ConversationsWithTheClass

2009 Feb 19


 * Item 1 - GIS**

OK, a couple of things about GIS. Some frustration, some not knowing how it fits in, or how utilize it to its fullest. All I can say is that if you wind up working with GIS, this is the way it is. What you saw was what almost always happens with GIS - it's just not smooth. There are always problems with data, projections are a nightmare (that's what causes your air photo or your polygon box to show up somewhere other than where you thought it should), and systems crash. Always. Oh, and you saw the sanitized version. What you didn't see was the experiments David did so that we didn't sit there waiting an hour for buffering or dot grids to appear.

GIS is showing up everywhere in natural resources, so it's really good for you to have some ideas of what it can do. And it can do a lot. To use it to its fullest potential you have to keep working with it and learning it. This goes to Covey's mental creation somewhat. If you can imagine something that you want to do with maps or data overlays ... like the buffer analyses we've done ... then you go to someone like David and say "David, here's what I'm thinking about - I'd like to see this and that (whatever that is)" and through a deeper conversation he'll be able to steer you in the right direction. That's how you can learn; that's how things get done. It is __very__ hard to figure out something like ArcGIS completely on your own. It is much easier to work with someone who knows it. Again, you have the resources here at NCSU - I've introduced you to them - it's up to you to take advantage of them.


 * Item 2 - What was this week about? There did not seem to be a cohesive purpose. GIS doesn't really affect my group. How does all this hold together?**

Good question. We have a large overall objective - doing work toward the creation of a report about the Triangle's environment. And we have 5 teams, each working on some part of that. And we're in a measurements course. And we're reading //7 Habits//. What's the link?

This week was a bit of a hoge-poge. We talked about indicators on Tuesday, which is pertinent to all teams because it's part of the framework in which we are working. Please let me know if that's not clear - all teams are building indicators in some way.

On Wednesday we learned more about GIS. This was mostly for the benefit of the buffer team, but was a good measurement technique for all to learn. What I'm trying to do is pick up on all the "need to learn" items from the different teams and share them with everyone. The variability lab benefits the water quality report card team most, but variability and repeatability are important concepts for all of us. Next week we'll have a lab that helps the exotic vegetation team, and we'll all benefit from seeing a vegetation measurement technique. And our first GIS lab helped the land cover and stream buffer teams, and you now all have an idea where land cover statistics come from. I'm still working on what we can do with the farm team - I'll find something that will be good for everyone.

On Thursday we peer-reviewed the variability labs. This is just part of my continuing effort to get you to start relying on your peers and yourselves, which is why we had a lesson about peer review last week. And library skills before that. And, say, I expect you to be using those library skills, too. If you're not out looking for information to help you with your project ... if you're waiting for me or someone else to bring it to you ... you've missed the learning.

The //7 Habits// is intended to help you make that leap to self-reliance, better organization, and interdependent existence. It is working, if what you are telling me in your essays is more than just telling the prof what he wants to hear. If you're really doing what you say, then you've started to make that leap.

There is no good, linear way to teach all of this - at least not that I know of. So sometimes it looks non-cohesive - just ask me "Why are we doing this?" I'm letting you try, looking for areas where help is needed, and filling in as I see those needs. Think of it as "just in time teaching." You are most receptive when you, yourself, have recognized the need for something and asked for help. So, please, keep asking!


 * Item 3 - Objectives, objectives, objectives**

Yup, we keep coming back to this. Still come confusion out there. Until we get it cleared, progress will be halting and frustrating. Should we make that our Tu/Th focus next week? I'm going to look at your wiki pages tomorrow and make comments - hope that will help. You are in the midst of mental creation right now, and sometimes that takes time. But in your essays, you all recognized that as important.

What's the scale of the project? Differs for different teams. Some teams can do the whole Triangle (land cover), most will work on smaller areas to demonstrate what can be done.

One person remarked that working on smaller areas and building a framework seemed a little insignificant. I disagree. Think about it. We have an idea - a mental creation. We think it will work, but we're not sure. Imagine this is your business. Are you going to go out and hire 100 people to implement this idea over a large area? Or are you going to try it out on a smaller scale first? Taking that step - pilot-testing an idea - is really important. It's where you learn, in miniature, what kind of problems you will run into, whether it can even be done, how much time it takes.

