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We're approaching the three year mark living in Geneva, which means the future and where we will be living starts to be a little uncertain for us. So with our sense of wanderlust, that means that we have been seriously assessing our bucket list and trying to cross off the things we have left that we want to see the most. Lukasz was lucky enough to cover Finland for work at one point so he has had some great experiences in the Arctic…but the boys and I haven't and I had two dreams for an Arctic adventure-1) to see the Northern Lights and 2) to dogsled. Spoiler alert…unfortunately both of those items are still on my bucket list (!) but we had a wonderful adventure anyway in Northern Norway.
We flew into Tromsø, Norway mainly because it was the most convenient and cost effective way for us to get to the Arctic. Tromsø lies 350 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle and is the largest city in Northern Norway. Because of its position on the sea and the warming effect of the gulf stream, Tromsø has a milder climate than other places at the same latitude. Tromsø is also known as one of the best places in Northern Norway to view the northern lights.
When we went we had the craziest February weather that the locals we spoke with had ever seen. A warm front had come through and melted all the snow just before we got there and we arrived to rain and incredibly strong winds. There is normally at least a meter of snow on the ground in February, so it was very unusual. We were a little bit panicked as to what we would do all week with no snow since all of our plans centered around snow activities, but in the end we still had a lot of fun. Here are five tips for making the most of a family trip to the Arctic no matter what the weather!
- Rent a car and stay outside of the city.
To really experience the beauty of Northern Norway (and increase your odds of seeing those magical Northern lights), you need to get out into the gorgeous countryside. We stayed three nights in one of these charming cabins on the Lyngenfjord in the tiny fishing village of Koppangen. Looking out onto the sea, it truly felt like we were at the ends of the earth and in fact I loved the directions to the cabins which included "drive until you reach the end of the road and then you have arrived."
As I mentioned, the weather was not ideal when we arrived late Sunday night and unfortunately when we woke up Monday morning it was even worse. We spent the day getting groceries for our couple of days at the cabin and just driving around to enjoy the scenery since it was too windy and rainy to be outside.
Still gorgeous even in terrible weather!
As the sun set around 3 pm, we went back to the cabin to try and make plans for what we could do with the rest our time if the bad weather kept up. We spent the afternoon playing games we had brought to the cabin, having happy hour with Arctic beers for the grown ups, and some afternoon sauna time. All in all not a bad day.
We debated some options for the next day including driving two hours south to Northern Finland where we could take a snowmobiling tour and stay overnight the next night but the forecast looked about the same for there and we would be trading our charming cabin for more of a hostel type accommodation so we decided to just stick with where we were. We also had a better forecast for the Northern Lights were we were so we kept our fingers crossed and hoped the lights would come out for us.
2. Play in the snow and enjoy nature…and watch for those famous Northern Lights!
Thankfully on Tuesday we woke up to much better weather and those crazy winds had finally died down. This was the day we were supposed to go dogsledding (the owner of the cabins, Alf, had arranged it with a place that only takes small groups out and is much cheaper than the tours in Tromsø), but unfortunately there was not enough snow left to do it. The good news was that Alf was able to take his snowmobile and pack down some of the snow behind his house to make a sledding track for us, so we were able to take the kids out for some sledding and fun in the snow that remained. In some places it was still quite a lot of snow, but the quality of it just wasn't good from all the rain and warm temps. You would take a step and simply sink down in it. At any rate, we spent a fun couple of hours sledding and walking on the trail along the water's edge.
When there is much more snow, you can use these super fun looking kick sleds where the kids can sit in front and you walk/run behind it and jump on the rails for a ride when you pick up speed. The property also had snow shoes, which would be a great way to get out and explore the surrounding mountains. When researching our trip, I had read to make sure and plan plenty of activities so you're not just sitting around waiting for the Northern Lights to show up. Alas, we tried to cover our bases-but you can't control the weather!!! We were happy just to be able to get outside so that was a big improvement!
As for the Northern Lights, you need two things to be able to see them…1) the electromagnetic activity that causes the lights and 2) clear skies to see them. Unfortunately for us, that evening there was plenty of activity but the clouds just wouldn't part to give us a clear view. The cabins have a hot tub that was so fun to sit out in and watch for the lights and when the activity finally started we could see the sky lighting up behind the clouds, but no clear views of them. The nice thing about renting a car for a trip like this with kids is that if there are forecasts for clear skies and high activity somewhere, you can get tips on where to drive and wait for them and the kids can just relax or sleep in the car until the lights come out. We didn't wind up having clear skies a single night out of our trip, which is just all the more reason I need to plan a trip back to this beautiful part of the world! Next time we will stay for longer as I think that's the best way to really increase your odds of seeing the lights.
Would have had front row seats to the show if those clouds just would have parted!
3. Take a boat ride
Since this was our second trip to Norway, we knew that one of the best ways to experience the fjords is to get out on a boat! We had read that the views of the the Lyngen Alps are stunning from the other side of the fjord so on Tuesday after playing in the snow, we headed out on a car ferry with no aim other than to see the views and drive around a bit on the other side of the fjord. The kids of course loved the car ferry…we packed lunches and ate them on board and we enjoyed the views from the top deck too, which was one benefit of having such warm temperatures!
The scenery here was absolutely breathtaking and I was in photog heaven!! It was fun to just drive around and find beauty around every corner. I can only imagine how beautiful it would be covered in deep snow!
On Wednesday we enjoyed a leisurely drive back to Tromsø, taking the slightly longer route so that we could see the scenery that had looked so gorgeous on our late night drive in when we arrived. It definitely didn't disappoint!
4. Experience the "City"
Tromsø is certainly more of a town than a city with a population of around 75,000 but it also has the world's northernmost university that makes it feel like a young and fun little town.
We stayed at the Radisson Blu, which was a good base for exploring the town. A highlight for the boys was Polaria, the most northern aquarium in the world. While it is quite small, there is enough to keep small children entertained for a good hour or two including a couple of movies about the Arctic and the Northern Lights, Arctic sea life, seals that have a feeding show daily, and a small play area with slides and soft toys.
After an outing for the kids, we decided we needed an outing for us as well so we ventured to Mack, the world's northernmost brewery, for a pint.
Also worth visiting is the interesting Arctic cathedral on the other side of the bridge into Tromsø. And we really enjoyed a dinner at Da Pinocchio-service was great, pizzas were delicious, and they had a small play corner for the kids.
5. Go Meet a Reindeer
One of the first things I booked for this trip was a tour with Tromsø Arctic Reindeer Experience mostly based on their excellent reviews on Tripadvisor. The indigenous Sami people own the reindeer that roam in Northern Norway and this is an experience where you get to meet the reindeer in their winter pasture and learn a bit about the local Sami tribe. This type of thing can sometimes be a bit hokey, so I wasn't quite sure how it would go, but I have to say it was absolutely the highlight of our trip.
You are transported by bus from the Radisson Blu to the Sami camp about 25 minutes outside of the city. Once you're there you meet a few of the members of the Sami tribe who explain all about feeding the reindeer. Then you have about an hour to feed the reindeer and you can also choose the option of going for a ride in a sled pulled by reindeer. We had chosen to do the sledding but unfortunately no snow still! Even without the sledding experience, it was still a wonderful day.
After feeding the reindeer, the kids got to try their hand at lassoing-which they thought was so awesome! Then there was a delicious lunch around a fire consisting of reindeer stew or a vegetarian stew that was fantastic, plus cake, coffee, and hot chocolate. After lunch a member of the tribe spoke about local Sami culture and passed around some of their gorgeous handicrafts. He also led us in a joik, which is a sort of folk song the Sami express to honor someone or something in their lives. It was beautiful and quite moving. Everyone we met at this experience was so incredibly kind and welcoming and most especially, they were so wonderful with our children. I cannot say enough about how special the experience was and I would absolutely recommend it!
Sadly, we learned on the bus back into town about the perilous position this particular Sami tribe is in. The Sami people do not own the land they work, they are simply granted the rights to use the land by the government. However, the government has plans to turn this land that this particular tribe uses into an industrialized harbor. The Tromsø Arctic Reindeer Experience started as a means to use tourism to show the government that the land has value as it is and hopefully to change the government's mind and allow the land to remain untouched. So even more reason to go visit and to support this wonderful place!
So that's our trip and our top recommendations to have an amazing trip to the Arctic-no matter what the weather! I've got big ideas to hopefully return one day and do a road trip through Northern Norway and into Northern Finland and maybe we will get lucky and see those mystical lights next time. 🙂


