In America

Hello all, On the plane to Houston. Must say Im disappointed. Why aren't people happy here? Everyone is pushy here. Not even a "hey can you do this for me, thanks". It's not like I've been gone that long. I just think the US population is depressed. Lets fix this guys! Sorry to make this a main point in my blog but cheer up people.

Checked in: Day 19-21?

I think my dates are way off. Whatever. I'll have to figure out how long I actually spent over here later. In the international terminal checked in and through immigration. Pretty much, its up to the airline to do their part and get us home safe and on time.

Last night we had a great final night in Sydney. We walked around the city visiting most of the parks including one with an outdoor ice skating rink. Still bizarre see that in August. Managed to get everything packed in a reasonably decent manner, including all of the swag I collected along the way.

It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Sydney. Sun is shinning. We take off at 1:50pm to land in Los Angeles at 10:30am the same day. I'm looking forward to being back but not looking forward to 24 hours of travel.

I keep repeating myself but this trip has been both an adventure but a learning experience. For instance, all airlines over here have a weight limit per passenger, not bag. While this is tough for heavy packers it does make more sense. In america, they will literally make you unpack in the airport to make a 60 bag 50 pounds, even if it means transferring it to a second bag. If you really look at the overall functionality of that, you see how stupid it really is. It's still ultimately the same weight! Our industry is riddled with little things like this. If you have flip flops on or as myself, TOMS, you do not have to remove them through security screening. Boots and large shoes are still asked to be removed but when you can see the feet, what is the point. I'm not making a list of little things I hate, more of a list of things I will write my representative about when I get home.

Nathan and myself are both ready to be back stateside. See you guys soon.

Shane

Back in Sydney: Day 18

Hello all,

Real quick as I have very little time and so much to do on this thing. Nathan and I are safe in Sydney for one last night in the country. Our adventure has been amazing beyond words. I can't wait to share with each individual that has followed me on here about everything I have learned, seen, and experienced. I want to discuss everything from how a Krispy Kreme taste the exact same to myths that we busted, such as "Shrimp on the Barby"

Thank you all for following me on this thing and I will try to post on my way home as much as I can. If not, you will hear from me Sunday night. If you have personal questions and do not see me everyday (do not live in Starkville), shoot me an e-mail. shane.a.irvin@gmail.com

Once again, thank you all for your time reading my blog of this happy island. Cheers and see you stateside!

Shane

Last Day at the Uni: Day 17

Hello all,

Today is our last day in Hobart. I'm writing my blog a bit early because I will be busy packing for an early flight in the morning. Today, I called our, "INSPIRE polo day". Nathan and I dressed up in our polos given to us by our National Science Foundation grant. One, because we honestly forgot to throughout our research stent here and two because we wanted to be the poster child of international research.

So what did we do on our last day at the Uni. Well, we said our goodbyes. Had our final in depth conversations about individuals on Arko's team about research they are conducting, and took a couple of good INSPIRE worthy pictures. Here I am explaining to Nathan the basics of ArcGIS using imagery from a practical (lab) Arko taught earlier this week.

Nathan working with me in ArcGIS

Another task at hand was taking a photo of me getting GPS points. While I've been taking them over the past three weeks, I have been by myself when doing so and honestly can't do both at the same time (take pictures and GPS points). Therefore, I got Nathan to grab a quick shot.

This will pop up on a research poster by next year. Gotta love the face

While I am not done with the blog, at least 3 days left, plus a recovery post, I must say that this trip has been life changing. The opportunity for me to travel to such a place as Australia has opened my eyes to the availability to education in other places besides the United States. While I always knew it was there, it is beyond word how fortunate I am to have set up a connect with the University of Tasmania. I hope to continue staying in contact with all of the individuals I met.

On another important note, I recommend everyone travel to places outside their comfort zone before they die. Even if it means staying in the United States (for finanacial reasons). While I have been fortunate and have traveled internationally a few times now, I beg parents to never hold their childern back with any fear of the world. Also, I recommend avoiding big tour companies. Plan but very little. Just go for the leap. You won't regret it. Talk to you guys from Sydney.

Cheers.

Been Busy? Days 15 and 16

Day 15:

Yesterday was a non-university day. I had stomach issues that morning so I stayed at the hostel. I did however work on some research and lesson planning. I drew up another brainstorming chart that I will get Nathan to review when he gets back from Hobart College, the high school he is touring.

