Found this gem of a poem on the internet the other day, and thought that it perfectly captured the type of pondering we tend to do regarding the climate, weather, and life in general. The poem is entitled “Children’s Song” and it’s by Ford Madox Ford [1]. Sometimes wind and sometimes rain, Then the sun… Read more »
(The paradox of this post is that it is probably not purely objective) “One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted. Most people are rather confident of their ability… Read more »
Teaching, learning, and collaboration can be very challenging tasks, complicated by the fact that doing any of them well is often pretty much impossible if you aren’t attempting the other two at the same time. They also essentially define the job description for any project I’ve seen the research group be involved in. So in… Read more »
After Graduation, one feels a sense of accomplishment, yet at the same time, there are various questions one thinks about. Now what? Am I ready to enter the workforce? Do I have the qualifications to acquire an entry level job? These questions rushed around inside my head as I contemplated my next move. After I moved back home… Read more »
When did climate science research become about what the user wants? When did climate science start having an interested “user”? A quick google of the definition of “research”: the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions. Nowhere in that definition does it mention that… Read more »
It’s not about the climate. There I’ve said it. Whenever I speak to or read about farmers, it’s very clear – they know plenty about climate and they know plenty about weather…and it can be summed up by “it’s changeable”. Of course, they can’t accurately predict drought or wet years, but they know they will… Read more »
There have been some interesting conversations at CSAG lately about the importance of paying attention to the rhetoric and framing we use in some of our ongoing discussions and investigations, but balanced against the importance of doing this without getting trapped by our metaphors, and/or evaluating what we do/have by how well it maps to… Read more »
The title will become relevant in a few lines or so, but first some context: this year (and next) I will be pursuing a master’s degree by dissertation. As most of you will know the first few weeks of finding one’s research topic and question, and reading relevant literature, can be confusing to say the… Read more »
A few of the CSAG staff recently returned from our annual field trip to the Eastern Cape where we joined up with the students and staff of the Parks and People Programme from Pennsylvania State University, an international undergraduate study abroad programme. The programme integrates teaching, research and service across multiple disciplines related to the… Read more »