Worked with K, E, G, N, and D to develop an Icelandic Field Studies Wilderness Program proposal. The GLI has given it a light blessing, currently the Dean is considering our funding request (~$28K plus a course release in the fall) for this summer’s development costs.

Worked with Tara on pH sensors and NIR devices. After purchasing a SCiO device we will probably return it (no way to read the raw spectrum data) and we are now looking at the TellSpec unit.

Next up is putting together a sample budget for IFS and sending that for review (the “sanity check”) and working on the Android<->BLE<->Arduino. I also want to learn Kanbanchi well enough to sketch-out the IFS program with it (May, travel, Fall).

Weeks of 29 November and 6 December:

Lots of FISC meetings and grading, this week promises to be similar. Working with K and T on list management with Kanbanchi was the only directly useful thing I did this week. Replying to Oli and GPS setup are the things I’d most like to work on this week. GLI appears to be ready to support our proposal for Field Science as Wilderness so we can begin to plan that in more detail.

Lots of little things. One item that I would like to resolve sooner rather than later is list tracking, we have a number of on-going projects each of which have 1-3 people working on them and many little bits to track. I think we should also consider choosing a person per project to lead/organize the work for that project.

Over the break I worked on the Android <-> BlueTooth LE <-> Arduino interface. So far I have a working BLE example (with the LightBlue Bean) and I’m integrating that into an Android application that queries the temperature (which doesn’t come from the Arduino side of the chipset). Next is soldering-up header on a LBB so I can attach a sensor on Arduino side.

GIS, fund raising, logistics, and list management will comprise most of what I work on this coming week.

Another week, another N things moved X distance:

1. Met with K, G, E, D, and N to continue discussing Field Science/Wilderness Program bits. Notes can be found here.
2. Ordered bits for the soil platforms, discussed protocols with T (software, sampling, bench).
3. Assembled the next message for Oli, almost finished processing his most recent message.
4. Oli sent a GIS file, I’ll unpack it and see if we can work with it.
5. Considered our scheduled with K, we might want to leave a week or two earlier this year.
6. Started poking at the Android <-> BlueTooth <-> Arduino interface.

This coming week:

1. GIS bits.
2. High-level tour of the most likely projects for this year: glacier measuring, soil platforms (field and bench), sustainable energy survey, avian nest survey, archeological site survey, ambiance platform, Field Day.
3. Consider where we could teach what in the context of a field science Wilderness Program.
4. Finish next email to Oli.
5. Work with Deeksha on data model and current data sets.
6. Develop initial materials for Institutional Advancement to use with potential donors; meet with SallyS and AvisS.
7. Work with Eamon on the visualization interface.
8. Work with Erin and Eamon on the wifi link for Skalanes.
9. Work on Field Day <-> Bluetooth <-> Platform interface.

Another week, another 7 things moved 2.54cm each:

1. Met with Gail Clark, Kristin, Erin, Nic and Deeksha to talk about if/how our field work in Iceland could be the basis for a Wilderness Program. Initially this looks good to us.
2. Worked with G, K, E, N and D to assemble a proposal to the GLI’s development fund to cover C and G’s travel costs this coming summer. This would mean 7 of us in-country rather than 6.
3. Ordered some bits for the soil and ambiance platforms.
4. Worked with Tara on the science protocol design, (physical) interface design, and data protocol design for the soil platform. The data protocol design and by extension probably the other platforms too).
5. Started to incorporate Oli’s replies and develop our next set of questions.
6. Downloaded and installed Nic’s signed Android APK on my Nexus7! (Is this process documented? Do we have developer’s notes with the directories, release process, etc. described?)
7. Learned how little I know about detecting Arctic fox dens.

This coming week we’ll see if roughly the same 7 things can move another inch or so:

1. Finish next email to Oli.
2. Work with Deeksha on data model and current data sets.
3. Next steps for the Wilderness Program idea.
4. Develop initial materials for Institutional Advancement to use with potential donors; meet with SallyS and AvisS.
5. Work with Eamon on the visualization interface.
6. Work with Erin and Eamon on the wifi link for Skalanes.
7. Work on Field Day <-> Bluetooth <-> Platform interface.

I accomplished very little last week on this project (homecoming, dedication) other than planting some fundraising seeds with some potential donors over the weekend. Over the next week I plan to:

1. Begin the conversation about if, and if so how, the field science project can become a regular Wilderness Program offering.
2. Process Oli’s most recent message and prepare a reply.
3. Develop initial materials for A/D to use with potential donors; meet with SallyS and AvisS.
4. Work on Field Day.

Lots of little pieces over the past two weeks:

1. After breaking my Android development environment in Nicaragua last December I finally have a working setup again. I can build and run hello world on my Nexus7 and HTC One!
2. Started a conversation with Sally Southwick in Alumni/Development about NSF and foundation support for this project. Developed a preliminary budget (see GDrive folder) to be refined as we learn more.
3. Started a conversation with Jay Roberts and GLI about developing a wilderness like program in Iceland. There is a lot of enthusiasm for this idea. The next step is for us to discuss this, and if we think it’s practical/interesting to do we would develop a proposal to the GLI for funding the development over the coming year.
4. Oli replied to our last message, I will start working on a reply from us.

Things I’d like to do this coming week:

1. Develop and distribute a signed APK of hello world that someone else downloads and runs using Android Studio.
2. Nudge Sally Southwick, this is not a typical project and obtaining funding, especially from the NSF, will require a certain amount of effort and finesse.
3. If the wilderness bit sounds like a good idea develop a proposal for funding the development of it for the GLI.
4. Work with folks on the sub-terrain survey ideas.
5. Work with folks on the ballon terrain survey ideas.

Lots of little things this week. I upgraded my laptop to El Capitan so I could install the latest and greatest Android development toolchain, worked on the latest to/from Oli email, discussed soil probes and measuring glaciers with a group of you, considered balloons for aerial imagery and Internet service, listened to Jay Roberts of the CIL pitch me on adding a “wilderness” like component to our work in Iceland, and worked with Sally Southard in Alumni/Development on identifying likely places to apply for funding.

Managed to frustrate Facilities trying to sort who owned the TIC, etc. It’s now in our possession for the duration. List management related to Skalanes and the various projects there; we have a GDrive document now with questions/answers for/from Oli at Skalanes. Talked to Erin about how to do an elevation transect from the house at Skalanes to the roof of the gangplank tower at the ferry terminal to see if a ballon might be practical for doing line-of-sight between the two. Sent email to SallyS in A/D about funding sources, also considering how to approach the Dean, etc. about their recent policy change of not supporting graduating seniors. Started to re-learn Android development, how often are these people going to change their minds…

Kristin and I wrote a long email to Oli @ Skalanes with a bunch of answers and questions for him, his reply arrived this morning. Spoke with Tara about soil sampling protocols and parameters, Erin about infrared imaging for the nest sites and scaling aerial imagery, and Deeksha and Eamon about data models and data conversion. We also talked about where all the various older sets are that need to be harvested and brought into the central data store on the field science machine.