It’s certainly been a weird week…

And that’s an understatement, by far. I usually try to stay positive and use this blog to create good energy, but this week has been a real struggle, balancing my concerns for the future of my family and friends with understanding the full implications of the election’s results. So, I’ll take a deep breath, and run through a few concerns that we face. There are a lot of issues out there for minorities and underprivileged groups, and they’re all valid and important. However, for the purpose of this blog, I’ll focus on a few that particularly concern my interests.

First, I’ll talk about the islamophobia that occurred during the election. Popularity for the president-elect in the polls, although we all now understand how faulty they can be, suggested that his popularity surged after the tragic San Bernardino shootings. This past June, on the campaign trail, the president-elect said that he wanted a ban on all muslims entering the United States. Unfortunately, he has never fully backed down on that claim. His advisor, Kris Kobach, is now supporting a registry of muslims. 

Photo courtesy of S from Harvard Arab Weekend.

Based on the facts, there is an unmistakable, growing fear of Islam in the country. The most fearful are supporting anti-islamic discrimination. During this year’s Harvard Arab Weekend, several speakers addressed the country’s islamophobia, showing statistics like a mind-blowing 1,600% increase in hate crimes against muslims since 9/11 and eight states banning sharia law when most Americans have no idea what sharia even means. The president-elect is shamelessly playing off of that fear, taking advantage of ignorance and endangering a group of Americans that have a legal right to practice their religion.

This fear is already affecting my husband’s family. They’re living in a country where their right to exist is threatened daily. When my mother-in-law receives a death threat simply by going to the grocery store in a hijab, no one can say that liberty and justice equally serves the people of this country. Along with that, some members of Sam’s family are legally here on a temporary protected status as refugees that could be easily revoked. We are diligently monitoring the next administration’s immigration policy. As Syrians, returning to their country would pose many different risks to their safety and well-being. If they lose this status, they would also lose a second home that they’ve worked so hard to build, and would need to find a third home in a world that is increasingly hostile to refugees.

Mann & Kump (2015)

Along with all threats against minorities, there is a world-endangering threat against biggest issue of our century: climate change. The threat is inaction, as the president elect vows that he doubts the veracity of claims by climate change scientists. He hasaccordingly hired Myron Ebell, one of the most popular climate change contrarians, to direct the transition in the EPA. This appointment has many implications, including less funding for climate-related research and policies that only further put the country and the world on a faster path to harmful greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere. Plus, since the president elect also vows to cut federal spending, the easiest targets are likely things that may not result in instant gratification, like scientific research.

Through my program, I know some of the most prominent climate change scientists. They share a serious concern for the future of their work. I also share their concern, not only for their future, but for mine as well. With less funding and political support, America will lose its standing as the world’s leading producer of innovative research.

My mentor gave some sage advice on how to react to this past week’s events:

“We are watching a stunning response to the deep inequities and injustices of economic globalization. It has appeared world-wide, and recently, of course, all over europe and the middle east. It makes very clear, that our essential work is to build institutions and safety nets and communities which can include everyone, absolutely everyone. A huge task, and with will and cooperation, we can do it.
I urge you now: do NOT follow out all your terrifying narratives about what might come from this. It is a waste of energy and it will exhaust you and make you powerless.
Stay curious! Stay present, in this moment. Watch what unfolds and how. We do NOT know the consequences of such a massive expression of rage and misery. Tend to your own communities, and support calm and thoughtfulness.”

Intellectually, immigrants are our most valuable import, and research is our most valuable export. Both of these things give the United States so much value on the international level, and yet both are at risk. Together, let’s support ourselves, remain diligent, and do what we can when we need to fight for what we care about.

Not all groundwater flows downhill

Happy Sunday! To start off the new week, I have some delicious tidbits on my research for you. This past Monday, I went with my advisor and another grad student to Worcester Polytechnic Institute for the NSF-sponsored Water Workshop. I presented a poster on my work, so I figured I’d talk about the details of my research focus a bit more.

Standing next to my poster for the Water Workshop at WPI!

Everyone agrees that water flows downhill. But does groundwater always flow downhill? That is, does groundwater flow always follow the topography? Not necessarily. Many people before me have proved that the groundwater table does not reflect the topography for a lot of aquifers. This depends on a lot of things, including recharge, depth of the groundwater table, the height of the aquifer, and the extent of the watershed. Strangely enough, not a single one of these factors dominate whether groundwater in an unconfined aquifer flows contrary to topography. They rather work together at different intervals to create this counter-topography behavior. And someone (i.e. me?) could spend a whole career investigating how all those factors affect one another to produce this affect.