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Ways of Making Successful Job Applications Online
A lot of times, skilled people spend many months on the unemployment list simply because they don't know where to obtain these opportunities or how to fill out job applications. Recently, the internet has become a practical tool for individuals searching for work. The internet provides numerous job opportunities in sectors specific to individual skills. There are many places online which provide these skills to those who want to be hired for the best-possible job. Many of these websites also aim to educate individuals on the best way of filling the forms so that nothing could get in the way of them in finding the job they have always desired.
There are several sites online which are accredited sites that have created search engines specifically designed to aid people in finding these online. These sites have numerous resources that enable the individuals to fill out applications online. They also have templates and samples of successful applications to guide people to the right form so that they can find jobs easily. The websites have several articles posted by experienced professionals which help in addressing any concerns and questions related to completing an application. Among the greatest tools given in these sites is a guide to writing a good resume, which provides individuals with a much better chance of being hired. More importantly, the sites deliver government-sponsored applications. When a website does so; it implies that it's legitimate and better yet if the Better Business Bureau recommends it.
More to the search engines, many popular and respected companies are now allowing job applications online. Government occupations, corporations as well as teaching places can now be applied for online. Lots of countries have begun websites that allow people to look for jobs in various areas in their favorite state. There are sites that provide different job application in the location and field which is ideal for them. These websites supply the convenience of looking for many states on one site instead of searching for specific states all around the internet. Every site is sponsored by the state authorities and provides many forms of applications to select from. Most sites also provide the option of printing the forms to be sent by mail or just submitting them online.
Though some sites have examples of how to fill out a Job application nicely, it's a fantastic concept to learn how to do this before beginning the procedure. There are some good job application sites that give examples of different kinds of jobs for people to study before filling their forms. They also supply a training link to provide guidance and comprehensive directions for filling out job applications.
If You Read One Article About Jobs, Read This One