Example: I was involved in a monitoring program for [|windbreaks] - rows of trees planted to keep wind from blowing away soil on farm fields. I was in North Carolina, the study was to be state-wide in Nebraska. I designed some procedures for measuring the windbreaks - the mental creation. What would you do next? Just take it to Nebraska and get people driving all over the state? I didn't do that. I worked with two technicians, we found some windbreaks in North Carolina and we tried it out. Ten minutes after we started we found a problem. Twenty minutes after that, another. Some was the way the instructions were written, some were just ideas that were impractical or too time consuming in the field. We did this several times and it really improved the procedure, which was then deployed state-wide in Nebraska and went very, very well. You can read about it in Hess & Bay. 2000. A regional assessment of windbreak habitat suitability. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 61(2): 237-254 (see Hess&Bay2000.pdf in the readings file). So, I don't think Triangle-wide is a realistic expectation for most of what we're doing. And I think building the framework and field-testing the ideas is a great service.


 * Item 4 - Building your story**

How do I build the "story" of my indicator(s)? What do you mean by "story" anyway?

The report we ultimately produce, and the presentation, will have a plot-line ... just like a good movie or book. It will not be a bunch of random things throw onto paper. It's your job to develop that story. Your story is about why what you did matters and how it fits into the big picture of making the world (or at least the Triangle) a better place.

For our purposes, TLC's mission is the "end in mind" ... //Triangle Land Conservancy's mission is to protect important open space—stream corridors, forests, wildlife habitat, farmland and natural areas—in Chatham, Durham, Johnston, Lee, Orange and Wake counties to help keep our region a healthy and vibrant place to live and work.// Your story describes how what you've done pertains to this mission. What do your measurements tell us about whether this mission is being fulfilled in the Triangle? Your story provides the links from this mission to what you're writing and putting into PowerPoints. Your story explains why TLC or anyone else should devote resources to taking these measurements Triangle-wide. Your story is a sales pitch, and I mean that in a good way - what you tell people to convince them that what you propose is worthwhile.

You build it by understanding the links from the field (or GIS measures) to the elements of TLC's mission and conservation targets, and explaining clearly those links to others. That's hard work. That will require some library research, some talking to people, some brainstorming. You can do it. And you will.

2009 Feb 6

Updated: Later that day ... some wrote to me by e-mail that many might have thought that the "muddy points" weren't intended to be this global, but more focused on what happened in class that week ... and the responses were a reflection that most people understood the GIS work and were more comfortable with project objectives. Looking back at the [|syllabus section on this issue] and thinking about it, I have to agree. In fact, I've not been asking you to do this as I intended, which is to put down the main point(s) for the week and/or anything from the week that is still confusing you. Of course, you are welcome to use the muddy points as an opportunity to ask broader questions (and I think my perspective has some merit), but I sure can see the misunderstanding. My bust. I'm sorry. Next week we'll do it "right."
 * Item 1 - Really??**

Original note: Muddy points - almost everyone said they had it all down - no confusion, understand it all. That's a bit scary to me. So you know your objectives cold and in detail, how you're going to get your data, analyze it, do your sampling, create your tables? Contraindicated by what I'm seeing on the wiki pages from each team. So I can go away and y'all will have it under control? I think you're passing up on an opportunity to think about what you don't know and pose questions about it. Please be sure to reflect what you don't know and need to learn in the learning needs on the wiki pages for your projects (see item 2).


 * Item 2 - Team Pages**

I've commented on all the team pages on the wiki. Please take a look and move forward so that these pages are in good order for Wednesday's visit with Jeff. It would be nice if you could bring up your page on the front screen and talk through objectives / proposed tables / data needs & sources / learning needs. In fact, I'd like everyone to move to that format - those four headings near the top of the page. Land cover and buffers are about the closest right now.

In response to student request, the future deadline for the Covey essays (not this week) will be midnight on Friday instead of noon.
 * Item 3 - Deadline Change (future)**


 * Item 4 - Going to the field**

Someone asked when we'd be going to the field again. Soon. Next two weeks are inside, then we'll likely go out. We need to do some veg sampling techniques, training for the water quality report card, looking at invasive species, checking out buffer breaches. It's coming!

