The goal is to get “big history” taught to as many students around the world as possible, focusing on 9th graders. Eventually lots education materials will be posted on their website, but right now they just have a few teaser images and timelines posted while they test out materials in the classroom.
Project goals copied from their website:
“Foster a greater love of learning by addressing a fundamental shortcoming in modern education: compartmentalization. Will big history help students understand and appreciate each area of study more deeply by providing a coherent narrative that links different areas of knowledge within a single course?
Significantly increase interest in science among high school students by highlighting the many links between scientific disciplines and the humanities. By demystifying what it takes to be good at science, will big history help attract a new breed of potential scientists?
Deliver on the promise of online learning by delivering better student outcomes at scale. Will big history’s interdisciplinary nature and evocative subject matter, coupled with a cutting-edge software design, set a new benchmark for how technology can be applied to real learning?”
2011 Flooding
March 24th, 2011
Graph of Mississippi Flood Level
The City of St. Paul has a great website up with graphs of the expected flooding and a nice alternating-view webcam of the Mississippi downtown.
The current prediction indicates the Mississippi will be about 6.4 feet above minor flood stage, meaning the river will be 20.4 feet deep, by March 30th.
For some perspective, at that level, all of the following benchmarks will occur:
| 14 feet | Minor Flood Stage |
| 14 feet | Water Street Closed |
| 14 feet | Lilydale Park area begins to become submerged |
| 17 feet | Major Flood Stage |
| 17 feet | Secondary flood walls are deployed at St. Paul airport |
| 17.5 feet | Harriet Island begins to become submerged |
| 18 feet | Shepard / Warner Road may become impassable |
City of Saint Paul Flood Webcam
If you’re like me and love graphs, there are many many more hydrographs on this National Weather Service website.
Birding in the Bahamas
March 11th, 2011
I have the amazing honor of presenting a Digital Photography Bridge to Nature Workshop at the Society for Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds Regional Conference this summer in the Bahamas!
“The Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) is a nonprofit membership organization working to conserve the birds of the Caribbean and their habitats through research, education, conservation action and capacity building. Founded in 1988, SCSCB is the largest single bird conservation organization in the Greater Caribbean region, including Bermuda, the Bahamas and all islands within the Caribbean basin.”
It’s so wonderful to see this fantastic program grow and get so much positive attention. I hope to return with lots of great photos and experiences to share.
If you’re a teacher or an administrator, check out how you can attend or host a Digital Photography Bridge to Nature Workshop. (2011 workshop are filling up quickly!)
Paddling from Fort Snelling to Madeline Island
March 9th, 2011
Corey Paddling
Keep your eye on Corey Mohan’s blog this summer as he paddles from Fort Snelling to Madeline Island. The blog has lots a great history and a chance to share your knowledge about the paddle route.
From the blog:
“The blog, Paddlin\’ Madeline was started by Corey Mohan in December of 2010. He plans to paddle a canoe from St. Paul, Minnesota to Madeline Island, Wisconsin leaving on May 1st, 2011. It’s not that this trip hasn’t been done before. It’s just that he’s never done it….Like the Wind in the Willows’ character Ratty, he believes, ‘There is NOTHING–absolutely nothing–half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.’ He’ll be writing about a host of subjects from the equipment to the inspirational paddlers who’ve made the trip before. Expect tall tales of life along the rivers as it once was and is today. Follow along, paddle along, and contribute your wit and wisdom. Thanks for checking in. He’ll try to keep you amused. Hut!”
Thunderstorms make Antimatter
January 25th, 2011
Awesome video from NASA about how thunderstorms make antimatter. The research that discovered this was instigated by 1960s nuclear arms reduction treaties.
St. Croix USGS Winter Eagle Count
January 14th, 2011
From the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway Management Team Notes:
“The annual midwinter eagle survey coordinated by USGS took place on Friday, January 7…. The number of eagles found shows a downward trend. This is our eighth year participating in this count.”
Graph of Bald Eagle Count