subset: commoncrawl


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GARDINER — Ken King dreamed of becoming a professional barber, but state licensing requirements stood in his way.
The rules said he could become a licensed barber only after completing a 2,500-hour apprenticeship.
The Gardiner man, a taxidermist, said he wanted to open a barber shop, but couldn't commit that much time as an apprentice. So he turned to Gov. Paul LePage for help.
"I emailed him in May and he responded almost immediately, within three or four days," King, 42, recalled. "They got a bill introduced that changed the barbering law so people like myself could get a license." It was signed into law the end of June.
The bill, L.D. 1560, allows licensed cosmetology schools such as the Capilo Institute in Augusta to offer limited barbering courses so people like King could get a license another way.
But even though the new took effect last year, King still can't become a barber. State officials were expected to write policy rules before the law took effect, but that never happened.
King said he doesn't understand the holdup, even as LePage and other government officials talk about the need to create more jobs in Maine.
Anthony Coco, president of the Capilo Institute, said several people who are interested in becoming licensed barbers have contacted the cosmetology school. But he has had to turn them away — in some cases, to other states — because of the holdup with the new law.
"We've actually been approved to offer the (barbering) program," Coco said. "There hasn't been any type of barbering classes in Maine for over 15 years."
King was frustrated enough that last year he called Jeri Betts, board administrator for the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation.
King said he was told the rules would be written by November. That was pushed back to December, then January, and most recently, by March.
King said he feels like he's getting the runaround.
Messages were left for Betts, who referred questions to Doug Dunbar, spokesman for the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation.
Dunbar said the legislation required rule-making and updates in several areas of barbering and cosmetology.
"The process, which involves a series of steps, including a public comment period, is moving forward, but it's a large undertaking," Dunbar said.
He said the department wants to make sure there are no unnecessary delays in rule-making. The policy will be issued this month, Dunbar said.
Kennebec Journal Staff Writer Mechele Cooper can be contacted at 621-5663 or at:
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Doctoral Students
Jamila Baig
Alejandro Brambila
Sue Dockstader
Lisa Fink
Alexa Foor
Sophia Ford
Yumna Imtiaz
Geoffrey Johnson
Kyle Keeler
Bjørn Kristensen
Katrina Maggiulli
Briana Meier
Holly Moulton
Nathaniel Otjen
Zachary Provant
Paul Reed
Schyler Reis
Hugo Seguin
Dan Shtob
Peter Suechting
Kirsten Vinyeta
Jamie Wright
Lina Aoyama
Focal Department: Biology
I call Los Angeles, California and Tokyo, Japan my home. Growing up in two of the world's largest cities, I have always wondered what our landscapes would look like in the next 20, 50, even 100 years. As an ecologist, I intend to provide practical, yet innovative, science to people stewarding the land.
At the University of California, Berkeley, I got the opportunity to study a variety of social-ecological issues that emerge from natural resource management. I completed my thesis on "Temporal use of roads and trails by grizzly bears in Kananaskis Country, Canada" in the Brashares Lab and graduated with a B.S. in Molecular Environmental Biology and minor in Environmental Economics and Policy in 2015.
During my gap year, I worked as a range technician at Point Reyes National Seashore and learned about conservation on working landscapes. I returned to University of California, Berkeley and earned a M.S. in Range Management in 2018. For my master's thesis, I collaborated with the Tejon Ranch Conservancy and the Bartolome Lab to evaluate the use of ecological site description and state-and-transition models to describe plant community shifts and carbon dynamics on rangelands.
Currently, my research interest focuses on range ecology, landscape ecology, and nutrient cycling. I am excited to embark on a new journey with the Hallett Lab, understanding how management activities, including restoration, influence plant communities and nutrients on rangelands.
In addition to academic work, I enjoy swimming, hiking, cooking, and spending time with friends (especially over good meals). I look forward to exploring beautiful places in Oregon with my husband Brent.
Jamila Baig
Focal Department: Geography
I am Jamila Baig working as a lecturer and researcher at Department of Biological Sciences, Karakoram International University Gilgit Baltistan Pakistan since 2008. This University was established in 2000 and is in initial stages of development. This University is surrounded by three high mountain ranges, with amazing biodiversity waiting to be explored and conserve. I started my teaching career as a Biology teacher at Aga Khan Higher Secondary School Hunza in 2001. Recently I have completed Masters in Animal Sciences, with distinction, and thesis entitled "Macro invertebrates and fishes as indicator of water quality assessment in selected high altitude wetlands of Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan". I was awarded "Young Ecologist Research Scholarship" from WWF Pakistan to conduct this research.
I have been to University of Oregon as a courtesy faculty member/research associate with Prof. Scott Brigham on faculty exchange program on partnership between Karakoram International University (KIU) Gilgit, Pakistan and the University of Oregon. The primary goal of this partnership is to promote academic interchange between both Universities and bringing faculty members into conversation about research and teaching and to explore potential research collaborations. The second objective of this partnership is to establish an interdisciplinary center for excellence in environmental studies and sustainability. I want to contribute to this partnership in long term between two Universities by being PhD student of Environmental studies because this degree allows to combine the multiple department and research areas of my interest. I want to work towards mountain wetlands and lakes in Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan by integrating water shed science and policy with the help of GIS and remote sensing. Along with it I want to determine the long term impact of human and climate on wetlands and lake ecology over the period of time with the help of hydrology and morphology of water bodies.
I am among one of very few females from my area who are doing PhD, especially in a field of such ecological importance. I believe that initiative for everything actually begins at local level and then it's easy to spread it at regional, national and international level to convince the civil society about their role in conservation of the world resource and I believe that our network will grow slowly and gradually towards the long lasting partnership. It take work and patience to develop long lasting partnership among people, organization and countries and it could be achieved by respecting the way we are similar and also respecting the way we are different from each other.
Alejandro Brambila
Focal Department: Biology (IEE)
I am a restoration ecologist pursuing a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies in the Hallett Lab at the University of Oregon. My focal department is Biology, where I am in the Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. I am particularly interested in plant community dynamics in novel and anthropogenically-dominated ecosystems, and in their relationships with different management strategies. I graduated in 2012 with an Sc.B. from Brown University in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Since then I have worked in various capacities related to ecosystem management and restoration including research at the Universities of Talca (Chile) and Buenos Aires (Argentina), and field positions at organizations such as Save the Bay (Oakland, CA) and the Bureau of Land Management (Alturas and Marina, CA).
I enjoy my work, friends, gardening, traveling and various hobbies and side projects.
Sue Dockstader
Focal Department: Sociology
I received my Master's degree in 2012 from the UO in Environmental Studies. I love to hike, mushroom, and garden. I am interested in issues related to environmental justice and political ecology.
Lisa Fink
Focal Department: English
I grew up on a small family dairy farm in rural Minnesota, where I learned a deep love for the land. After completing a BS in Zoology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, I was a Fulbright Fellow in literature in Mongolia where I spent 13 months collecting and translating contemporary Mongolian poetry. Upon my return to the US, I completed an MFA in Poetry at the University of Virginia, where I was a Henry Hoyns Fellow and where I taught courses in introductory poetry writing, land ethics and aesthetics, and culture and the environment. I have since taught creative writing in homeless shelters, jails, treatment centers and other community organizations. I am the author of the poetry chapbook Her Disco (dancing girl press, 2013), and my poems have appeared in Ecotone, The Boston Review, The Minnesota Review, and Forklift, Ohio, among others. My research interests include animality, ecopoetics, ecophenomenology, somatic poetry, embodiment, biosemiotics, contemporary poetry, hybrid poetics, spatial theory and the ways in which culture frames our understanding of the environment and our action/inaction regarding environmental crises. I spend my free time singing, hiking, weaving, gardening, and learning about medicinal plants.
Alexa Foor
Focal Department: English
I have my BA from Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw, MI in English with particular focus put on Sexuality and Gender Studies and Environmental Justice. As a student at SVSU I devoted my time primarily to advocating for victims of sexual assault along with supporting the LGBTQIA+ community in Saginaw. I also focused my time on creative writing, particularly through writing poetry and serving as a member and editor of SVSU's literature and art journal, Cardinal Sins.
In my studies I have focused primarily on the Laguna Pueblo and Mohawk tribes through the works of Leslie Marmon Silko, Paula Allen Gunn, and Winona LaDuke, and I hope to be able to expand my knowledge on more Native American tribes and cultures through my time spent at the University of Oregon.
I will focus my doctoral work on ecofeminism and how it operates globally and understand fully why domination takes on different forms in different cultures. I will broaden my knowledge to a more global perspective and connect my experiences to those on a larger scale, understanding not only ecological problems as a young scholar in America but as a person living on Earth, in an interconnected global community.
In my free time I can be found writing poetry and walking aimlessly somewhere, looking vaguely lost.
Sophia Ford
Focal Department: Geography
Growing up in rural Kansas amongst oil rigs and irrigation systems, I grew concerned about the impacts of resource extraction and economic boom and bust. My research broadly examines political and stratified dimensions of property. I graduated in 2013 with a B.S. in geology from Kansas State University where I concentrated on groundwater chemistry.
Following graduation, I was a geologist in environmental consulting and remediated soil and groundwater contamination throughout the Midwest. In 2019, I earned a M.S. in Environmental and Energy Policy from Michigan Technological University. During my Master's, I worked for the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission and mapped mineral resource ownership information in Michigan. This project informed my Master's thesis where I studied Michigan's state policy regarding access to mineral property records. I am interested in critically examining juridical mechanisms that divide land vertically. Moreover, how is "subsurface" defined and visually represented, who decides and has access to this information, and what are the implications.
Yumna Imtiaz
Focal Department: Major Concentration
Geoffrey Johnson
Focal Department: Geography
In my work I aspire to unite long-term ecological knowledge with our concepts of social, economic, and environmental sustainability. In particular I'm interested in the nexus of long-term natural resource management, generational climate ethics, and their implications for the current socio-ecological system of the Western United States and other rapidly developed landscapes. I earned my BS in Environmental Science from UO ENVS, where I completed a thesis on long-term trajectories of nitrogen characteristics in a Northwestern Pennsylvania forest soil. I followed that quickly with an MS from the UO Geography Department with Dan Gavin in the Environmental Change Research Group. During this second degree, I advanced my understanding of how the environment stores information while creating an environmental history of water quality drivers in Coos Bay estuary on the Oregon Coast.
After spending so many years living and studying in Eugene, my eco-social awareness is profoundly affected by knowledge of place, and I've devoted much time and thought to the ways that place can and should inform our understanding of sustainability. Long-term local living has also allowed me to apply my knowledge and love of simple living, ecological building, gardening, and natural history to the problems of local-global environmental impacts. My career goals now hinge upon using non-profit/for-profit partnership to research and implement bottom-up, small-scale redevelopment along an urban-suburban-rural gradient. Through this exercise I hope to examine the process, challenges and benefits of long-term thinking with respect to changing climate and land-use pressure contextualized by concerns over environmental and social justice.
Kyle Keeler
Focal Department: English
I grew up in rural Northeast Ohio on a former dairy farm. After graduating from Youngstown State University in 2014 with a B.S. in education, I taught High School English and coached basketball in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I left my position in Fort Wayne in the summer of 2016 to attend graduate school at Kent State University; however, before my first semester at KSU I traveled to Vancouver Island, British Columbia. I spent the majority of my time with the First Peoples residing on the Northern tip of the Island, before traveling farther north to Nigei Island as a maintenance volunteer in the Browning Pass marine protected area.
While on Vancouver Island, I learned the history of and the current challenges facing both the First Nations of B.C. and the ecological systems of Vancouver Island. Experiencing firsthand the injustices the First Peoples in Port Hardy endured as well as the corruption of the natural land they inhabited forced me to contemplate Vancouver Island's environmental problems, our world's current ecological crisis, and my chosen career path of literary studies. I investigated how to merge my passion for literature and writing and my experiences on Vancouver Island.
I graduated from Kent State in the Spring of 2018 with an M.A. in Literature. My Master's thesis focused on America's Anthropocenic thought in early nineteenth-century American representations of settler colonialism on the East Coast of the American continent. In viewing literary colonial relations with nature and American Indians at the dawn of colonization, I sought to scrutinize a less common starting point for America's Anthropocenic thought prior to industrialization, both in history and in literature.
My goal at Oregon is to continue my thesis' study by tracing in early American Literature the Anthropocene's genesis before industrialization, by way of colonial-American Indian relations. However, I have worked on and am interested in a variety of topics, from viewing Jay Gatsby as a personification of human-caused climate change via Timothy Morton's Dark Ecology, to the political agency of the wilderness ecology through biosemiotics, and vital and new materialism, to nonhuman animals in Olaudah Equiano's Interesting Narrative.
When I'm not reading or writing, I'm usually hiking, playing my banjo, or trying to develop a serviceable late 20's "old-man" basketball game.
Bjørn Kristensen
Focal Department: Philosophy
I grew up in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula along the shores of Lake Superior. This rural setting cultivated my interests in the nonhuman world. Since an early age, I have been fascinated by nonhuman animals and concerned about the way in which we relate to one another. What led me to the discipline of philosophy was actually this concern, as those who were writing the most illuminating texts on animals were philosophers.
I pursued my undergraduate studies in philosophy at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan, where I became fascinated by the Continental existentialist tradition. However, the further I delved into the world of academic philosophy, the more frustrated I became with the deeply engrained and exclusionary habits of a dominant rationality promoting the detached approach common to canonical areas of professional philosophy. The work of Søren Kierkegaard, who stressed authenticity and a mindful approach to living the words you speak and write, came to inform both my academic and personal life.
This approach was empowered while pursuing my master's degree at Oregon State University, where I worked under Robert Melchior Figueroa on the intersections between animal ethics and environmental justice, in addition to bringing together the existentialist tradition and ecofeminism. My research broadly falls within the transdisciplinary fields of animal studies and the environmental humanities, and my long term project involves shifting consciousness around our conceptions of nonhuman animals.
I have held several research fellowships at the Hong Kierkegaard Library at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, have presented and published on ethical issues related to biotechnology, and have an extensive background in public philosophy and advocacy. I strongly believe in breaking down the binaries between the analytic and continental traditions, and academia and the "real world." My additional philosophical fields of interest include environmental philosophy and ethics, biomedical ethics, vegan studies, and philosophy through film.
I am passionate about animal rights activism and regularly organize events, in addition to volunteering at farmed animal sanctuaries. I also enjoy long hikes through the Oregon wilderness, traveling as often as possible, and Belgian beer.
Katrina Maggiulli
Focal Department: English
I grew up in the foothills of Oregon's coast range on my family's small hobby farm. My years in 4-H and summers working on vegetable farms are what initially led me to pursue my interests in environmental issues. After I received my B.A. in English from Oregon State University, I spent 2 years testing my interest in environmental education at the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex. While I loved the working environment, I found myself endlessly questioning the ethics of different conservation practices and thus the messages passed onto youth and the public. I longed for a refreshing outlook—an exploration of different ways of thinking, not just those imposed on ecologists and land-managers by policy-makers. This led me to pursue my Master's degree in Environmental Studies from UO where I completed my M.A. in 2016.
My Master's thesis work looked specifically at human-animal interrelatedness through an analysis of human-animal hybrid figures in a variety of media, my anchoring areas of interest for the project were posthumanism, material feminism, and biotechnology. In my work I proposed the concept of utopian horror as a way of grappling with these hybrid figures. I define this as a horror that can be employed to draw attention to critical issues (for example, the human animal relationship), to question our current accepted approaches, and help direct us towards new, more positive, methodologies.
For my doctoral work, I would like to build off of utopian horror and to expand my area of focus from human-animal hybrids specifically, to the use of species hybridization and biotechnological alteration of species more generally. I am particularly interested in the potential of biotechnology as a tool of conservation—a way of conserving species traits on the verge of extinction, or to alter species enough to survive a rapidly changing climate. Perspectives towards nonnative and invasive species are beginning to change in conservation and restoration work, but what about more clearly active human interference with "natural" processes?
In my time outside of school I can generally be found reading too much science fiction (is there such a thing?) or frolicking the Oregon coast with my Australian kelpie, Žižek.
Briana Meier
Focal Department: Geography
Through interdisciplinary work in environmental studies and geography I aspire to understand ways in which concepts of nature are produced and environmental issues are problematized. At present, my research interests focus on the following:
- The relationships between public space and political-cultural economies and how the relationship with the material engages a relationship with the political, specifically around urban public spaces;
- The social production of nature and the relationship between social systems of power and relationships with nature;
- Cultural landscapes, particularly conceptions of land as commons and as sacred, as compared with conceptions of land as resource or commodity; and
- Philosophy of nature and environmental ethics in general, including their applications to and relays with each of the fields listed above.
I plan to begin deeper study around conceptions of nature/human relationships within Buddhist philosophy this fall (2013).
My professional background is in urban planning and sustainable urban development, including open space planning and development. For a number of years I studied and experimented with engagement with the built environment through informal urban development and unplanned interventions in public spaces. I moved to Oregon in 2007 and completed a master's degree and certificates in urban planning, design and development at Portland State University. Before that, I worked in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin with a few NGOs, including the Center for Resilient Cities, where I helped to develop outdoor public spaces, including restored natural areas, community gardens, green school grounds and city parks. My roots remain firmly connected to the wooded hillsides of northeast Iowa.
Holly Moulton
Focal Department: ENVS Major Concentration
I grew up in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, and cultivated an enduring interest in both mountains and lakes from a young age. I graduated from Cornell University in 2011 with a degree in Government and a concentration in Latin American Politics. During my junior year, I studied abroad in Peru and fell in love with the wide variety of cultures and landscapes in the country. Following graduation, I spent two years teaching in a bilingual Spanish-English third grade classroom in Chicago with Teach for America. After moving to Denver and working in grant writing for a charter school, I transitioned to healthcare consulting to learn a new industry, and developed an interest in how nonprofits can partner to provide total health and quality of life programs to rural mountain communities. For my Master's degree, I studied the effects of climate change related hazards and water scarcity on high-altitude, Quechua speaking communities in the Peruvian Andes. I was interested in both the ecological and social effects of water scarcity and climate change in the mountains, and focused my Master's capstone on agricultural communities in the Cordillera Blanca. For my doctoral work, I am interested in expanding my Master's research and studying the effects of climate change induced glacier melt on conflicting uses of water and contested water rights in Peru.
Outside of school, I enjoy fishing, hiking, climbing, cycling and anything else that gets me into the mountains. I aspire to own a pair of cattle dogs and a log cabin someday in the near future.
Nathaniel Otjen
Focal Department: English
As a scholar of the environmental humanities, I study the nonhuman beings and things that inhabit contemporary multispecies literature. By examining the agencies of the more-than-human world, my scholarship aims to decenter the human and encourage individuals to recognize their entangled participation within multispecies assemblages.
Before entering college, I worked as an AmeriCorps*VISTA member in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where I collaborated with local nonprofit organizations to provide support for continued flood recovery efforts following the area's 2008 flood. After this volunteer experience, I attended the University of Iowa where I graduated with high distinction. I hold a B.A. with dual honors in English and Anthropology, and a Creative Writing Track certificate in nonfiction. I also hold a M.A. in English from the University of Oregon. I entered the University of Oregon's English doctoral program in 2016 and transferred into the Environmental Sciences, Studies, and Policy Program in 2017.
Interests: Environmental Humanities, Multispecies Studies, Autobiography Studies, 20th and 21st Century American Literature, New Materialism, Cultural Studies
Zachary Provant
Focal Department: ENVS Major Concentration
Paul Reed
Focal Department: Biology
I'm a Western New York native, growing up within twenty minutes of Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and the Canadian border. Originally interested in immunology and virology, I chose to stay local and attended the University at Buffalo, which I graduated from in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences. Early into my undergraduate career I realized that my true passion was for nature and environmental topics. This realization led me to seek out ecosystem restoration research opportunities, working on an NSF-funded project testing biological controls of harmful algal blooms and later conducting a senior research project on phytoremediation of cadmium contaminated soils and sediments. In addition to undergraduate research, I was also a teaching assistant for two evolutionary biology courses while at UB, which should serve me well as a part of the Institute of Ecology and Evolution in my focal department of Biology at Oregon. My research interests moving forward are wide ranging, but I am keenly interested in integrating scientific knowledge with public policy and environmental management. I am planning on studying the effects of climate change upon various ecosystems such as the in-peril prairie communities of the Pacific Northwest, and will look to incorporate management and policy aspects into my studies.
In my spare time I love to climb, run, hike and do just about anything outdoors, making Oregon a perfect place for me! I'm also passionate about traveling, having studied abroad in Argentina, visited a number of countries in South America and Europe, and toured most of the United States. I look forward to the adventures that are sure to come in the Pacific Northwest.
Schyler Reis
Focal Department: Geography
My current work focuses on: the interactions between the soils, plants, and atmosphere in the semi-arid ecosystems of eastern Oregon; how climate change will affect the distributions of plant communities in these areas; the people there and the policies that govern their land use actions.
My master's degree from Oregon State University was on long-term fuels accumulation in the sagebrush steppe. My undergraduate thesis was on the long-term effects of cattle secession on the structure and function of riparian areas and stream channels at the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge. At Mount Hood Community College, I conducted a study on the dietary preferences of forest snails and banana slugs. The slugs ate the snails. For the science fair in 3rd grade I examined the growth of mold on bread under different environmental conditions. When not conducting research for my dissertation I enjoy: reading primary scientific literature, scouting out locations for future research projects, fidget spinning, playing music, playing board games, cooking, making memes about my Mom's dogs, water color painting, swimming, and befriending other people's dogs. I grew up in Boring, Oregon.
Hugo Seguin
Focal Department: ENVS Major Concentration
I am a practitioner who is now happily spending quality time to think, write, engage and debate, trying to make sense of some of the fundamental causes of this dysfunctional relationship we humans entertain with our natural environment. Most specifically, I am interested in the way individuals as agents, and particularly public policy makers, might think ethically in the context of potentially catastrophic global environmental changes.
My main area of expertise is on climate change mitigation policies, and I have been an annual – and sometimes reluctant – participant to the United Nations-led international climate negotiations for the past 14 years. I am also a Fellow of the Centre d'études et de recherches internationales de l'Université de Montréal (CÉRIUM) and I lecture at the University of Sherbrooke's École de politique appliquée, where I have developed a predilection for field trips, bringing graduate students to UN climate conferences as observers and researchers, and more recently to communities that are wracked by seemingly intractable political conflicts over land, natural resources and identity.
A former Greenpeace Canada and Climate Action Network International board member, I now serve on the board of directors of EcoJustice Canada and Vivre en Ville, a Québec City-based think tank working on sustainable urban and territorial planning. I am also a senior consultant for PR firm COPTICOM.
Dan Shtob
Focal Department: Sociology
I am interested in using the power of environmental sociology to address interdisciplinary questions about how people interact with the environmental systems. Specifically, my recent research centers on the relationships between social systems, landscape systems, and environmental change across timeframes and scales. Using natural hazard as a focal point, I seek to understand how disaster outcomes arise from pre-existing conditions as well as how the experience of rapid environmental change may be used to illuminate socio-environmental themes and relationships. In addition, I am interested in the uncertain nature of social and landscapes interaction over longer timeframes, including how legal regimes are emplaced and how past decisions may impact later socio-environmental systems.
I spent five years working as an attorney in real estate finance in New York City. I focused primarily on real-estate heavy mergers and acquisitions and finance. Evidently not fans of small shifts, my partner Brittany and I then moved on to the Peace Corps and found ourselves working in community-based conservation in a small and very remote village in northern Zambia. After two years of service, we were selected for a third year working with Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust, developing and managing an environmental community outreach program that, among other things, sought to address human-wildlife conflict — and troubled histories — in villages adjacent to a wildlife-rich national park. The interpretation and reinterpretation of assumptions about how we interact with our environments that developed during these shifts kindled the idea that the community modes of thought represent a key, and somewhat under-explored, link between information, decision-making, and social justice.
Peter Suechting
Focal Department: Political Science
Kirsten Vinyeta
Focal Department: Sociology
I am interested in questions that explore the ways in which social conflict is inscribed on the landscape, and how state policy and other forms of power disrupt or promote socio-ecological well-being. How do systems of oppression affect the ecology of places? How are ecological health and social justice intertwined? How are nonhuman species entangled in human social systems? To date, most of my research has focused on the impacts of climate change and federal policy on indigenous communities in the United States. More recently, I have also been thinking about the political nature and social implications of ecological concepts such as "resilience" when instituted by the state and other powerful actors.
As a researcher, I have collaborated with the Coquille Indian Tribe of Oregon, and have worked for the Tribal Climate Change Project, the Ecosystems Workforce Program, and most recently, the Karuk Tribe of California. Tribal collaborators, and indigenous scholars and activists continuously inspire and redefine my work as a settler in the academy. My dissertation research will involve a collaboration with the Karuk Tribe in which we will use geospatial analysis to compare historic and contemporary aerial photography, in order to identify how federal fire suppression policies have affected the eco-cultural fabric of the Klamath River Basin over the last century.
Jamie Wright
Focal Department: Biology (IEE)
I am interested in researching the ways in which shifting climatic conditions are altering microbial communities and biogeochemical processes within the soil. Furthermore, I want to better understand how changes in the soil affect aboveground vegetation and ecosystem stability.
I recently received my B.S. in Environmental Science and Management focusing on Soil Science and Biogeochemistry at UC Davis. I also minored in Geographic Information Systems.
Besides my passion for environmental conservation, I enjoy running, reading, camping, dancing (of course), and the occasional crocheting.