2009 Jan 30

I've looked through your "Muddy points" from yesterday and have some responses here. Thank you all for the frank comments - here are my equally frank responses. Please feel free to add comments here as you wish, request further clarification, or open a line of discussion.


 * First, did you know that the wiki can notify you when an update is made?** Anywhere on the site, or for a single page? By email or through an RSS feed? and it's really easy?

For single-page notification, click the "notify me" tab at the top of the page and either ask to be notified by email or grab the RSS feed. For wiki-wide notification (ie, when any page is updated), click the "notify me" tab on any page and then follow the link to the wiki-wide notification page. This is a great way to keep up with changes to your teams' page(s), the whole wiki, or anything else you want.


 * Item 0 - This course is different - you're doing fine**

I know that the way we're running this course is not what you are used to and that it will take time to adjust. That's OK. You're confused about objectives. Me too, though probably less so - this stuff is not easy. I won't just tell you what they are - I don't know exactly what they are. That's annoying. We're jumping around to a number of different things - objectives, statistics, reliability, critical thinking, articulated learnings, 7 habits, GIS next - and you're not sure how they all fit in. Well, look at the learning lists you've started to create on the wiki - all those things are there (well, maybe not 7 habits). We just can't do them sequentially, because we get stuck on one and need to learn something else so we can come back and get unstuck. The 7 habits is going to be the glue for how we make all of this work and why vision and interdependence is so important - you just haven't read far enough yet - but you could read the whole book, at least superficially, in a few hours right now - go for it, and then you'll come back to it in greater depth as the essays come due. I'm asking you to take responsibility for directing us and for your own learning, which is something I expect you've not encountered in class before. It's what you're going to have to do after you graduate. Why not start today?


 * Item 1 - More time for articulated learnings**

Several of you mentioned this, noting that it's hard to get depth and breadth in 10 minutes. Yes, you can have more time. I will assign this as overnight items to be uploaded through WolfWare. This will have a number of benefits - more time for you to complete, I don't have to read your handwriting, you don't have to read my handwriting.


 * Item 2 - Web site and wiki**

Some complaints about the web site being confusing - trouble keeping up with due dates, finding assignments, etc. Sorry can't help you here. The assignments are posted the week they are assigned because that's when you're supposed to start on them. If I switch them to the week they are due (sometimes two weeks out), someone will say they didn't see them because they were too far down the page and would rather have them when assigned. Can't win this one, and I will not do both because that is a recipe for disaster - been there, done that - when one gets changed, the other doesn't, and confusion reigns. It's your responsibility to take this information and organize it in a way that works for you. If you want to work by due dates, you can transfer those to your personal calendars. All known assignments are in place on the Monday of the week they are assigned. Any additional assignments we create that week are announced in class and by e-mail. If you can't remember an assignment, they're all on a single web page under big red headings - can't see how it could be much easier. Unless someone has a brilliant solution, this isn't going to change. You are also free to create your own solution for yourselves using the wiki or any other technology you wish - I'll be happy to create links to anything you'd like.

On the wiki ... it just takes time. For now, everything we're working on is in the left navigation bar - I'll try to keep it that way (only I can edit the navigation bar). If you create new pages, be sure to link them to an appropriate place so you can find them (as suggested in the "New to Wikis?" page). If you have something you think should be in the Nav Bar, just let me know. I'd prefer not to spend class time "teaching" the wiki, but will if there is overwhelming demand - chime in here if you really want that.


 * Item 3 - Moving the project forward**

Y'all are worried about this. Don't be. At least not yet. This process takes time and we only get together a few times a week. I feel good about where we are now. I talked with Kevin Brice, President of TLC, this (Fri) morning about what we're doing and he's very excited. I told him about the 6 projects we're considering and he liked them all.

We are going to spend Wed 11 Feb with TLC really nailing our objectives and products. IN THE MEANTIME, you have posted some thoughts on the wiki and I have responded. You should act on my comments, and I will continue to respond. I expect progress on this as part of your ongoing "homework" - I have added this explicitly to the web site. I'm also scheduling next Thurs (5 Feb) for work on this - but you really need to move forward before then. I suggest going to the wiki page for your team and continuing to refine objectives and products. I monitor the wiki and will respond as you make changes there.

