SJ and the Mutant Strawberries of Deliciousland

6.28.10

My little sister, Sarah Jane, traveled all the way from Edinboro, PA to visit me in Ithaca for the weekend. It was her first time here and from what I could make of it she seemed to have enjoyed her stay. We made a lot of great food together (coconut curry and made strawberry jam), went on a hike/swimming adventure, picked strawberries, saw the Cornell campus, and I introduced her to some of my friends.

I hope she comes back soon to visit because there was so much that we didn't get to see: the Commons, Buttermilk falls, the climbing wall, etc. The list goes on.

Walking Along Six Mile Creek

Sarah Jane and I

Playing in the Water

(It was very hot out so standing in the water felt very refreshing.)

My Toes

We went swimming on the other side of this dam. The water was just the right temperature and it was fun to jump in. I was surprised at how many locals came out to swim here.

Sarah Jane and I picked strawberries at Indian Creek Farm on Route 96N.

Mutantz! (Sarah Jane found these guys.)

It's rather close to the end of the season so when we first arrived Sarah Jane and I looked out at the strawberry field and were a little nervous. We didn't know if we would be able to find enough berries to make jam. However as you can see, we were able to pick plenty of strawberries. :)

Strawberries with their Strawberry Picker

The strawberry jam brew: 4 cups of squashed berries, 7 cups of sugar!, some lemon, and fruit pectin (this makes it jelly-like). It's not too difficult except for getting the timing right.

The Glittering Fields of Ithaca

6.20.10

After a long and eventful day at work (I collected soil samples around campus, read papers, had a Greek lesson, and typed up some reports.), I felt that an evening off was well deserved. My good friend and climbing buddy, Ashley, was having a bonfire at her house out in Brooktondale, NY which is about 8 miles southeast of Ithaca. Ashley had also invited my friend and department-mate Michaela and her husband Andrew to the bonfire. Lucky for me, Michaela and Andrew were more than willing to pick me up and give me a ride.

As we started driving toward Brooktondale, we noticed something strange and decided to stop on the side of the road. Andrew turned off the car lights and we all rolled down our windows as much as we could; it was a hot evening so we already had our windows partially rolled down. We looked out into the dark, swaying field of tall grass and saw thousands and thousands of lightning bugs. The three of us stared silently out of the car windows at the glittering fields before us. Even when we had the courage to muster up a 'This is incredible!' it came out as a whisper. Perhaps, we feared any loud noise would cause the insects to vanish indefinitely. Sure I had seen one or two lightning bugs together, but I had never seen this many in one place at the same time. It really was amazing and will not forget this experience.

The Elements of Math

6.17.10

Today I had an opportunity to attend a lunchtime lecture given by a famous applied mathematician and Cornell professor named Steven Strogatz who recently wrote a column called 'Elements of Math' for the New York Times (online version). The goal of Professor Strogatz's column was to "[write] about the elements of mathematics, from preschool to grad school, for anyone out there who’d like to have a second chance at the subject — but this time from an adult perspective. It’s not intended to be remedial. The goal is to give you a better feeling for what math is all about and why it’s so enthralling to those who get it." If you have a few minutes to spare, I strongly recommend that you take the time to read some of these columns.

Besides this column, Professor Strogatz has written several books on math in a variety of formats ranging from text books to novels. In fact his latest book called 'The Calculus of Friendship' catalogs his letter correspondence with his high school calculus teacher. He was a very dynamic speaker, offering a great deal of advice on how to present scientific material to a general, and potentially nonscientific, audience.

Overall, the lecture was very laid back, fun, and interactive. He made it very clear from the beginning that he would explain his methods of communication and he also valued our feedback. How would we have presented this material? What questions would we have asked the editor of the New York Times if he had said we should write a column on (insert your scientific field of choice here)?

Important 'elements' to consider when communicating with others:

(1) Clearly identify your topic

(2) Choose your audience

(3) Choose your emphasis (Will you talk about the ideas themselves, the famous problems and why they are/were famous, or the application of this topic to people's daily lives?)

(4) Decide your tone (It might be helpful to personalize it. Professor Strogatz pretended that he was writing letters to his friend and this helped him maintain his tone.)

(5) Bonuses (What can you add to improve your audiences experience? Professor Strogatz added artwork, videos, links, etc. to his column in order to make it more interactive.)