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Ha ha,
that was my reaction. He doesn't look or sound like James Brown, but yeah, I'll probably watch it
That drum break link is not about drum breaks.
It's startling how bad those remixes are in that James Brown trailer. Why not use his original music?
Thanks, fixed!
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Last week, we looked at the month of Elul and its significance in the Jewish calendar. This week, I thought I'd share some ideas on how to embrace the Elul and delve into this month of introspection.
Introspection in Elul
The month of Elul is a time of self-examination and reflection. Here are some suggestions to make it a month of introspection.
Do you have any Elul traditions? Please stop by the forum and share them with us:
Thanks for reading! Have a meaningful month!
Lisa Pinkus, Judaism Editor
One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com


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Grendha Is Ivete Sangalo flip flop sandal
I picked up this pair of Grendha Is Morena Ad flip flops under the Grendha Ivete Sangalo range from Novo Shoes at Suntec yesterday. The floral prints on the sole are very pretty. And most of all, I love the wedge! Not too high for me to get tired from walking in it and good enough to add some height. They're very comfortable!
Grendha flip flops with wedge
Plus I know that at S$24.99, this pair can last me quite a while because of my experience with the flip flips that are made by Grendene before. In fact, my first pair from the Melissa range is still around in pretty good condition!
New Grendha flip flop collection at Novo
I have also bought a couple of Ipanema flip flops before; the last being the Ipanema Gisele Bundchen sandal. Except for one pair which snapped, the others are very much fine.
New Ipanema flip flip collection at Novo
The great thing about these flip flips is that they're fashionable with their gorgeous colours and the funky yet classic styles. Plus, they're comfortable for walking!


