Sam Is Out Standing!

Have you ever met a bird person before? Someone who truly loves birds? I have, and let me say that I thought I was a bird person before I knew how deep some people's knowledge goes. My first interaction with a real bird person was in my freshman year of college. It was also my first time bird watching. My professor assigned nature walks for a series of homework assignments (which was very amusing to my roommate for some reason) and he was offering a guided session for our first submission. I arrive with my notepad, hand-me-down binoculars, and phone, ready to to take pictures of whatever we may find. The first assignment was simple: identify three birds and upload them to iNaturalist. Once our group was ready to begin our walk around the pond, I instantly knew how out of my depth I was. Identifications were flying from my professor for birds that I could not even see (he was very good at identifying calls). A few of my classmates, more experienced that I was, joined in, pointing to...

 Below are some resources for climate data on the York River Basin. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/past-weather/yorktown%20virginia Data from this site is provided by the good and reliable National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The specific highlight here is the precipitation dataset that has entries as far back as 2012. https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=37.237423&lon=-76.511572 This site is NOAA's National Weather Service page that presents current weather and forecast information. The "Past Weather" tab allows users to see daily highs and lows, weather charts, and other information all the way back to 1874 (although data becomes sparse). https://weatherspark.com/y/21660/Average-Weather-in-Yorktown-Virginia-United-States-Year-Round  This link shows year-round weather averages forYorktown Virginia. Although it has many different variables available, I found its temperature data specifically appealing. Other datasets I reviewed did not ha...

For my latest assignment, I explored the York River State Park through the Web Soil Survey. Although not the full area of my focus point this semester, it seemed fitting to lower my area of observation due to the size of the York River Basin. Even just the lower segment of the York River before it splits is a huge land area that made it difficult to interpret what was being observed.  To get the area of the York River State Park, I roughly outlined an AOI based on comparing landmarks from a different map. The easier way to do this would be to upload a shapefile, however the file I found was for all conservation land in Virginia. I could not filter out the selection in GIS on my mac (to hone in on the AOI), so hand drawing it was. There is a lot of interesting data to look through on the Web Soil Survey. Before even getting to soil information, I appreciate how the program gives a breakdown of counties that encompass the AOI. Districting information can be important when it comes to...

My most recent pathway to learning more about the York River was through mapping! I took this opportunity to revisit one of my favorite applications from school: ArcGIS. During my time at VCU, I became very familiar with the software. I created new basemaps in Cartography, mapped iNaturalist sightings in Intro to Environmental Studies, and use the software's analytical features in Intro to GIS. Through these experiences, I used ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS StoryMaps, and ArcGIS Pro. I preferred Pro, but I enjoyed exploring them all. For my map of the York River Basin, I utilized ArcGIS Online. Although I prefer Pro, my subscription has long since run out. It took me a bit to find my bearings (and data I wanted) in Online, but once I did, it was smooth sailing. My biggest issue was trying to apply techniques from Pro or the credit system of Online to the free version. I specifically struggled when trying to isolate my tidal wetland feature to only the area of the river basin. My first ins...