Finally, a Story Map.

I've been threatening to really dive into Esri Story Maps for some time. They have, in all honesty, been around for a number of years and I've lightly tinkered with them from time to time. However, I finally found a real need to be able to explain and tell the story in a unique way. AmericaView, a non-profit where I serve as national program manager, is a nationally-coordinated, locally-controlled consortium of 39 active "StateViews" that promote outreach, education, research, workforce development, and technology transfer based on Earth observation remote sensing. AmericaView is primarily funded through a competitive grant from the U.S. Geological Survey Land Remote Sensing Program. I gave the Story Map format a go, and while it takes some time to load some of the maps, it seems like a compelling and rich format to use for future projects. Suggestions, corrections, or other comments are always welcome.

Speaking of work...

My job is highly dynamic. In fact, from day to day I might find myself working on a unmanned aerial system (UAS, aka drone), mapping land cover along a desert river, or writing a proposal for a new project so that we (me and four other full-timers and a host of undergraduate techs) have pay checks at the end (or beginning) of each month.

I spent the last two weeks writing a proposal for a small-ish project (120k), which was fine. I completed the proposal, I feel it was well written, and we have a fair chance of being considered for the work. The project will benefit our folks and, I feel, USU overall if we get it; again, that is, if we get it. Writing proposals (and being funded) is kind of like being the kid in high school who isn't a jock but also isn't the worst looking kid. In order to get a date with one girl, you basically have to ask 10. Indeed, persistence is key.

Back to the proposals. I found out on Friday, as I was wrapping up a long two weeks of intensive writing, re-writing, and re-re-writing, that I'm not actually allowed to write. It isn't in my job description (even though it is in my job description) according to the university. And, in doing so, I'm apparently breaking some rule that was written by some twit to ensure that I'm not wasting time doing something useful. Keep in mind, I'm the manager of a lab (title reads associate director or some such) and, apparently, I've been doing it wrong since 2010.

To sum my gripes (since that is really all they are, gripes), the accountant told the dean, the dean told the boss, the boss calls me up and says no bueno. Why? Because, ultimately, even though we have funds that return to our general account from old projects, I'm not allowed to use those funds to turn around and keep the place moving because the government never intended for those funds to be used to pay me to write a proposal to do more work.

So let me lay it out plain and simple: I work at a place with fine, incredibly intelligent folks who want to do a good job (and enjoy their research). At this same place it is almost impossible to give someone a raise or a pat on the back for a job well done because we are second class people in the eyes of the university and state... even though without people like those I work with, the amount and quality of excellent research would be almost zilch. And lastly, I can't even write proposals that keep my folks employed (and, heaven forbid, give them a raise) and keep the good research going such that we benefit the university and all those folks who ultimately take our work and put it to use. Seriously. Boo.

The bees. They lost their heads.... or their bodies.

It snowed in northern Utah this weekend. The forecast suggested a good three to four inches of white fluffy snow. Naturally I suspected we would get around an inch. Needless to say, I was shocked when I woke up on Saturday morning to a good 12 inches of snow, the bottom two inches being slush. I spent a good hour and a half shoveling the driveway and the part of the back yard that is a moderately impervious surface (read that as concrete with cracks) so the dogs don't think they need to use it as their own, nearby, potty spot. I subsequently braved the continuing blizzard and questionable roads to take the two dogs our for our standard Saturday morning outing. They enjoyed the romp through snow that appeared to make them look like fuzzy snowplows. The backstory is unimportant with the exception that, following all of the shoveling (which I also did several more times during the day) I didn't feel like doing much else outside and had work to do. I mean, real proposal writing-type work, not to mention a deconstructed bathroom that requires additional attention to get back in to proper functioning condition. All of that to say, I didn't take the compost bin out to the back yard and attempt to dump it into the, now filled with snow because I left the lid off, compost bin. Tonight, Sunday, it had to happen. The compost bin was overflowing and, as one of my standard house chores, it had been neglected. After emptying the bin, and cursing myself for leaving the lid off, I plowed through the snow, right past one of our beehives. This particular hive has done quite well for being an Eco Bee Box "mini-hive". I'm not sure if I expect them to make it through the winter or not, but to this point, they have done well.

A shot from early January 2016. A warm day, roughly 38*F.

As is the case with all hives in the winter, the live bees will carry their dead counterparts outside and dump them on the stoop or in the snow, which makes the area appear like a bee graveyard, which, I suppose it is. This particular hive has a small ramp and board under it, for no other reason then to help the bees get into the hive and catch the dead bees for my inspection and subsequent cleaning up. On this evening, as I tromped by in somewhere between twelve to fourteen inches of snow, I noted that the pile of dead bees that had previously been there in subsequent days, was now significantly diminished. My initial assessment was the wind blew them off; however, upon closer examination, I discovered that, while the bee bodies were gone, their heads all remained in small scattered piles on the board.

The bees, they lost their bodies.

While I have no idea if it is bird, mammal, insect, or other (I doubt insect due to temperatures), I thought it post worth for the sheer fact that I enjoy the fact that something is foraging on these dead creatures, for better or worse.

****************** UPDATED*********************

After a number of weeks keeping an eye out, and finally placing a good, old-fashioned mouse trap, the culprit, and six of his kin, have been dispatched. I normally would go for a live trip or similar, but the mice are hard on bees and I know the mice aren't suffering from colony collapse. I'll keep the traps set for a few more weeks just to help keep the pressure off the hives. Of course, the large hives all have mouse guards, I'll look in to something similar for the mini-hives for next winter.

Zika and Beekeeping in the United States

I've recently been reading up (as I'm sure many have) on the mosquito-borne Zika virus and have been considering the impact from the perspective of a beekeeper. Why bring it up in relation to beekeeping? Because we already, at present, deal with fairly extensive mosquito spraying for other health and safety reasons, including West Nile. There is an interesting research paper by Bogoch et al. that contains this figure:

Indeed, with changes in climate, our proximity to wetlands (along the Wasatch Front, the back valleys, and the Cache Valley - where I happen to keep bees), we could also be subject to seasonal occurrences here. If you take a look at the map, you can zoom in on the Utah area and see that modeling already predicts suitable habitat to support an outbreak around the Great Salt Lake.

The full article is here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673616000805

This will bring additional required spray instances to many who keep bees should the outbreak spread into these seasonal mid-latitude regions.


Another interesting graphic:

Data curated by HealthGrove

A few interesting graphics regarding gun control.

A few interesting graphics regarding gun control and background checks.

Data curated by FindTheData

Data curated by FindTheData