Is Research Important?

Do I think  research is important and valuable to us as a society?

The answer to that question is, OF COURSE. 

There will always be something new to find or something that can be improved and made better as well as more efficient. This goes for anything such as technology, the way we view the earth and environmental practices, as well as how we should interact with each other. 

Just a boy throwing some starfish

This week, we were asked whether we, as just-starting-out researchers in an era of abundantly available information, could realistically expect to change the entire world.

As the question clearly suggests, the odds are not in our favor. Few people would look at an undergraduate student researcher in the era of the Internet and smartphones and expect me to have any significant impact on the larger world.

But I can’t help thinking of the starfish parable (cliché, I know, but stick with me). For those of you who aren’t familiar, here it is:

"The more I learn, The more I realize how much I don't know." - Albert Einstein

The first question posed to us this week was "is individual research still necessary in the age of technology?" My answer to that question is YES! Especially from a geological and biological background. There is so much about this world that we still do not know enough about or know about at all and the only way we can begin to discover and learn more about these things is through research. This past weekend when I was going over the things that I have noticed, learned, and discovered I realized how much more complex the phosphorous problem was in the lake than I originally thought. This lead me to what seems to be the reoccurring theme in my career as a young scientist:   

“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.”

― Albert Einstein 

If I have seen further...

Time: 11:09pm.

Surfing the Internet, scrolling through images of things that are supposed to make your already simple life, well...simpler. They're called "life hacks"; carry all your grocery bags in one trip with a carabiner, velcro your remote to your table so you won't lose it, freeze coffee in ice trays to keep your iced coffee cold without watering it down, use Doritos as fire kindling, remove stems of strawberries by...*ding*

Knowledge is Power

I mentioned in my last post that I wasn't aware that the lake at this point would look so pretty and lacking in algal bloom. There are some spots that are starting to develop that famous green layer, but overall, the lake looks alright. 

An algal bloom that was only visible for a few days