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The wetlands in Louisiana are disappearing at a rate of one tennis court sized area every 15 minutes. Hurricane Katrina destroyed an additional 217 square miles. The wetlands are disappearing in a "swiss cheese" fashion. That is, as the wetlands are destroyed, the total shoreline increases. This provides more habitats for fish and shrimp, and thus their populations are increasing dramatically. This then causes an increase in the number of fishing boats on the water, whose wakes further erode the wetlands...
Current estimates show the gulf of Mexico reaching New Orleans within 10 years. And that's *without* another hurricane hit.
On to the journal:
Days four and five: From Bay St Louis to Vicksburg, Mississippi, via Alcorn State University.
Yesterday I spent the morning collecting soil samples from various sites in Bay St Louis. We mostly centered on the area known to locals as "slab-ville." It's an area near the beach roughly the size of half of a city block that used to contain multi-million dollar houses. They were all completely wiped out by the storm. All that remains are bits of foundation, the occasional swimming pool, and piles of debris. Now, the bare slabs are selling for $800k.
With the soil collected, I headed out to Alcorn. I attempted to stop at the Abita brewpub for lunch, but alas, they are closed on Mondays. I'll have to drop in on my way back to Bay St Louis on Friday. I was able to pick up a six pack of their dark brown ale though. It's pretty good, though their choice of a German alt yeast is not one I agree with.
The drive was long and fairly uneventful. Once I arrived at Alcorn, a small school nestled in between a few small hills in the middle of nowhere, I was given a nice lab tour and got to play with some polymers. Alas, my collaborators were not really ready for me, so this time wont be as useful as we hoped. Since they're a month behind, I'm trying to nudge them into action as much as I can, but I don't have much influence as a lowly grad student. After the fairly brief meeting, I headed up to Vicksburg to my hotel. Vicksburg is technically classified as a city, but it's small. My hotel had some pretty horrid reviews, but my room is fine. It's a bit worn in places, but the bed is comfy, there is wireless, and I have a fridge. I'm happy.
Oh, breakfast on Monday included grits. This time they were much less salty. I prepared mine much like I eat oatmeal - a small amount of sugar, plus a couple of tablespoons of raisins. Yum!
Today I spent doing very little. I had to abort my Alcorn visit today, since we're trying to stay within our mileage budget on the car. Also, none of my collaborators were going to be in today, so there wasn't much reason for me to drive down anyway. Having a day to relax was very nice. I swam for a bit this evening, and oh man, I'm a much worse swimmer than I used to be. It's kind of pathetic.
Tomorrow: Alcorn visit with collaborators again! Characterizing the baseline conductivity of various polymers, even if they aren't final versions.
Current estimates show the gulf of Mexico reaching New Orleans within 10 years. And that's *without* another hurricane hit.
On to the journal:
Days four and five: From Bay St Louis to Vicksburg, Mississippi, via Alcorn State University.
Yesterday I spent the morning collecting soil samples from various sites in Bay St Louis. We mostly centered on the area known to locals as "slab-ville." It's an area near the beach roughly the size of half of a city block that used to contain multi-million dollar houses. They were all completely wiped out by the storm. All that remains are bits of foundation, the occasional swimming pool, and piles of debris. Now, the bare slabs are selling for $800k.
With the soil collected, I headed out to Alcorn. I attempted to stop at the Abita brewpub for lunch, but alas, they are closed on Mondays. I'll have to drop in on my way back to Bay St Louis on Friday. I was able to pick up a six pack of their dark brown ale though. It's pretty good, though their choice of a German alt yeast is not one I agree with.
The drive was long and fairly uneventful. Once I arrived at Alcorn, a small school nestled in between a few small hills in the middle of nowhere, I was given a nice lab tour and got to play with some polymers. Alas, my collaborators were not really ready for me, so this time wont be as useful as we hoped. Since they're a month behind, I'm trying to nudge them into action as much as I can, but I don't have much influence as a lowly grad student. After the fairly brief meeting, I headed up to Vicksburg to my hotel. Vicksburg is technically classified as a city, but it's small. My hotel had some pretty horrid reviews, but my room is fine. It's a bit worn in places, but the bed is comfy, there is wireless, and I have a fridge. I'm happy.
Oh, breakfast on Monday included grits. This time they were much less salty. I prepared mine much like I eat oatmeal - a small amount of sugar, plus a couple of tablespoons of raisins. Yum!
Today I spent doing very little. I had to abort my Alcorn visit today, since we're trying to stay within our mileage budget on the car. Also, none of my collaborators were going to be in today, so there wasn't much reason for me to drive down anyway. Having a day to relax was very nice. I swam for a bit this evening, and oh man, I'm a much worse swimmer than I used to be. It's kind of pathetic.
Tomorrow: Alcorn visit with collaborators again! Characterizing the baseline conductivity of various polymers, even if they aren't final versions.
