I'm a "dirt-ologist". I love studying the interface of human and environment interaction, often asking the rather rhetorical question: "Do we change the landscape, or does the landscape change us?"
I also captain the ISS Insanitekian, a startup adventure of a lifetime.
You’re smack in the middle of the invention process now. You’ve learnt to pick apart and examine the problems, become a Google-fu master, and now you’re ready to crack your knuckles and get into the meat of the work. It’s time to pick up your crayons and construction paper and get to work. OK, fine, get …
Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande My rating: 3 of 5 stars I gave this book 3 stars for I’m not really sure what I think of it. I’m an atheist, but my core family is very religious, so I come from a unique perspective. It is neither how to prove …
Science communication is an interesting profession. You can choose to communicate with writing, dance, or many other mediums - including fine art. You don’t even have to start in science. I had the honour of sitting down with Michelle Hunter, a New York contemporary artist with an eye for science. Michelle is an artist that …
In the previous step of the invention cycle you learnt how to get beyond wishy-washy thoughts to listing the actual problem. Now, it’s time to find a solution… and see if that solution is really an invention you can patent. To do this we’re going to break this into two parts: researching a solution and …
So, you want to be an inventor, eh? Perhaps you have some ideas already, but don’t know what to do now. Invention often doesn’t start with a eureka moment. Instead, it starts out with cursing that something went wrong, quickly followed by tearing apart the problem to find out what’s wrong in the first place. …
Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love by Myron Uhlberg My rating: 4 of 5 stars Summary Hands of My Father was an interesting memoir about Uhlberg’s youth. He was a boy growing up after the depression, during times of war, and most uniquely, was born to …
When I was a little girl my granny Cleo would make fresh ice cream out of the freshly fallen snow. I can clearly recall sitting in her living room anxiously awaiting for the snow to accumulate so we could scoop off the top layers without fear of getting anything but clean, fresh snow. Then, we …
There is no right way to invent something. Some people take a slow, methodical route testing theory after theory before ever working with their hands. Some go straight for the supplies and start tinkering. Still, others, and a great majority of inventors, use a combination of the two. There really isn’t a magic ratio for …
On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society by Dave Grossman My rating: 2 of 5 stars This is one of those books you have to take with a grain of salt. While reading it, it was very clear that the author grew up in the anti-Vietnam era, and much …
Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators by William Stolzenburg My rating: 4 of 5 stars Summary When we look at the extinction of a species, there is an innate curiosity of our human minds to ask why. This book is a compilation of research and …