Someone asked about deliverables - presentation and report, details to be determined by us, due during our final exam period 28 Apr 1-4P. This has been on the syllabus and calendar from Day 1. This is the one thing that is not subject to change - no flexibility on that.


 * Item 4 - Relation to real-life scenarios**

Someone asked how this relates to a "real-life" scenario. Simple. **This IS a real-life scenario.** A natural resources management agency (TLC) is trying to figure out how to measure the effect of their efforts and other conservation efforts Triangle-wide. We are / will be doing the kinds of things that natural resources organizations need to do - using tools that they use. We are / will be learning how to examine vaguely-worded requests and make them actionable, how to pull together a large, diverse team to get a project completed, and how to communicate our results with professional-quality documents and talks. And there is nobody standing over you every day telling you exactly what to do. You just do it. And if you don't know what to do, you start doing research, get ideas, and bring specific questions and issues to the table for discussion. Tomorrow (Sat 31 Jan) the TLC Board is having a retreat at which they will hear about what we are doing - when Jeff comes to class on the 11th, he'll tell us about that. They are moving forward with the ideas for measuring success that we're working on.


 * Item 5 - GIS instruction**

Coming. Next week, and again in two weeks. Check out the [|calendar].

2009 Jan 27

Hey, folks. I sensed some frustration and confusion in class today - to the point that it might be interfering with learning. So I decided that I'd write a "message to the class" to see if I can set some things straight. And I decided to post it on the open wiki, so that anyone can read and respond right here - if anyone wishes to. This can be a one-way communication from me to you, or you can start a dialog here - it's up to you.


 * Item 1: What is our big picture goal?**

Bottom line: we are to help develop indicators and procedures for reporting on the state of the Triangle's ecosystem. If you want to know what this might look like, see the Heinz Center document. Exactly which parts we do is up to us, but should be built on what the Measuring Conservation Success class did last semester.

What we are not doing: We are not trying to tell TLC how to manage their land. We are not trying to develop management procedures. We are not advocating for particular actions. We are working on measures that, if repeated through time, will indicate whether and how conditions are changing. It is up to others to figure out exactly why they are (or are not) changing and what management actions to take.

When we (TLC, me, the graduate students last year) started this project, we were focused on measuring whether a particular property was a success. We quickly realized that, because TLC's mission is to keep the ___Triangle___ a healthy and vibrant place to live, that the measures had to be broader. So, in addition to property-level measures of success we started thinking about regional-scale measures. That's where the [|TLCRegionalSummary.2008.12.11.pdf] document comes in, as well as the Heinz Center reports (in class readings directory). So for the long term - beyond where we will likely get in the next few months - TLC would like to produce a "State of the Triangle's Environment" report, similar to the "State of the Nation's Ecosystems" report. To do this, we have to identify measures that reflect the state (status / health / condition) of the environment and develop procedures to carry out those measures. That's where this class comes in. Last semester, the graduate students did a fair amount of work identifying measures. We need to try to develop and test some procedures that can be applied Triangle-wide - not just on TLC property, but throughout the Triangle.


 * Item 2: Frustration is not always a bad thing ... work with it**

I think this is tied up with concerns about grading and a fear that you'll do "something wrong" and wind up with a bad grade. So, frustration often means that you're working out of your comfort zone, which means you're probably learning something new. I am going to let you struggle, and I might even let you try some things that I know (or strongly believe) will not work out. But I will NOT let you go down a path that I know is wrong for very long. However, we might go down some paths that look good - even to me - only to hit an insurmountable obstacle. Nobody is going to get a bad grade just because that happens. We learn from failure. If you can demonstrate that learning, you'll be fine. (And, hey, those "articulate learning" sheets are a vehicle that allows you to demonstrate learning even when you make a mistake!) When you get frustrated, step back and ask why you are frustrated. What do you need to know to make the frustration go away? Then read, ask, talk, figure it out. Try looking at things a different way. Ask questions.


 * Item 3: Does every team need to create a rubric for their indicator, like the water quality assessment card?**

No.

