It’s been a little while since I’ve visited my concentration of studies in an academic manner, so here are a few steps I’m taking to get the gears turning again.
Roughly a year ago. the topic I chose for my concentration was the Political Ecology of Salmon Conservation, a very hefty topic considering all the moving parts of salmon conservation. Since then, I have been thinking about narrowing my focus by excluding aquaculture, or “farmed” salmon, and instead concentrating my efforts on wild populations and hatchery-produced salmon. Whether this idea becomes reality or not will be decided within the next eight weeks, and to help me make an informed decision, I have come up with a few goals… or given the time of the year, some New Years Resolutions.
- Salmon 2100 Introduction: This book, suggested to me by one of our professors Jessica Kleiss, may give me further insight into the future of salmon, allowing me to focus my efforts on an area of salmon conservation that will be both viable (focused, but not too focused) and applicable decades from now. I plan to read the “Scientific and Policy Context” section of this book (roughly 70 textbook-sized pages) within 2 weeks, or by Feb. 5th.
- Lamprey & Steelhead Surveys: Around this time last year, I narrowly missed the window for signups for a wonderful volunteer program run by the Johnson Creek Watershed Council. The program trains volunteers to survey spawning grounds for spawning fish, and I believe this experience will be a great fieldwork counterpart to my literature knowledge. Participating in this requires a 2-hour orientation followed by AT LEAST three three-hour surveys, for a total of at least 11 hours of related work. I plan to finish training and all orientation by March 18th.
- In order to create a visible outcome on my concentration from goals #1 and #2, I will need to pull together the chords and make the decision to narrow my focus to wild and hatchery salmon or keep the aquaculture component. I have selected six sections of the Salmon 2100 book (a total of 126 pages), and by the time I am finished, I hope I will have found closure on this decision. The following are the sections, with the latter two being the last two sections of the book:
- Wild Salmon in the 21st Century: Energy, Triage, and Choices
- Follow the Money
- Engineering the Future for Wild Salmon and Steelhead
- Science and Technology Are Essential for Sustaining Salmon Populations
- Can We Get There from Here? Salmon in the 21st Century
- Without a Change of Direction, We’ll Get Where We’re Going: Writing a Future for Wild Salmon
Tarun Bishop says
Your goals all seem quite interesting, and it is great that you tie in your other activities with your concentration. Perhaps you can expand it a little, and also focus on some other marine species, other than salmon. It is great that you have been speaking with professors and organizations about your interests.
Sumit Sharma says
that’s amazing
Nice to read your new year resolutions