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Last week's Instagram Photos
His first email told me he had an idea to combine a beautiful pear shaped diamond from his mother's ring to make an engagement ring for the woman he wanted to marry. Great idea. Could we work the details between phone calls and emails – he being in Regina and I in Winnipeg?
Isn't technology grand? Sending photos back and forth we designed a beautiful ring and wedding band – a true labour of love.
The ring is held in white gold. The engraved wedding band is the perfect complement.
Concierge service included delivery in Regina at a local Tim Horton's. She said yes that evening.
I got a call that the bride wanted to bring her bridesmaids from Regina to Winnipeg for a weekend of fun. She thought it would be the perfect opportunity to meet with me to design her wedding band. So between mani's and pedi's, shopping and sauna's, and her bachelorette party we met to work on it.
I flew out to Regina to make the delivery. The bride was expecting one band. The groom decided she should have two. They were to be like a halo to surround the centre stone.
I smiled all the way back to Winnipeg.
She had her Mother's Wedding Ring and gifts from her Father. She wanted to combine them to create a ring to wear with her wedding band.
It's kind of like keeping old friends together but bringing new energy to that friendship.
She's got the yellow gold back – perhaps it will be incorporated into the next project.
So they were going to spend their 19th anniversary in New York. Elegant dinner – he pulled an Oro de Rey box out of their backpack and presented her with the diamond he thought belonged in her wedding ring.
She loved it. We set it in her original ring upon their return. She loves it. He's smiling. We're happy.
We've designed and created beautiful jewellery for customers across Canada made easy with the use of technology. You can see your design in 3D, chat through Skype or Facetime, have the prototype available to view through overnight shipping and in some cases I will arrange personal delivery.
A fun experience was meeting a customer from Regina halfway between Winnipeg and Regina in Virden. Our final meeting was to deliver the Engagement and Wedding Rings and have a game of golf with my customer, his father and future father-in-law.
As high school sweethearts they were inseparable. Lots of time to get to know each others' characters, likes and dislikes – really seems it was growing up together. Lots of travel through school trips as well as sharing vacations with each others families. University meant they no longer saw each other daily but their hearts continued to grow fonder.
He started planning a year before – even met with me to discuss what kind of engagement ring she might like. But this fall he set it all in motion. We designed this spectacular engagement ring and then he started to set "the romantic event" in motion. You see, their number is 23. First date, special days and events seemed to always fit with "23".
So on December 23, she followed 23 candles into the room beautifully adorned with 23 dozen red roses, fire blazing both in his heart and the fireplace, soft music playing and … well the rest belongs to their telling.
Of course, she said yes.
Did you know the most popular month to get engaged is December?
Well guess what? That's next month. Finding that perfect ring is a big deal. It's that one piece of sparkle planned to be worn forever. It doesn't have to be difficult or stressful.
We want to be your jeweller. Let us share our knowledge, experience and craftsmanship with you to create a one of a kind vintage, classic or modern Engagement Ring perfect for her.
Peruse our website. Visit us on Facebook. Look at our work and read the stories our clients have shared. Then give us a call. Our Concierge Custom Design Service will inspire you.


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King Chip debuts the new video for "Walking Home." The song live son his 44108 album, available right now on iTunes.
King Chip – Walking Home (Official Music Video)
King Chip – Clevlafornia (Album Stream)
King Chip releases his latest album Clevlafornia. The project features Hopsin, Project Pat, Asher Roth, Chuck Inglish, Earlly Mac, Currensy, Big Sean and more….
OverDoz – 7,000 Girls (Feat. Childish Gambino & King Chip)
OverDoz hits us with some tour stories on his new single "7,000 Girls" featuring Childish Gambino and King Chip. 7,000 girls? That's still not…
Here is a bonus cut from the deluxe edition of King Chip's 44108 album which was released today on iTunes.
Casey Veggies & King Chip – Lipstick On The Blunt
Casey Veggies and King Chip connect for the wrestling intro sampled track "Lipstick On The Blunt". This will appear on Emilio Sparks and John…
King Chip releases his new Blended Babies-produced single "Lazy And Lucrative". This will appear on both his album Clevelafornia and Blended Babies album titled…
King Chip – We Faded (We Made It Freestyle)
We Faded! King Chip drops off a freestyle over Soulja Boy and Drake's "We Made It" instrumental to celebrate 4/20.
Young Thug's Dun Deal-produced weed anthem "Stoner" has already been remixed by the likes of Wale, Trick Trick, Jadakiss, Iamsu! and more. Today King…
Cashville's Dice – You The Police (Feat. Jose Guapo, OJ Da Juiceman & King Chip)
Cashville's Dice enlists the services of Jose Guapo, OJ Da Juiceman and King Chip for his latest single "You The Police," produced by 2…
While King Chip fans wait on his CleveLAfornia project he offers up a new track titled "Go Head" to hold them over. Produced by…
King Chip – Keep It So Real (Official Music Video)
King Chip is back with a new video for "Keep It So Real," produced by Cardo. The visuals were directed by Low Number. His…
King Chip – Action Plan (Official Music Video)
King Chip unleashes an official music video for his track "Action Plan," directed by Watts City Films. His Rebel Castle project is coming soon.
King Chip – Cherish The Day (Feat. Domo Genesis)
King Chip links up with Odd Future's Domo Genesis for this ganja inspired song "Cherish The Day," which will live on that forthcoming CleveLAfornia…
GLC – Holdin' (Feat. King Chip & Chevy Woods)
GLC enlists the services of King Chip and Chevy Woods for his latest track "Holdin," produced by Mr. Live. His new Ism Churchill mixtape…
King Chip – Stand Up King (Official Music Video)
King Chip releases an official video for "Stand Up King," directed by Alexi Papalexopoulos. This is taken from his 44108 mixtape, which you can…
King Chip – Deion Sanders (Official Music Video)
King Chip releases an official video for his song "Deion Sanders" to hold us over while we wait on his forthcoming Clevelafornia project. Directed by…
King Chip drops off a new track titled "Some Hoes" he co-produced with Big Duke. His new project Clevelafornia is coming soon.
The Latest
Future "Perkies" (Produced by Metro Boomin)
Debonair Brown "Embrace It" (Official Music Video)
A Boogie Wit da Hoodie "Reply" (Feat. Lil Uzi Vert)
Future "Last Name" (Feat. Lil Durk)
Lil Peep "Everybody's Everything" (Album Stream)
Tory Lanez "Chixtape 5" (Album Stream)
Kanye West "Jesus Is King" (Album Stream)
Kirill & Jaco "Hublot" (Official Music Video)
Lil X "New Kid on the Block" (Album Stream)


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by: Toddla T
Self-described as having "a bit of the soul from Soul II Soul's Club Classics and a bit of the leftfield from Leftfield's Leftism," Sheffield DJ/producer Thomas Bell, aka Toddla T, is already setting himself up for quite the fall with such lofty comparisons for his sophomore outing, Watch Me Dance. While his follow-up to 2009's Skanky Skanky doesn't quite reach the heights of its two illustrious influences, it's a consistently inventive record that fills the genre-hopping dance void left by Basement Jaxx's recent foray into film soundtracks and Groove Armada's self-imposed hiatus. Recorded in Kingston, there's still plenty of the Jamaican influences that dominated its predecessor, such as the wobbly basslines and bouncy synth-led dancehall of "Badman Flu" and "Streets So Warm," and "Fly," a sun-soaked slice of one-drop reggae featuring a revitalized Ms. Dynamite, who also appears on the equally laid-back fusion of jazzy piano chords and authentic riddims of "How Beautiful It Would Be." But elsewhere, the Radio 1 In New DJs We Trust host utilizes his impressive roll call of guest vocalists to pursue a more U.K.-centric underground sound, whether it's Mercury Music Prize nominee Terri Walker on the smooth soul-meets-drum'n'bass of "Do It Your Way," Brit Award-winning Shola Ama on the old-skool breakbeats and Italo house riffs of "Take It Back," or grime MC Maxsta, who showcases his quickfire skills on the curious blend of harsh beats, warped bass, and Gregorian chants on "Cruise Control." Surprisingly, two of the more high-profile contributions don't gel quite as well, as Roisin Murphy's minimal techno R&B number "Cherry Picking" is strangely subdued, while Roots Manuva's title track is a derivative attempt at electro-funk. But overall, Watch Me Dance is a triumphant speaker-blasting party record that cements Toddla T's reputation as the U.K.'s bass wonderkid. ~ Jon O'Brien


