We began this week by reading important articles on the ENVS RSS feed. After getting into groups and sharing these articles we explored the differences between data, methods, theories, and frameworks. All of these categories fall under environmental analysis, but they have different scopes. Data is just raw, unprocessed information. Methods are a way to analyze and organize raw data. Theories are a kind of filter for methods and data, and frameworks are even broader than theories that generally direct a research topic. We also split the articles into issues, systems, objects and places, which let us organize it even further into descriptive, explanatory, evaluative and instrumental questions.
In our lab this week we used data that we found on the WorldBank website for each of the twenty-five different countries that Lewis & Clark has study abroad programs. We discussed how this is not really a representative sample for the world, but it is convenient for our purposes and for advertising and presenting data to other students who might be trying to decide where to study abroad. My lab group decided to find data on the GEF benefits index for biodiversity. This data set is based off of the number of native species and the habitats within each country. After analyzing our data, we noticed that the highest biodiversity was usually found in the largest countries. This surprised us because usually we think of the most biodiverse countries as being close to the equator or having huge rainforests, but this was not the case. One of the exceptions to this large country trend was the small island nation of Japan. After learning about Japan’s geography and vegetation this summer, I knew that Japan is 67% forested, probably adding to the diversity of what might be found there. This lab taught us a lot of important spreadsheet skills that we will be able to use to analyze data in future labs.
It was (dare I say it) fun to produce the different charts and graphs for our research project. Besides learning the quirks of GoogleSheets, I also got to learn all it has to offer, including an interactive map where the data shows up divided and color coded for each country. Additionally, our groups had to work a significant amount on our respective websites, and figure out how to utilize certain widgets such as WordPress. Ultimately the key is patience and paying careful attention to instructions. After all, we must love our monsters, right?