Reflection on ALES 204

Another semester is coming to an end and it is time to wrap up this blog. Communication Theory and Practice has definitely shown me theories of scientific communication in social media and how it may change the future of science. It has also shown me how far social media has come in the professional and non-professional world. I found that this course was almost completely based on the capabilities of the internet. In addition, it also demonstrated the power of virtually instantaneous information on demand. These components of the course appear to be the most emphasized, which makes sense because it reflects the transition of modern society to cyber society.

The priorities of ALES 204 differ greatly from a previous communications course I have taken at a different institute called Technical Communications. Tech Comm for short, demonstrated the importance of interpersonal communication through technical papers, presentations, job search, interviews, and connecting with people in your field of work "for real". I believe these are the skills most important for getting a job. The required text book for that course was also a very good resource. I still use it today. Here is a link to it.

The skills gained in ALES 204 also covered these subjects and did well in many areas, but there was less emphasis on how to write technically and how to search for jobs, which for many students in their first couple years, frankly are poor at doing. The role and trends of the internet and social media in communication is very important but not as useful for students who can learn much of the ALES 204 subject matter on their own. Students are more concerned with their paper at the end of the term and getting a summer job. Not once did I hear someone say "make sure to start looking for summer jobs early!", a tip that I have found invaluable over the years.

Throughout the course I have benefited from being encouraged to develop a professional persona viewed by the public in the realm of internet inquiry. I got the chance to practice some interpersonal skills working in groups under strict time constraints, and got to to practice my speaking and introductory abilities to strangers. Chelsea describes what she learned in ALES 204 for public speaking in her blog post. I also received the chance to make my first academic poster with my own paper (shown below).

Image: Curtis Vieville

Seeing as this is a communications course it would make sense to connect with fellow students and their blogs. I Posted on Lucas', Lutong's, Karen's, Clara's, and Daniel's blogs.

Finally, cheers! Best of luck to the rest of ALES 204 students. I will see you in cyberland.

Wikipedia Stub Expanded by Yours Truly

As of today I created a Wikipedia user account and started editing and expanding on a Wikipedia stub called Soil litter. To the majority of people soil litter does not sound like the most exciting thing learn about, but it is actually very important to how ecosystems are formed in terrestrial environments. Soil litter is the accumulation of dead and decaying plant and animal material on the ground (forest floors, prairie fields) where ever plants and animals live and die.

I can see why Wikipedia and other online people powered encyclopaedias are so predominant in culture today. They are an invaluable tool for quick and easy information. I can understand why people become so zealous over articles they edit. Even while I was developing this stub I felt like I was nursing a growing child by feeding it with information and credible sources. Now hopefully it will take off on its own and other people will add more to the topic. I will definitely be watching Soil litter on Wikipedia for further development.

While expanding the article I also attempted to add a picture for use of portraying a section described. The image I found did not have any copyright information, so I decided to contact its author and ask for permission. In doing so I developed a web-based acquaintance while building upon the article. Connecting and reaching out to people, whether experts in a topic or people learning about it, is also a big part of online Wikis. As Angela Zimmerman mentioned in her blog post about Wiki editing, "the diversity of authors can provide many different perspectives and concepts."

Below is an example of what soil litter looks like in colder climates such as Lesser Slave Lake, Alberta.

WikiMedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File%3ALesser_Slave_Lake%2C_Shore_Fall_2010.JPG,

TED Talks Watersheds and Beer

Being an aspiring conservation biologist and amateur brewer, I am naturally intrigued by innovation that combines business and environmentalism, especially if that business is the craft brewing industry and the environment is a watershed.


I have been looking for a way to link my blog CV-ALES with beer and my studies in fresh water conservation. To my surprise I found a TED talk on both these subjects. Rob Harmon describes a new mechanism that brings a whole new meaning to "water footprint." The image below is from a water scarcity blog site, from a blog in particular about how much water is needed to make beer, which Rob relates to in his talk. The link citing the image is from that blog post if you want to learn a little more.

http://blogs.halcrow.com/waterscarcity/?p=72

The TED talk is linked below.
http://blog.ted.com/2011/03/11/how-the-market-can-keep-streams-flowing-rob-harmon-on-ted-com/

To relate to our current subject in ALES 204 this presentation is no Pecha Kucha, but is very fast and to the point. The speaker does a very good job at minimizing idiosyncrasies and speaking very clearly and confidently. He also uses appropriate pictures with little text. I can tell that he is well practiced. I would be to if I was going to be on TED.

Professional Facebook Up

Hello,
I am excited to expand my profile in the digital world as I have created a more credible Facebook page. As part of this blog I am making an attempt to have a greater presence online that future potential employers may view and better their opinion of me.


These days employers use internet search engines for weeding out job candidates by finding . . .what is often "inappropriate" comments or images from social events or what have you. I have taken the opportunity to rather pollute an internet query with "here I am, fully clothed and well spoken!" Not saying that is an issue for me, unlike others. With this new tool, along with my new Flickr account I can upload images or even documents of my work in the field or the office that are worth sharing to those interested enough to look me up.


Here is a link to my new Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Curtis-Vieville/372950082719136). Below is a screenshot of the new Fb page imported in from my Flickr account.

CVfacebook, a photo by VievilleC on Flickr.

Lets talk talk

Greetings interlopers,

Thank you for viewing my new blog, voluntarily or not. I will take this opportunity to clarify my academic background and aspirations to those of you who are interested. I am a third year conservation biology undergrad. I recently transferred to the University of Alberta from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and this is my second semester here. I am looking at working with fresh water ecosystems and more specifically, conserving the fragile nature of watersheds which include wildlife and their surrounding environments.

Wetland conservation is a growing field on the job market due to an increasing demand for proactive and reactive work with corporations and their relationship with the environment. When I mention proactive or reactive work, I am suggesting some companies want to limit or restore their impact before the fact or after the damage have been done. One day I hope to work in the preventative/proactive realm of environmental work. The difference between proactive and reactive, to me is like the difference between biological conservation and reclamation. Both of which are fundamental in maintaining a healthy environment. The picture below is a reclaimed stream outside of the Lustre mine in eastern Alberta.

*Photo: Courtesy of Curtis Vieville

A common thing for students entering my field of research is that they don't realize just how much of the job is working with people as opposed to nature. A job working with an endangered species or managing a park can have up to 75% of the day simply communicating/collaborating with people. There are often up to dozens of groups (stakeholders) that you need to address, while keeping everyone as happy as possible. Here is a good example of some stakeholders groups that the Alberta Conservation Association works with

http://www.ab-conservation.com/go/default/index.cfm/about-us/member-groups/.

Communication is extremely vital to getting anything done. Conservation biology works with the land and the people that also need that land. Often these people are valuable resources of information or action. Also, people with previous experience or knowledge on the subject of your research are very important. Maintaining connections with these people is helpful as suggested in Danielle Becker's blog about employers and professionals using the internet to find people right for the job.