My main focus on my brainstorming chart consisted of an approach of fluid mechanics. While the in-depth subject is too advanced for such a young crowd I will be teaching, there are many aspects of the subject that can be topical. I would like to link my research with the study of fluids with geometric based watershed studies involving flow rates over specific surfaces as well as general hydrology.

While this consumed most of my day, I also took a moment to catch up with family and friends back home. This was important for me to do during the trip as it has been over two weeks since I have seen most of my family and friends.

Day 16:

Today, was a research oriented day at the university. While most of the team I have been working with is out on conference, I have been able to catalog a great deal of literature review for discussion with my adviser when I get back to the states. Around 2pm today, I had a great meeting with Arko. We were able to discuss my thesis project in great detail. While I did not bother him with lesson plan creation, he did not mind that over the past week Nathan and I have been working with Phillippa on that aspect of the grant.

My meeting with Arko confronted me with a vast amount of knowledge that I do not know about my project. Because of his strong background in remote sensing and geo-spatial technologies, he broke down my research unlike anyone has done before. I was able to see facets of my work that I did not know existed. Band allocation, augmenting bad imagery by color correction, and reviewing both the corrected 8 bit imagery and the original 10 bit imagery, Arko opened my mind to a data mining possibility. While he encouraged me not to get too heavily involved with all of the above referenced subjects, he did express the importance of actually at least exploring them. This really allowed me to better understand all facets of this field.

We had a great last meal with Phillippa due to her being at conference. It has been wonderful to establish such great connections between myself and UTAS.

Research: Day 14

Hello all,

Today consisted of the usual class time and lesson planning. Phillippa will be at conference for the rest of the week so we won't be seeing much of her for our time remaining here. Therefore, today I finally got Arko and Phillippa to take a break and grab a quick picture.

From right to left: Dr. Arko Lucieer, Phillippa Bricher, Shane Irvin

Overall, these two weeks have been wonderful. I will meet with Arko on Thursday to discuss my research as well as any ability to collaborate in the future. The main goal for the meeting will be for me to explain my research and get feedback from him about what statistical approaches he would take as well as how to interpolate my sampled data. This meeting will be in conjunction his lecture that I attended today, discussing statistical variance in sampled data as well as the ability to Geo-statistically analysis and interpolation of sampled data. This class helped form a review of former classes I have taken on Geo-statistical analysis. My hope is to work with Dr. Lucieer in the future with my current research as well as a potential for future research.

Lucky Number 13: Day 13

How are you going? I hear this all the time, well more like "How're you going?". It is the phrase over here of "how is it going", or "what is going on". My name for today's post is really only because it is day 13 on my adventure over here. It also coincides to the fact that the frog doesn't have a 13th room. I guess they are a superstitious as we are back in the States.

Today was one of the most productive days on the island yet. Nathan and I attended the first day of the 3rd Annual International Forum on the Sub-Antarctic (http://www.sub-antarctic.org/). This conference has all of the Sub-Antarctic scientist from all over the world come to Hobart to discuss issues like climate change and species invasion on the islands that surround the Antarctic continent.

CCAMLR Headquarters, where the conference was

The ecological diversity on these islands are amazing. The conference hosted everyone from Phillippa's adviser Dr. Dana Bergstrom to a French climate scientist, who I do not have a name for. The conference had chances for me to meet these scientist as well as potential employers. Most people enjoyed the fact that I was from the United States. At the same time, they also enjoy the fact that we aren't the poster child for something for once (i.e. the U.S. typically hogs the spotlight).

Nathan and me at conference (tea time)

The day consisted of this until 4:30pm where we split and headed over to the Tasmanian Royal Botanical Gardens with Phillippa. She wanted to show us a green house where the house is actually cold and humid (to match the Sub-Antarctic temperatures).

You can read!

Thought this was so cool.

The temperature is held at a constant 8-9 degrees Celsius by gigantic fans which I have a video of but thought this video was more important. Listen to them in the background. This is Phillippa describing what she does on Macca Island (shortened for ease).

Standing in the green house (COLD)

We also toured the gardens until closing at 6pm. At this point, Nathan and I split from Phillippa, as she had the conference dinner to go to and we didn't pay for it. We grabbed a bite to eat and wondered around the city some more.

Great great great day. Really excited for tomorrow. Back in class and planning time. Also will be talking to Arko about my research soon. Pumped.

Cheers!

Shane