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Started this discussion. Last reply by RawBenny May 3, 2013. 2 Replies 0 Likes
Just wondering if he is still going to be speaking at the festival.Continue
Started May 23, 2012 0 Replies 0 Likes
Why do a lot of people complain about doing something they volunteered to do. I am not talking about working for a living or living somewhere that you hate but it is where you have to be for family…Continue
Started this discussion. Last reply by Windlord Feb 6, 2012. 38 Replies 0 Likes
I just went over there to vote and they have people that are not even raw vegan. So please go vote so the real raw vegans can win. They did not even have Marcus patrick for sexest raw vegan. look at…Continue
Started this discussion. Last reply by Tyrell Jan 16, 2012. 1 Reply 0 Likes
I was just wondering if they had the speakers who would be there.I am hoping they have real vegan speakers. I am hoping they do not have those so called brothers that call themselves raw.Continue
Posted on December 24, 2009 at 4:30am 4 Comments 0 Likes
I wanted to let you know we will have a raw fruit festival in Spain next September
Maybe you'd like it.
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Pauli TikkaI am Pauli Tikka from Finland. I obtained my two Master of Science degrees (in the Energy Engineering and Biotechnology) from one of the leading universities in Finland; Aalto University and University of Turku. The latest one I completed during 2011-2014. My master's thesis was entitled "the effect of miRNAs to the regulation of triple negative breast cancer cell", where I mostly worked on an in silico model and bioinformatics approaches. The research work of that thesis was conducted at the Hans Knöll Institute under Professor Dr. Rainer König from the University of Jena. After my second Master of Science degree, I enhanced my university work skills at the University of Turku as a complementary student. Earlier, I have also worked as a design engineer in two companies and as a research scientist in the Aalto University during my first Master of Science degree. The subject of my earlier thesis was "gas evolution at the lead anodes", and was done in the laboratory of physical chemistry for a project of Outotec Inc. In the autumn of 2015, I took the next step in my scientific career path by applying and being later selected in the RENALTRACT research project. I started my research work at the Heidelberg University in January 2016 under the professors Dr. Franz Schaefer and Dr. Anna Marciniak-Czochra. My doctoral research will be mainly focused on the development of a set of mathematical models reproducing the molecular and cellular events that lead to kidney development. For this purpose, I will rigorously review the literature of nephrogenesis' molecular networks and genetics, collaborate with Renaltract partner laboratories, and formulate sets of mathematical equations under the co-supervision of Prof. Dr. Anna Marciniak-Czochra. Furthermore, I will perform gene network and molecular pathway analyses, and cross-species approaches in order to understand the complex genetics of congenital malformations of the kidneys and urinary tract (CAKUT) in humans. These two branches of my studies will converge in an integrative bioinformatic model of normal and aberrant kidney development that shall allow the use of complex genetic information to predict human renal malformation phenotypes.
Gunjan PandeyI am Gunjan. I did my Bachelor in Biotechnology in India. After that I moved to Finland to pursue Masters degree in Nanoscience with a major of Cell and Molecular Biology. Relocating from the tropical plains to the land of midnight sun was a stimulating experience. The magnitude of change was similar to the change in my thesis subject from studying the behavior of ants in Bachelors to assessing cells' pyrophosphate content in Masters. I also interned for few months in the field of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-C (VEGF-C) participating in lymphangiogenesis followed by analyzing cell apoptosis pathways utilizing Lysosomal Associated Membrane Proteins-2 (LAMP-2). During my Masters, I explored several aspects of science ranging from miniscule carbon nanotubes to chaotic cancer cells. For my Doctoral studies, I am thankful to RENALTRACT program for providing me the wonderful opportunity to work on kidney malformations in the University of Heidelberg and Acquifer, Germany under the able supervision of Prof Franz Schaefer and Dr Jochen Gehrig. I will be mainly involved in drug screening and candidate gene analysis in cystic kidney diseases. For this project zebrafish will serve as the model organism.
Jaskiran KaurI am Jaskiran Kaur from India. I obtained my Bachelor's and Master's degree (Biotechnology) from one of the leading university of Punjab; India, which I completed during 2009-2014. My master's thesis was entitled "In-silico drug designing for tuberculosis using Ketoacyl (KasA) as a drug target", where I mostly worked on drug designing and computational biology. After Master's, I got an opportunity to work under the guidance of Dr. Sridhar Sivasubbu at Insitute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB); New Delhi, India. Here, I got a chance to learn about non-coding RNAs regulating cardiovascular development and basic of Zebrafish Biology. In 2015, I moved to Cologne, Germany and started working as guest trainee under the supervision of Dr. David Vilchez at CECAD. In Vilchez lab I was investigating how preotesome homeostasis drive the aging process by using C.elegans. as a model organism. While working in CECAD, I was selected as an Early Stage Researcher as part of the RENALTRACT research project. As a part of this prestigious opportunity, I will be completing my PhD at the Hannover Medical School under Professor. Andreas Kispert. For my doctoral studies, my research will be mainly focused in identifying and characterizing additional signalling pathways that regulate early ureter development in the mouse. I will use a combination of tissue specific gene targeting studies in vivo and embryological manipulation of ureteric explant cultures in vitro to characterize the phenotypic changes associated with the loss and gain of different signalling pathways.
Pedro MagalhãesMy name is Pedro Magalhães, and I´m from Portugal. I obtained my Bachelor degree in Genetics and Biotechnology at University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), which I completed in 2012. Afterwards, I decided to continue my academic training in the same institution, with a Master Degree in Biotechnology for Health Science (2015). My master's thesis was entitled "Identification and sequencing of acetylase expressed from the pMdT1 recombinant plasmid in Escherichia coli", where I worked under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Gilberto Igrejas. This project was developed at UTAD and at Faculty of Science and Technology, New University of Lisbon, and the main aim was focused on proteomics and antibiotic resistance. It is an honour for me to be part of the Renaltract project, and I believe that this project has everything a student needs to change perspectives and shape ideas into something innovative and meaningful. As Renaltract ESR9 at the Mosaiques Diagnostics GmbH of Hannover, the ultimate goal will be to identify Renal tract malformations (RTM) related peptide biomarkers in urine.
Vladimir KozlovI'm Vladimir Kozlov and I come from Moscow, the capital of Russia. I completed 5 years of undergraduate education in Moscow State University and received the diploma of Biochemistry specialist. During this time, I worked on my undergraduate thesis in the prof. P.G. Georgiev's lab (Institute of Gene Biology, Moscow) under the supervision of Dr. O.G. Maksimenko. My research focused on the regulatory proteins in the nucleus of Drosophila melanogaster, specifically the discovery aof interaction between insulator binding protein CTCF and one of the Polycomb group proteins, Su(z)2. I consider this period as being foundational in my path as a scientist, building up essential skills and adapting to the lab routine. My first international experience was an Amgen Scholars program in Munich, Germany. I spent two months studying a chromatin protein HP1 using mass-spectrometry, and presented the results of the project at a poster presentation in Cambridge. This episode inspired me to apply for PhD positions abroad. I contacted Dr. Andreas Schedl after I've found the description of the proposed Renaltract project in his lab – it is novel enough for me that I became intrigued by it, yet my previous experience as a molecular biologist would be useful. As a Renaltract ESR at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis (Nice, France), I will study the molecular pathways that regulate early kidney development in mice, focusing on the Sox11 regulatory protein and its downstream targets in renal stem cells.
Saurav GhimireMy name is Saurav Ghimire from Nepal. I completed my schooling in my home town Nepalganj, which is in Western Nepal. I completed my Bachelors in Pharmacy (B.Pharmacy) at Pokhara University, one of the leading Institute in Pharmacy in Nepal from 2007-2011. During this time I got a chance to enhance my skills in medicine and experiments in both in-vivo and in-vitro efficacy studies. After graduation, I worked as a Registered Pharmacist for seven months in the Pharmaceutical Industry. I went to South Korea for my masters as a Korean Government Scholar in 2012. During this period I got an opportunity to work under Prof. Mansu Kim at Department of Pharmacy, Inje University mainly focusing on aging research using the fruit fly (Drosophila Melanogaster) as an experimental model. Over a period of two years, I was able to learn in depth about molecular mechanisms of aging, various evaluation techniques and the reason for the physiological changes in the flies. After graduating my masters in August 2015, I was selected as an Early Stage Researcher as part of the RENALTRACT research project. As part of this, I will be completing my PhD at the University of Glasgow under Professor. Julian Dow. For my doctoral studies, my research will be mainly focused in metabolomics, informatics as well as physiological assays and morphological analysis. I will be studying simple models for nephrolithiasis and renal sequelae of inborn errors of metabolism.
Filipa LopesI am Filipa, from Vila Real, a lovely city in the North of Portugal. I have a first degree in Biology, concluded in 2012 at the University of Trás-os.-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal. During the last semester I worked as a research trainee in the Biochemistry and Biology & Bioenergetics labs. This work involved the production of polysaccharides from Ganoderma resinaceum and evaluation of its effects in colon and liver cancer cell lines. In the same year, I moved to Porto, Portugal, where I studied for my master's degree in Oncology- specialization in Molecular Oncology at the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Porto (ICBAS/UP) & The Portuguese Oncology Institute – Porto, Portugal. In order to carry out my dissertation, I joined the Cancer Genetics group at Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology at the University of Porto (IPATIMUP) integrating the I3S consortium, within Dr Joana Paredes's Team. The project addressed the study of molecular mechanisms by which P-cadherin, a cell adhesion molecule, an established breast cancer stem cell biomarker, confers chemo- and radiotherapy cell death resistance, with a focus on the DNA Damage Repair pathway. It is with great pleasure that I am joining to the EU Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network Project RENALTRACT. As ESR 7 at The University of Manchester, I will work in a project with the aim of highlight novel neurological perspectives on congenital tract urinary disease, a pathology that severely compromises the quality of life in affected children.
Zenglai TanI am Zenglai Tan, who is from Jiangxi province, a place in the south of China. I learned Biotechnology in Hebei Normal University and got my Bachelor degree in 2012. Then I began my study of the master phase in the Capital Normal University, Beijing. After I finished the master courses, I went to Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena, Germany to do my master thesis as an exchange student in August 2013. I was mainly engaged in the zebrafish work, trying to identify and characterize the Wilms tumor suppressor gene 1 (Wt1) target genes in zebrafish kidney development. I completed my master thesis' work and got the degree in the July of 2015. It is my honor to work as a part of the RENALTRACT Project. And also it's my pleasure to continue my research work on the kidney. As Renaltract ESR1 in the University of Oulu, I will study on analysis of the fundamental cellular and molecular control mechanisms of the nephrogenesis.
Laura GoeaMy name is Laura Goea and I'm from Uricani, a small city in southern Transylvania, Romania. I obtained my Bachelor's degree in Cluj-Napoca Romania where I worked for 1 year on Cyanobacteria under the supervision of Dr. Druga Bogdan. Throughout extensive lab experiments we showed for the first time that a poorly known cyanobacteria species (Coelomoron pusillum) is able to produce toxins (hepatotoxins). Following this, I obtained my Master's degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Here, I had the opportunity to be part of the Epithelial polarity and cancer group, Department of Developmental and Cellular Differentiation belonging to the National Center of Molecular Biology "Severo Ochoa, Spain. My project was focused mainly on Notch signaling pathway, where I worked under the supervision of Dr. Belmonte Fernando. It is a privilege for me to be part of the RENALTRACT Project where along with the opportunities for my intellectual and professional growth I will have the possibility to meet and work with people of the host country and others from around the world, sharing professional and creative insights.
Pierbruno RicciI'm Pierbruno Ricci and I'm Italian (from Chieti, a small city in the Abruzzo region). Having performed my Bachelor's studies in Biotechnology at the University of Bologna in Italy from 2009 to 2012, I obtained my Master's Degree in Molecular and Industrial Biotechnology from the same University in March 2015. During my Bachelor thesis project in Bologna, I worked with Dr. Annalisa Pession, who is an Associate Professor, on thyroid cancer and during the last year of the Master's degree, I worked in the molecular biology lab of Associate Professor Dr. Marina Marini, where I studied the abnormalities in erythrocyte membranes of children affected by Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD). I was then awarded the Erasmus+ Unipharma‐Graduates fellowship to pursue an internship at Institut Pasteur, Paris, where I focused my research for 5 months on Plasmodium falciparum. It is an honor for me to start this new adventure of research in developmental biology in the Renaltract project. As Renaltract ESR10 at the Université Pierre et Marie CURIE of Paris, I will investigate the role of microRNAs and their target genes in the renal pathogenesis of a mouse model of the Renal Cysts and Diabetes syndrome.
Guillermo Martinez CorralesFrom 2007 to 2012, I studied for a Biology Licenciatura at the University of Barcelona. After this, I pursued a Master's degree in Genetics and Genomics, in the same university. During the final year of degree and also as the Master's project thesis, I joined the laboratory of Marta Llimargas, in IBMB-CSIC, Barcelona, for almost 2 years, where I focused my work in the study of the development of Drosophila melanogaster tracheal tubules. After this, I moved as a visiting student to Peter Lawrence's laboratory at the University of Cambridge, where I continued my research in Drosophila epidermal development. As Renaltract ESR4 at the University of Glasgow, I will investigate functional roles of novel transcription factors in the development of Drosophila Malpighian (renal) tubules, which will link with parallel work in vertebrate and mammalian renal development, to be investigated by the Renaltract consortium.
Irene Sanchez MartinI´m Irene Sánchez and I´m Spanish (from Madrid). I studied Veterinary Medicine and by then I already showed a high interest on working in international environments, which brought me to an stage in the Helsinki University, where I got clinical and chirurgical formation. During my studies I also saw it clear, that although I enjoyed the contact with the clinic, I wanted to develop my career as a researcher. This certitude was (if possible) confirmed during my 3 years at Laboklin, the leader laboratory for veterinary clinical analysis in Germany. I arrived there thanks to a Leonardo da Vinci grant and I was hired after finishing the project, having the great opportunity of enhancing my knowledge and skills on all lab lines, especially biochemistry, cell culture, serology and molecular biology. After those great three years I decided to continue my formation and I returned to Madrid to make a Master in Virology at the Universidad Complutense. My objective was to refresh and improve concepts in the field of molecular medicine, as well as enlarging my network in the area where I want to develop my career. I had the pleasure of making my master thesis in the field of Hepatitis C with Dr Esteban Domingo, in the CBM-CSIC. After finishing the Master I was hired as senior researcher by Dr. Lluis Montoliu in the CNB-CSIC, where I´ve been working in genetics with animal models. It is for me a privilege to be part of the RENALTRACT Project. With its structure and organization, and with the high level of the its members, it is surely to achieve very important and useful results.