It turns out that this behavior, which we call recharge-controlled flow, happens in a lot of places around the world, including parts of Massachusetts. More commonly, you see recharge-controlled flow in arid regions like the southwestern United States and my current study area, the Atacama!

Corenthal et al. (2016)

What’s going on in the Atacama, the world’s driest nonpolar desert, is really fascinating. Figure A is a conceptual illustration that shows how the groundwater table flows under all these high peaks to reach the salar, which is a salt flat. Based on what my research team and I know, the factors controlling groundwater flow in the Atacama include recharge (or rather, lack thereof) and the depth of the groundwater table from the surface.

The lack of recharge in Salar de Atacama as the world’s driest nonpolar desert means that its groundwater needs to come from somewhere else. That somewhere else is the relatively wetter, higher elevation peaks that we call the Altiplano (i.e. “high plains” in Spanish). This difference in recharge over time creates a difference in hydrologic head that causes the groundwater to defy all the topographical peaks in the Altiplano to flow towards Salar de Atacama.

Since Atacama is so dry, this groundwater flow creates a negative water balance equation as it continues to flow from areas with little precipitation to areas with almost no precipitation at all. In other words, more water is leaving the system than coming in. Because of this imbalance, the groundwater table probably continues to lower. As a groundwater table lowers, it becomes less dependent on the topographic variations.

This behavior has a lot of interesting and concerning implications. Atacama’s groundwater, which is the area’s only source of water, is nowhere near sustainable. This point is really important for the people and businesses that depend on this water. Plus, since groundwater takes a long time to travel, the distance that the Atacama’s water has travelled means that it is incredibly old. It’s probably on the order of thousands to tens of thousands of years old!

Well, here’s a quick taste of what I’ve been focusing on this semester. I promise I’ll talk about it more soon!

October Fun

Happy Autumn, everyone! I’ve been pretty busy with TAing two classes, taking two full classes and two seminars, on top of my research stuff and traveling to see S and family (who are all two hours away… sigh). But I’ve also managed to enjoy autumn a bit. Here’s a little bit of what I did:

My bunt cake!

I’m not a big cool weather person, but there are a few things about the fall season that I love, including PUMPKINS! My mother knows how much I love pumpkins and baking, but as a grad student she knows I don’t have much time to bake these days, so she sent me an amazing care package…

Thanks Mom!

 

… That included spice cake mix and cans of pumpkin puree! I’m so into this recipe: add a can of pumpkin puree to cake mix and, ta-da, you have pumpkin spice cake. I made a bunt cake out of one batch, and I can’t wait to make some cupcakes soon.

I’ve also been doing a bit of shopping. I noticed that vests have been really popular up here in New England since forever, and so I finally caved and got one:

Along the CT coastline!

There was a great sale at Gap last weekend ($20 for vests that usually cost $50), so I splurged and I’m so happy did. I’m love how my vest keep my core warm! It makes romping around in the leaves, or hanging out by the wind-chilled coastline, so much more pleasant.

Climbing up Long Mountain!

 I’m also very lucky to TA a geologic mapping class. It’s so much fun to have my job be adventuring around the Pioneer Valley’s mountains, especially with the foliage being so colorful these past few weeks.

Me with my pumpkin spice latte!

And, of course, I had my first pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks this weekend while I graded homework. And I was so snug and content in my sparkly scarf from Damascus. I can’t believe it’s been over six years since my trip to Syria. I wish I could go back so much.

Well, it’s been a whirlwind adventure learning how to be a grad student. More news on that to follow, I promise. Meanwhile, enjoy autumn where ever you are! Even if the air isn’t cool and crisp, maybe you can sip a pumpkin spice latte!

Ayn al-Shir: The Evil Eye

Happy Tuesday! It’s a beautiful autumn day up here in New England. I hope to get out and enjoy it a little bit between running errands around campus!

Anyway, on top of leading my first class ever, and spending about two hours on one question of my civil engineering homework, I drank coffee way too late in the day and now I can’t seem to fall asleep. The idea of doing more work right now seems cruel and unusual, so I figure I’ll write a post on one of my favorite superstitions in Arabic culture…

The eye! Al-ayn!

