Blog contributors welcome

Originally I wanted to use this blog to update folks on the monitoring initiatives in the Columbia River Basin, but I realized there's a greater opportunity here. An opportunity for those that are passionate about glaciers in the basin to write/blog about them whichever way they please. This was inspired by a conversation I had with my dear friend studying the cryosphere (snow and ice) in Scandinavia, as well as, this quote from Bob Sandford's book Water, Weather and the Mountain West:

            We have to use art, literature and popular culture, grounded in solid science, to inspire in the public imagination a new sense of pride in what we possess in terms of ecological wealth [glacier health] in the mountain West and why it is important to our future.

           

            We need to articulate a simple but sensible ecosystem ethic and communicate it outward in a way that will constantly reinforce local understanding of the value of what we possess in the mountain West that is unique to where and how we live.

I invite all of you to send glacier-related:

ART

    COMICS
         POETRY
             STORIES
                  PHOTOS
                      MEMORIES
                          QUESTIONS
                               COMMENTS
                                    FRUSTRATIONS
                                         ETC.

Send to jhirose@gmail.com and I will post your glacier inspiration. If requested, anonymity will be granted.

Think hard...
Why do you love glaciers?
Why do you want to preserve them?
Why do you want to know more about them?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Happy trails and lines,
Jocelyn

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/directory/g/glacier.asp

Save Our Snowpack Tour: What Glaciers in the Columbia Basin Can Tell Us About Snowpack

The tour consisted of 7 communities (Golden, Revelstoke, Nelson, Kimberley, Fernie, Cranbrook and Invermere) and 9 presentations (7 public and 2 classrooms) in 8 days. The intent was to educate people on the state of our glaciers globally, in Western Canada, in the Columbia River Basin and about my work on the Illecillewaet Glacier.    

The tour was a great success and there are individuals in each community interested in taking part in glacier monitoring in the Columbia River Basin.

The purpose of glacier monitoring is to:
- Encourage engagement with glaciated landscapes
- Action-oriented learning
- Collect valuable data for science, policy and decision-making
- Capture the glacier legacy

Ways to monitor glaciers as a citizen/community:
- Measure the winter and summer mass balance
- Repeat photography
- Measure the glacier extent

If you are interested in getting involved as a citizen scientist or would like to start a monitoring program in the Columbia River Basin please contact me.

As programs start to develop they will be posted here.