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Latest Facebook News Feed Algorithm Tweak: High Ratings and Likely Engagement
Facebook's constant fine-tuning of its News Feed took another step forward with Monday's announcement that the social network is now using qualitative feedback to deliver the most relevant posts to users.
Facebook's constant fine-tuning of its News Feed took another step forward with Monday's announcement that the social network is now using qualitative feedback to deliver the most relevant posts to users.
Software engineers Cheng Zhang and Si Chen revealed in a Newsroom post that all of those surveys about users' News Feed experiences weren't for naught, with their results helping the social network to understand what types of posts its users find interesting.
Facebook is also relying on a group of more than 1,000 users that it refers to as its Feed Quality Panel, asking them to rate their experiences on a daily basis and make suggestions on how the content they are served can be improved.
Zhang and Chen wrote:
This means we are able to better understand which stories people would be interested in seeing near the top of their News Feed even if they choose not to click, like or comment on them—and use this information to make ranking changes.
We saw through our research that people reported having a better News Feed experience when the stories they see at the top are stories that they are both likely to rate highly if asked and likely to engage with.
We are making an update to News Feed that combines these two signals. News Feed will begin to look at both the probability that you would want to see the story at the top of your feed and the probability that you will like, comment on, click or share a story. We will rank stories higher in News Feed that we think people might take action on, and that people might want to see near the top of their News Feed.
How will the newest change to Facebook's News Feed algorithm affect pages? The two software engineers wrote:
The impact of these changes on a story's distribution will vary depending on the composition of your audience and your posting activity. In general, this update should not impact reach or referral traffic meaningfully for the majority of pages. However, some pages may see some increases in referral traffic, and some pages may see some declines in referral traffic. Pages might see some declines in referral traffic if the rate at which their stories are clicked on does not match how much people report wanting to see those stories near the top of their News Feed. This update helps rebalance those two factors, so people are seeing relevant stories to them.
In general, pages should avoid encouraging people to take an action (such as encouraging lots of clicks), because this will likely only cause temporary spikes in metrics that might then be rebalanced by News Feed's ranking over time. As this change takes effect, we'll be learning about what possible factors or posting strategies may lead to increases or declines in referral traffic, and we are committed to communicating with our partners about those findings. Look for updates at our News Feed Best Practices page and in the News, Media and Publishing Facebook group. Overall, pages should continue to post things that your audience finds meaningful and continue using our page post best practices.
Readers: What are your thoughts on the latest change to Facebook's News Feed algorithm?


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Current Newswire:
InfoWorld: Microsoft refutes reports of 63,000 Bugs in Win2000Feb 17, 2000, 18:01 (10 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Ann Harrison)
"JUST ONE day before the launch of its Windows 2000 operating system, Microsoft is disputing suggestions in a leaked company memo that the product contains 63,000 bugs...."
"An excerpt from the memo reads in part, "Our customers do not want us to sell them products with over 63,000 potential defects. They want those defects corrected. How many of you would spend $500 on a piece of software with over 63,000 potential known defects?"
" White insisted that the Windows 2000 code has been extensively vetted by 750,000 beta testers and security analysts for potential bugs and asserted that "the claims are taken out of context and completely inaccurate."
"According to White, the memo was intended as a "motivational statement" for the Windows development team, based on an automated scan of the source code with a tool called Prefix. He said the analysis flagged code in Windows 2000 that could be made more efficient in the next release, detected false positives, and analyzed 10 million lines of test code that weren't included in the release."
Related Stories:


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County Extension Service and 4-H
The Macon County Extension Office provides residents of Macon County with a diverse variety of information, educational programming and testing services.
Extension is a unique partnership between the Macon County Board of Commissioners, the Macon County Board of Education and the University of Georgia College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Cooperative Extension System.
Congress established the Cooperative Extension Service in 1914 to deliver information from land-grant colleges and universities to all Americans, particularly those who lacked access to formal education. The "College on Wheels" carried University of Georgia faculty and exhibits of interest across the state from 1908 through 1917.
Although agriculture and society have changed dramatically during the past 100 years, the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension continues to fulfill its basic mission.
County Extension agents help keep farmers abreast of the latest agricultural technology, research and marketing strategies. Some agents help parents cope with the pressures of balancing home, work and children; others help keep families healthy with information on nutrition and food safety.
One of the major programs of County Extension is 4-H,a world in which youth and adults learn, grow, and work together as catalysts for positive change!
The mission of Georgia 4-H is to assist youth in acquiring knowledge, developing life skills, and forming attitudes that will enable them to become self-directing, productive and contributing members of society. This mission is accomplished, through "hands on" learning experiences, focused on agricultural and environmental issues, agriculture awareness, leadership, communication skills, foods and nutrition, health, energy conservation, and citizenship.
Exploring and discovering, encouraging and challenging, that's what Georgia 4-H is all about. As a program of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Cooperative Extension System, 4-H is part of the nationwide Extension network.
4-H'ers are known for sharing their research-based knowledge and technology to people where they live and work. 4-H combines federal, state, and local expertise and resources.


