Instructor perspectives on undergraduate class size in Canada Invitation to participate (Franais suivre) I am inviting instructors at Canadian universities to participate in a short research survey about how instructors define undergraduate class size. The purpose of this study is to better understand how instructors across Canada think about categories such as small, medium, […]
Tag: research
When is a White Trillium not?
A post shared by Gavan Watson (@gavanwatson) on Apr 30, 2017 at 5:56am PDT Here’s a bit of a natural history mystery that I found yesterday: this green flower in a bed of White Trilliums (Trillium grandiflorum); something that I had never seen before. The few initial web references I found suggested this is caused […]
Using Radar to predict Bird Migration
photo credit: kbaird In my dissertation, I take some time to talk about the use and adoption of recently-available technologies (specifically digital cameras to take pictures of birds, nexrad radar to predict migration and the Internet to share bird sightings) by birders. I call the products of these technologies (so, the digital pictures, radar images […]
Environmental Education Research and Culture
photo credit: @andrewghayes I’m back from Buffalo, having attended a two day research symposium organized by the North American Association of Environmental Education (NAAEE). Held before the annual NAAEE conference, the research symposium is meant, as I understand it, to be an opportunity to talk meaningfully about “meaty” research issues and meet with a cross-section […]
We’re all a bit mistanthropic
photo credit: quinn.anya Pronunciation: \ˈmi-sən-ˌthrōp\ Function: noun Etymology: Greek misanthrōpos hating humankind, from misein to hate + anthrōpos human being Date: 1683 : a person who hates or distrusts humankind Would you consider yourself a misanthrope? I suspect that most, if asked if they hated or distrusted humanity, would say no. Take ethical consideration, for […]
Birding: sport or conservation?
This post is one part of a two-parter that I’m writing in response to a paper on the sport of birding that was published in the Journal of Sport and Social Issues. photo credit: auburnxc Instead of protest, culture jamming, confrontation, and direct action the environmental sporting practices of traveling the state by automobile and […]
Collapsing space and freezing time in birding
The following post includes ruminations and ideas emerging as I analyze the data collected for my PhD dissertation focusing on the act of birding. It doesn’t represent a final thought or particular endpoint: these are ideas in progress. I would be interested in hearing your opinion of my ideas, too. Many birding technologies appear to […]
Double-crested Cormorants self medicate by swallowing stones
Thanks to Flickr member mikebaird for sharing the DCC photo with a creative commons license. A just-published paper suggests that Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) in the Great Lakes may swallow stones to reduce the number of parasitic nematodes–and in so doing, are self-medicating. Many birds ingest stones to help with the digestion of physically hard […]
Spring feels around the corner: things are moulting away…
The past two days in Toronto have been warmer than normal, leading to a large snow melt and the promise of spring (and I know it’s a tease, but it’s a nice break from what has felt like an especially cold winter). With spring comes the return of migratory birds, so this research seems relevant. […]
Knowing me, knowing you
If you’ve ever spent time watching House Sparrows (Passer domesticus), you might have noticed just how, well, squabbly they can be. Just today, I was out walking the dog, and a group of three came screaming (in flight and in sound) out from a pruned cedar shrub, flew across the sidewalk and screamed back into […]