The water quality assessment card is a tool that can be used to develop a picture of water quality Triangle-wide. If the tool is applied to a sample of streams throughout the Triangle, we can use statistics to make inferences about all streams in the Triangle. That's what statistics allows you to do. And we could actually try to do that on a smaller scale - like Wake County or Raleigh. But one issue with that tool is how repeatable the measures are if different people make them. We will need a lot of people to take measurements if we're going to apply this Triangle-wide, so knowing how repeatable the measures are is pretty important.

The buffer breach group is not likely to develop a scorecard like this. They will be developing some kind of statistical sampling procedure to estimate number of breaches per unit length. I don't think the vegetation team will have a scorecard either - it's certainly not required. If a scorecard is the right tool, then we'll create one; otherwise we'll do something else.


 * Item 4: Will only TLC personnel use the procedures we create?**

Very unlikely.

As I've mentioned, much of TLC's work is done by volunteers. They do not have the staff to collect data like these, which is one of the reasons we're working on it. Anything field-based has to be developed in a way that a "reasonably intelligent" person can do it, in a repeatable fashion. Now, things that wind up depending on GIS will probably be done by a combination of staff and volunteers. For example, for the buffer breaches, staff might use GIS to select sample streams Triangle-wide and then send volunteers to those locations to collect the data. So, procedures need to be scientifically and statistically sound and aimed at the appropriate user audience.


 * Item 5. Reading ... I see little evidence that you're doing it**

I believe that there is some very clear direction in the readings that I've assigned so far. There are indicators suggested for every public benefit target, and the Heinz Center document is chock-full of different approaches. I haven't seen a single one of them suggested in any team, unless I suggested it first. Based on this, the confusion, some questions, and the deer-in-the-headlight looks, I'd say that you're not reading the material, or you're doing so very superficially. If you are and don't understand it, why are there no questions when I ask at the beginning of each class "Any questions, comments, concerns, announcements?" The readings are supposed to be the common foundation on which we build. If you don't do this part of the work, this will be a miserable semester for all of us.


 * Item 6. Do we have to actually measure the whole Triangle?**

No. But our procedures must be broadly applicable. And it would be nice to test them out on some portion of the Triangle. One thing we could do is develop a "demonstration report" for some part of Raleigh near campus, using the indicators and tools we're working with. That wouldn't work for the farm issues, which we might have to test elsewhere. Or we could all work elsewhere - something for us to think about.


 * Item 7. Where does what we're doing fit it?**

Monitoring is a critical part of adaptive management that is rarely carried out. Adaptive management is an approach to managing natural (or other) systems that has a number of steps with feedback. A bit simplified, those steps are ...
 * Set a goal
 * Make a plan for attaining the goal
 * Carry out action that is intended to attain the goal
 * Measure progress toward the goal (this is where we come in)
 * Determined if you are moving toward or away from goal
 * Adjust plan and management accordingly
 * Repeat

We are trying to develop some measures that could be used in this way. For example, we're taking a lot of action to improve stream buffers to improve water quality. Are we actually improving stream buffers? water quality? Some of the measures we're looking at can address this. Our buffer analysis can tell us what kind of buffers are along the streams. Forest is best - is that increasing or decreasing with time? If buffers are breached by culverts and drainage channels, they are ineffective. Our buffer breach measure can address this. And the water quality report card, if it is a good instrument, can help us judge the water quality itself. (Of course, I have a feeling there are already some good data out there that we can use - and we should (and are) pursue this.)


 * Item 8. Will our work be used beyond the semester, after we are done?**

Straight answer: I don't know. If we do a poor job, no. If we do a good job, maybe.

TLC is very serious about this direction. I will be going on study leave to work with them for 6 months starting in July, to develop a State of the Triangle's Environment report. TLC is seeking funding to support that effort - they really want to do this. But you all know what's going on out there right now with the economy. Things can change. How do we respond to that possibility? Personally, I think this is a valuable effort and it will last beyond the semester. We have a partner in TLC that is very committed, I am very committed, and your help is crucial to making progress. We cannot do it without you. Well, that's not entirely true - we're committed enough to find another way. But I think this can be a great learning experience for all of us if we're flexible and allow the unexpected, different, and even uncomfortable to envelope and change us.


 * Item 9. I invite you to ask questions here, comment on what I've said, push for more details**

Read the New to wikis? section for how to insert comments and start communicating. It's in your hands.