Maybe you’ve seen it before, because it’s also in Greek and Turkish culture too. Anyway, the ayn is a fascinating phenomenon because it explains so much about the culture while it also has a dual-meaning of being both lucky and unlucky simultaneously.

If anyone would like to comment with their own opinion on the ayn, feel free, but here’s my understanding: the idea behind the ayn is that every person wants a lot of things that they don’t have yet. Which makes sense! I know I’m definitely in that boat. I want multiple degrees, a satisfying and challenging career, and a family, which is not easy to pull off. So, the idea expands on that theory to say that a person who wants what they don’t have will look to someone who already has that stuff and get jealous. Like, I might see a hydrogeologist and want their career! The theory behind the ayn continues to suggest that a person’s desire or jealousy can create bad luck for the person who already has it all.

Now, I would hate the idea of creating bad luck for someone who is five years ahead of me in terms of life goals, which is why this superstition is a little scary, to say the least. But there’s something incredibly endearing about the ayn for me, and I think it’s because I associate it so much with my mother-in-law. If I have car trouble or if I spill a whole cup of tea on me before I run out the door, mummy-in-law will say something like, “The ayn is on you, habibti.” And even if I’m upset at my mishap, I can’t help but laugh at her confident assertion that someone is giving me serious eye.

Even if they don’t believe in it, it’s rare to find an Arab family without an ayn somewhere in the house. Now, I don’t think everyone is as into the ayn theory as my mummy-in-law, but what does this possibly illuminate about Arabic culture? Well, I’ve noticed that people can be rather humble at times when I wonder how they aren’t proudly announcing their accomplishments. A friend might wait for a long time to announce their job promotion, or avoid telling people how well they did on a test, or be shy to show friends their new car. And then, when things like that happen, I wonder how much the underlying cultural assumptions that develop the ayn also play into that tendency towards conservatively discussing achievement.

Whether or not it’s real, I still keep the eye on the wall, because you never know!

The Power Zoning Out

Happy Sunday! I just came out of a super hectic week, and before I gear up for another homework-filled week, I figured I’d talk about something that I’ve been doing a lot of lately: zoning out.

When someone comments on my organization and productivity, I always let them know that a) I’m really just a hot mess who’s figured out how to control her messiness, most of the time, and b) I would be nothing without my many mini breaks throughout the day.

A lot of people ask me what that means. Mini breaks? You stop working a lot? Basically, yes! But it’s not that simple. A few things I make sure to do during my mini breaks is to really feel like I deserve it, have a clear intention for my break, and zone out.

A lot of people spend their days stressing about when they’re not being “productive.” A student might feel guilty about spending an hour doing something (cleaning, having dinner, talking to friends, you name it) besides studying. I lot of people think that working hard means working non-stop without taking breaks or doing much self care at all. If that works for people, then that’s completely fine, but it simply just does not work for me.

What I do is schedule almost every day, except for Sundays, and I break down every day into roughly half hour increments. For each half hour, I spend twenty-five minutes focusing on one task. No multi-tasking. Just one thing! And then, at the end of each twenty-five minutes, I take a break and zone out.

By zoning out, I mean completely removing myself from that task and letting my mind wonder. That usually means walking away from my desk, taking deep breaths, maybe refilling my water bottle, and giving myself the freedom that I think I deserve after focusing so hard on my task. These mini-breaks really help me to stay focused, relaxed, and positive. It feels like I’m getting many rewards throughout the day, when really all I’m doing is framing the way I think around my work so that I feel better about it.

When I say I have a clear intention for my break, I mean I think about what I could do during my break to make it feel as rewarding as possible. That could be anything, from checking in with an old friend to doing a few squats!

To keep myself on track, I usually use www.mytomatoes.com. This is a simple online Pomodoro technique tool that is free and easy to use!

My tomato page today! I usually don't "tomato" my time on the weekends. :-)

So, that’s basically my way to get stuff done! Good luck with all the busy things in your life, and let me know how you stay focused!

Spray-painting: the Grad Student’s Ultimate Furniture Refurbishing Tool

Happy September, you guys! We’re getting closer to autumn weather, which for me up here in New England means fresh, crisp air and crunchy leaves for me to stomp while I walk around campus. For a lot of student (including me) it also means moving into new spaces and finding furniture. I’m a big fan of inexpensive, reused furniture, so I figured I would talk about my new favorite thing to do on the weekends, which is spray paint!

