To be a doctor

During the past couple of days, my Twitter feed has been ablaze due to the inflammatory, sexist Wall Street Journal opinion piece by Joseph Epstein. In this piece, Epstein infantilizes the accomplishments of Dr. Jill Biden, and dismisses her expertise. As a white, straight man, it might be easy to dismiss this, as I am … Continue reading To be a doctor

Winding down the academic dream

The past couple of months have seen two major anniversaries in my life - the 20th anniversary of starting my undergraduate degree at the University of Manitoba, and the 10th anniversary of me starting my PHD at the Australian National University. I also received a short extension of my work contract that will employ me … Continue reading Winding down the academic dream

Economics, war and Adam Smith

Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations is generally regarded as the foundational text of modern economic theory and liberalism. I felt that such a tome, which was so influential on modern society, deserved a read. When it first arrived on my desk nearly two years ago, I was not expecting this 950 page behemoth. Since it … Continue reading Economics, war and Adam Smith

2018 Carbon Budget

Let's start with a figure. 2C pathways, from Global Carbon Project/ Robbie Andrew Here we see the pathways to reach the Paris Climate Agreement, which proposed to limit warming to 2C by 2100. This threshold was basically set as a compromise to limit "dangerous" warming, and to be feasible politically. As we can see in … Continue reading 2018 Carbon Budget

Georeferencing in QGIS

QGIS is a great program and is a viable alternative to the old stalwart, ArcGIS. However, one aspect of ArcGIS that is vastly superior to QGIS is georeferencing maps. In ArcGIS, when you want to georeference a map, you simply load up the map, along with another pre-georeferenced image or map, click on the map … Continue reading Georeferencing in QGIS

March for Science and Politics

On April 22, 2017 the March For Science will happen. It is an event where scientists around the world will take part to encourage lawmakers the importance of science in decision making. This march was precipitated by the election of Donald Trump, who has shown blatant disregard for evidence-based decision making, going as far as … Continue reading March for Science and Politics

On History

As a geologist, we are introduced to the concept of uniformitarianism early in our scientific career, namely the principle that "the present is the key to the past". Our understanding of geological processes is dependent on the assumption that the physical processes we observe now are the same as what operated in the past. As a climate … Continue reading On History

2017 – What’s in store

Last year, I wrote a post illustrating the good points of 2015, and tried to think positively about 2016. I have to say most of the things I had hoped for in that post did happen. 2016 turned out to be a much better experience than 2014 and 2015. 2016: the year that was A … Continue reading 2017 – What’s in store

The Facts Don’t Matter

I always love John Oliver's take on current issues. I think we can all agree that in a world beset by uncertainty, it is nice to look upon it and laugh. The video above shows his report on the Republican National Convention, with the main theme that they are appealing to emotions, and ignoring … Continue reading The Facts Don’t Matter

Brexit, Climate Change and Modern Political Discourse

Fry: This snow is beautiful. I'm glad global warming never happened. Leela: Actually it did. But thank God nuclear winter cancelled it out. - Futurama, Xmas Story When I look at the current state of global politics, I can't help but think about how helpless we are to address the most pressing issue facing our species. … Continue reading Brexit, Climate Change and Modern Political Discourse