-William Blake
For the previous four years, I have been trained as an atmospheric scientist, observing and quantifying the movement of the chaotic fluid that engulfs us all. A fluid that provides us with the essential requirements for life, yet continuously amazes us with the dichotomy between its relentless power and inspiring beauty. Quantified by the laws of physics and personified by the words of language, the atmosphere exerts its influence on all living and non-living things that inhabit the interface between the air and land.
It is in this interface, the biosphere, where the interactions between the atmosphere and Earth are intertwined. Exchanges of heat, momentum, moisture, and countless other variables take place before our eyes, yet we are mostly blind to the magical transformations occurring all around us. For the next two years, this invisible world will become my playground, one filled with interdisciplinary hurdles that must be jumped before progress can be made. Biology, chemistry, ecology, and the atmosphere, all linked together in a beautiful tapestry that only Nature could produce.
My research will deal explicitly with floral emissions and their subsequent dispersion into the overlying atmosphere. A scent plume, if you will, of volatile compounds that acts as a signaling mechanism for plant/pollinator interactions and plant/plant communication. This signaling is an invisible line of communication, one which humans have not been given the ability to comprehend. We can, of course, gain great satisfaction from the wafting aroma of nearby flowers, but we are left in the dark when trying to analyze the underlying message. A message that whispers to pollinators to come near or herbivores to stay away. It is a world of deceit and mutualism, not much different from our very own.
So sit back, relax, and prepare yourself to learn about a hidden world that only science could uncover. Updates will be often, probably every other day. I will start at the beginning, and we will gradually progress and our ideas will become more sophisticated. But while dealing with the microscopic, let us not forget that we are a part of something larger, so large in fact, that we cannot even conceive its existence.
It is in this interface, the biosphere, where the interactions between the atmosphere and Earth are intertwined. Exchanges of heat, momentum, moisture, and countless other variables take place before our eyes, yet we are mostly blind to the magical transformations occurring all around us. For the next two years, this invisible world will become my playground, one filled with interdisciplinary hurdles that must be jumped before progress can be made. Biology, chemistry, ecology, and the atmosphere, all linked together in a beautiful tapestry that only Nature could produce.
My research will deal explicitly with floral emissions and their subsequent dispersion into the overlying atmosphere. A scent plume, if you will, of volatile compounds that acts as a signaling mechanism for plant/pollinator interactions and plant/plant communication. This signaling is an invisible line of communication, one which humans have not been given the ability to comprehend. We can, of course, gain great satisfaction from the wafting aroma of nearby flowers, but we are left in the dark when trying to analyze the underlying message. A message that whispers to pollinators to come near or herbivores to stay away. It is a world of deceit and mutualism, not much different from our very own.
So sit back, relax, and prepare yourself to learn about a hidden world that only science could uncover. Updates will be often, probably every other day. I will start at the beginning, and we will gradually progress and our ideas will become more sophisticated. But while dealing with the microscopic, let us not forget that we are a part of something larger, so large in fact, that we cannot even conceive its existence.
Awesome, Kenny.
ReplyDeleteI am very much looking forward to following your journey for the next two years.