 

As a student on a budget, it’s now my go-to method for changing an outdated wooden piece into a fresh, stylish addition. Last week, for example, my housemate and I found this table and this magazine rack in need of some TLC at the Salvation Army.

I had a vision of painting the table white as our new coffee table, and the news rack with with a gold accent on the slats. So on a sunny day I took both of them outside, cleaned each of them thoroughly, and sanded the table down (it had a super thick varnish on it). Then I put one even layer of white paint both on the table and the news rack. I think the most important thing to remember is to get as even of a layer, and wait about ten to fifteen minutes between each layer to let it dry and set just a bit.

The gold slats were the hardest thing. I had to cover all the other parts with painting tape and paper towel.

But, in a weird feat, I engineered my paper towel contraption so that the gold (mostly) ended up on the slats.

So I would highly recommend spray painting as a cheap way to “refurbish” a piece of wooden furniture. If you’re interested in trying it out, I have a few tips: try to spray on a day with low humidity, only spray outside with lots of ventilation, and make sure to paint on either grass or a completely covered surface. Good luck to all you students with the beginning of the school year!

Active Rain Gear

Happy Labor Day guys! My weekend has been lovely so far, but I’m preparing for some wet days ahead because my advisor would like me to go out and sample some wells in the middle of Tropical Storm Hermine. So, in preparation, I've been going through some photos of my time in Maine with my Dad and S, and I realized that it tends to be really tricky to prepare for rain. It can dampen anyone's camping plans, and it can be especially difficult to stay dry if you’re being active outside.

For my trip to Maine, even though the weather forecast predicted almost zero percent chance of rain, I decided to pack a few things just in case, and I'm so glad I did! Because, of course, the Maine weather completely flipped and we ended up getting several full days of rain. So I was really glad I brought a few things with me. Here’s an outfit I wore one day:

That day turned out to be pretty chilly with on-and-off rain, so I’m glad I had my three-season North Face rain jacket. I originally got it at Nordstrom Rack for about $50; I couldn't find any comparative online pricing but NR's online store still has a steep discount. It has so many great features, like the fact that it is basically two jackets in one! Each layer connects to the other, but can be worn separately. The inner puffy shell creates warmth on those cold, rainy days, but I can always wear it without the outer waterproof jacket. Vice versa, if it’s a warmer day, I can wear the waterproof layer by itself, which is what I decided to do on that rainy day in Maine.

My pants from that day are also from North Face (I got them for something like $30 at Nordstrom Rack - this is the closest sale I could find online). I like them because they’re really loud, which means you’re very easy to spot in potentially dangerous situations, like bike riding on a busy road or out hiking near or during hunting season. I also like them because, though they’re not waterproof, they breath really well, which is nice on humid, rainy days.

That day, after a hike, we were just hanging around Bar Harbor, grabbing some lobster rolls and seeing a movie. But, most days I’m outside in the rain, I usually wear an outfit like this. And I’d offer a few tips for dealing with wet and wild days:

1.)    Invest in a waterproof jacket. For me, enjoying a rainy day outside really depends on keeping my core warm and dry.

2.)    Wear non-cotton bases. I often do not wear waterproof pants, though I hear a lot of people prefer them. Instead, I’m happy let my legs get a bit soggy in spandex or nylon-based materials because I prefer unrestricted movement and I feel like most rain pants feel bulky. No matter the preference, stick to non-cotton bases so that your body can regulate its temperature as best as possible. Plus, I kind that non-cotton materials are often water-repellant anyway!

3.)    Find a solid pair of waterproof hiking boots. Even though I’m fine with soggy legs, I must absolutely have dry feet, so it’s important for me to have waterproof boots. I’ve noticed that dry feet also prevent nasty blisters, so I’d highly recommend finding boots like these that are waterproof.

4.)    Prioritize the parts of the body that make you feel happiest when they’re dry. Rain gear tends to be bulky or difficult to move in, unfortunately. So I often find that I’m happy to go “waterproof-free” on a few things, like my pants, just so I have more physical flexibility.

5.)    Be ready to get a little soggy. For me, I’ve noted that it’s important not to get alarmed if a bit a water does somehow end up getting into my clothes. Especially on windy days, even with waterproof clothes, rain has a knack for getting up sleeves and down collars. So I prepare for that, and I a) try to have a towel and a change of dry clothes nearby, and b) don’t let a soggy bottom bum me out.

So good luck with all your puddle stomping adventures, and wish me luck too!