A comment on the nature of blogging
Category: General | Date: May 04 2008 | By: admin
A friend sent me an article on environmental blogging and the responsibility that scientists have to engage in so-called “new media” to present their findings or thoughts. I think the gist of the article was also that readers of blogs that present scientific information should be at least as critical as they are of the conventional print media (click here to read the article, entitled “Environmental Science Adrift in the Blogosphere).
I am referring to this article partly because I think its a good summary of some of the standard anti-blog arguments. But its also a call for scientists to blog about what they are doing, and to engage in peer-review of science-related material contained within the “DIY publishing” world of the internet.
I’m also posting it as the starting point for a response to Sauwah’s contribution to this blog on the 25th of April post.
“hell, it’s my opinion; yet i do know others who are in the same line of business as packer do disagree with him. no one can demand me to explain myself. it’s a blog. and i do live in a free world. and since i am a no body, i can state my opinion period.”I’m putting my response to Sauwah’s comment within a post because I think he / she has raised some very important points. As follows my reactions:
- Expressing one’s opinion is welcome here. I choose to allow comments that represent radically different viewpoints from mine, because I think its important to stimulate discussion about how best to achieve conservation.
- There are a great many conservation scientists that disagree with Packer’s findings. On the whole though there is a consensus that his science is good. This is the nature of peer-review. For better or for worse, I subscribe to the peer-review format.
- The internet is a great arena for people to express themselves, this is true. I particularly like the fact that people of all ages, levels of experience and nationalities are able to participate in discussion on this blog. However, I reserve the right to ask contributors to express themselves clearly. I like it when people make strong ideological statements. I appreciate concerned readers expressing their feelings. However, I will moderate any discussion that involves science-based conservation, and may ask for further clarification. This blog is partly here to raise awareness, and to bring people to understand what large carnivore conservation is about. Jy kan nie so ‘n klip in die bos gooi meneer. Nie in hierdie plek nie
The author of the article I linked to above has some very interesting things to say about science and the media in general. I saw an excellent presentation by him a year ago, in which he described how badly science is represented in the media generally. Well worth looking up some of his work if you are interested in the Shiva-like internet world of news reporting (thanks DP for the metaphor).
The Chyulu hills
Category: General | Date: May 03 2008 | By: admin
his post has absolutely nothing to do wth lions. It is about the place that I live though. And there are lions near the hills.
In 1997 a group of scientists investigated the tomography of the chyulu hills, and wrote a comprehensive paper describing their findings (A tomography study of the Chyulu Hills, Kenya: J. R. R. Ritter and T. Kaspar). If I understand it correctly, there are pockets of magma about 70km underneath the Chyulus, and that these are somehow related to the continued tearing apart of the East african rift. Its not bedtime reading, and for a non-geologically inclined person such as myself there is some language that deserves a special mention in the dungbeetle hall of fame. Such as,
“The major difficulty with teleseismic rays is vertical smearing of structures along the steep ray paths. This can be seen in Fig. 8 where the off-diagonal elements of the resolution matrix are biggest for blocks above and below neighbouring layers.”
I’ve met some nice geologists, but my goodness their work can be obscure in the extreme. Regardless of the difficulty with teleseismic rays, the chyulu hills are pleasant to look at. Most of them are extinct, well eroded cinder cones and have quite a soft, rounded shape with a collapsed crater at the summit. Here is an image of the hills northwest of camp.
a bit of colour
Category: General | Date: May 01 2008 | By: admin
From an area about 15km south of where I live, looking north. Rain and a sunset.
Just a reminder… if you haven’t had a look already, check out the Mara triangle blog, where Will, Asuka and Brian have written of the recent lion poisonings there. The story has hit most of the major conservation news outlets overseas, and many local media companies in South Africa (SABC, and the EP Herald, would you believe).
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