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Dear Diary,
I am doing great for the past few days after the happy news of my admission. I topped the merit list. The depression hasn't stuck me and I am quite relieved. But my OCD is still here. I think it won't go away until I do the complete therapy.
I can't wear my "bad luck clothes". They are the clothes that I was wearing when I heard some bad news. My OCD mind keeps telling me that if I wear them something bad will happen or worse, someone will die. This horrifies me. There is a pink sweater of me that I like very much but can't wear because of this bad luck thing. Well, I can sacrifice my clothes if it prevents someone from dying. I know that sounds absurd but this is OCD. And this is the reason OCD is in one of the top ten disabling diseases.
That's it for today, diary. I will see you later.
Yours truly,


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Margaret and Noel
Our Project
We had been planning a loft conversion for some time as we knew that our roof needed replacing and decided to install solar panels at the same time. We are fortunate to be facing south so we decided to keep the slope at the front of the house so that we could fit solar panels.
"Combining the installation of the solar panels and the new roof meant we saved on additional scaffolding expenses."
We were extremely lucky that by the time we could afford a solar energy system the government had introduced the feed-in tariff (FITS). [The tariff was reduced earlier than expected by the government, and is now subject to a legal challenge by Friends of the Earth.]
We encountered some problems along the way; the solar energy company pulled out at a late stage. This posed a serious problem because the building works were at an advanced stage. In order to avoid the complications of having two companies liaising with the builder we decided to go for one company which could install both systems, which was accredited under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) and was available to do the work.
The result is that at the end of last year we had Solar Photovoltaic (PV) and Solar Thermal installed. The Solar PV is made up of nine panels with an expected saving of 786Kg CO2 per year. The Solar Thermal system provides around 50% of our hot water by solar energy, saving 316 kg CO2 year.
The company we chose were able to advise us on a number of things we hadn't thought of before such as the fact that we had enough space on the roof to provide a solar hot water system too.
Find out more
Although we were delighted with the company we used, A Greener Place (external link), we're not sure how we missed getting a quote from a local company, Ecodomus (external link).


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Wow Air to Launch Flights to New Delhi from Newark, Chicago, Los Angeles
Wow Air announced on December 5 plans to launch new service from nine U.S. cities to New Delhi, India, with a stopover in Reykjavik.
The carrier will offer flights to the Indian capital from Newark, Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and St. Louis.
Wow will use Airbus A330neo aircraft on the new flights. The planes will be outfitted with the carrier's new Wow premium seats, with 37" legroom.
The …
Hotel Zachary Opens in Chicago
Marriott Hotels and Resorts announced the opening of the Hotel Zachary, part of the hotelier's Tribute Portfolio, in Chicago.
The property has 173 guestrooms, 20 of which are suites, each with blue accents and pinstripe carpeting, as well as floor-to-ceiling windows.
Dining options include the Bar at Hotel Zachary, which features appetizers, sandwiches, and salads, and the Alma Room, which is open daily for breakfast. Mordecai, a cocktail bar and restaurant, offers …
Two Winter Storms Leave Those in Northeast, Midwest Longing for Spring
Although the calendar may say it's spring, the weather has yet to change its mind – two more storms will bring snow to parts of the United States this week. The first has already dropped (14 centimeters) of the white stuff on New York City as of Monday morning.
Other areas including Philadelphia, Boston, and other parts of southern New England can expect to see between 2" and 5" (5 to …
Southwest Airlines Flights Resume at Chicago Midway After De-Icing Fluid Shortage
Southwest Airlines said it is close to returning to normal operations at Chicago's Midway Airport on Monday after the airline was forced to shut down operations on Sunday when it ran out of de-icing fluid.
Over 250 of the carrier's flights were cancelled that day, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
The carrier said that its flight schedule on Monday would be "close to normal."
Earlier this winter, the airline experienced problems with de-icing …
American to Begin New Flights from Philadelphia, Chicago, Charlotte, Dallas
American Airlines announced that it plans to launch new service from four major hubs on June 7.
American will launch three new routes from Philadelphia to Fort Wayne, Indiana; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Pensacola, Florida.
The airline will also begin service from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Finally, American will launch flights from both Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to South Bend, Indiana.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
American to Launch New Shuttle Between Chicago O'Hare and New York LaGuardia
American Airlines announced that it plans to begin new shuttle service between Chicago O'Hare and New York's LaGuardia Airport on April 4.
The carrier will offer hourly service between the two airports, with up to 15 flights per weekday.
Passengers in the main cabin will be offered complimentary beer and wine, and the service will have dedicated gates.
The American Shuttle operates between New York's LaGuardia, Boston Logan International, and Ronald Reagan Washington …
Norwegian Air to Begin London-Buenos Aires Flights, Introduce New 787 Premium Cabin and Wi-Fi
Norwegian Air announced it will launch its first service to South America on February 14. In addition, the carrier plans to begin new service to Chicago and Austin, increase flights to Boston, introduce a new Premium cabin, and add Wi-Fi to long-haul flights.
Starting in February, Norwegian will begin four weekly flights to Buenos Aires from London Gatwick. The carrier will operate the route using Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
On March 25, …


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Lesnar keeps it simple, stupid
You can call Brock Lesnar's world view lots of things, but complex isn't one of them.
Don't believe me? Just ask him. Start with a question about the pre-fight shenanigans for his main event bout with Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 next Friday night. I did. Here's what he told me: "All this stuff is bulls--- to me."
See? Simple. But by all means, Mr. Lesnar, do elaborate.
"It's all fake," he said in a phone interview on Tuesday afternoon. "The only thing that's real in my life is my family, my faith in God, and fighting. The rest of this stuff, everything is fake. That's how I look at life. The most important things are your family and faith and health, and everything else is bulls---."
Sure, we could argue over exactly what he means by "fake." Is Lesnar telling us that the world is an illusion? Or is he just telling us that most of it is, in his estimation, too dumb or insignificant to take seriously? Trust me, these are not follow-ups you want to bother Lesnar with. This is how you get your name added to the list of things that are "fake" and/or bulls---, assuming you weren't there already (and, let's be honest, you probably were).
It's often hard to know how seriously to take former pro wrestlers, particularly when they're in fight hype mode, as Lesnar is this week. He's got pay-per-views to sell and media responsibilities to fulfill, so there's always a chance that he's decided to crank up the dial to "full heel" just to create some buzz.
Still, there's good reason to take Lesnar seriously when he attempts to distill his world down to its simplest components and announces that everything beyond the range of his voice is meaningless. While it comes off as a characteristically brash way of dismissing all the non-Lesnar parts of the world, it's also a handy defense mechanism.
Not that Lesnar would use that phrase himself, of course. To admit you need some defense against the slings and arrows of public life would be to admit some form of weakness, and that's not the big man's style. After all, this is the same guy who told reporters it took him "about six hours" to recover from a surgery in which 12 inches of his colon were removed earlier this year. You think he's going to admit to having his feelings hurt by the legion of fight fans who bash him on the internet or boo him like a vaudeville villain when they see him at live events? Please.
But you do get windows into his coping strategies here and there, especially when he talks about another public figure he admires: Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow.
"There's a stand-up guy who's doing a lot of good things, a stand-up role model for kids, and this guy is taking a lot of criticism," Lesnar said. "I guess it comes with the territory. When you're in the spotlight and you're one of the best people in your division, you better have some heavy armor."
For instance, when critics say that Lesnar can't take a punch? When they point to his fights with Shane Carwin (whom he eventually came back to beat) and Cain Velasquez (whom he didn't) as proof that all it takes is a good thump on the skull to make him turn and run like a bully in an after-school special?
"I think it's a bunch of bulls---," Lesnar countered. "The fights that I've gotten hit, I've stood and banged with Heath Herring, Randy Couture, Frank Mir -- I've taken a lot of shots. I mean, Shane Carwin. And I've yet to be knocked out. I had refs stop a fight for a submission and a TKO, which is a referee stoppage. I've never been knocked out cold."
Here's where the cynic might argue that a) Herring, Couture, and Mir weren't exactly knockout artists when Lesnar fought them, while Carwin managed to drop him in the first round before punching himself out trying to finish, and also b) simply clinging to consciousness during a beating is not in itself a sign that you have a great chin, especially not if you lose the fight anyway, as he did against Velasquez.
But so what? This is where the suit of armor comes in. It's not that it helps you lie to yourself, exactly. But maybe it allows you to bend the truth, to mold and shape it to fit your purposes. People think you can't take a shot? Sure you can. You've never been knocked stiff, have you? Overeem has, so let people question his chin. If they don't like that, screw 'em. They're all bulls---, anyway.
Are you taking notes, Tebow?
Maybe this is the only way to do it. Maybe if you're not the type of person who can ignore all aspects of the outside world that don't align perfectly with your perception of yourself, you'd never have climbed to the top of the pro wrestling world, only to quit and decide to play in the NFL out of nowhere, only to then decide that you might as well climb in a cage and fight the toughest heavyweights in the world for money. Maybe if you were the kind of person who listened to outside criticism -- even the somewhat valid variety -- you'd have just stayed home instead. You certainly wouldn't have become UFC heavyweight champion in your fourth professional fight. You also wouldn't stand a chance of winning the title again.
As Lesnar put it, "I wouldn't be in this position, doing what I'm doing, if I was that horrendous of a fighter. I've got faith, I've got confidence in my skills, and I've got confidence that I can beat this guy."
Again, simple. When you're in Lesnar's shoes, it doesn't help to make things any more complicated than they have to be.