Category: Research
-
A reader-friendly summary of the IPCC 2022 AR6 WGIII
This week’s post is about the latest IPCC report AR6 WG III. Many people working in the environment sector may have complained about these long and fancy reports from IPCC. I totally agree with them – even scientists who work in the climate change field would struggle to understand (and explain) the definitions of some […]
-
Absurdities in Nature
We are facing drastical ecological challenges as natural disasters at every level – locally, regionally and globally. Here, humans have encountered two absurd situations, is the nature so indifferent to our human beings when it shows its fierce and ruthless appearance or is the nature so overwhelmingly manipulated by us and we are simply having a “ taste of own medicine”. This post will examine a unique position – where do human stand in the “beloved” Mother Nature?
-
Deterministic or Chaotic – where do predictions land?
We all love making predictions. From weather forecasts to financial markets, from astrology to psychology, we human beings are so fascinated, if not obsessed, with predicting things. Some people (scientific realism) may believe that, through physical laws, mathetics equations, and computer models, we are able to make all predictions and understand previous thoughts of “unpredictable”. […]
-
The wide spectrum of graduate supervisors and how to work with them?
During the Canada Day holidays, we had a small group seminar on the top of my friend Hongli’s roof (gorgeous view of the Canadian Rockies) and discussed academic research. One of the topics was about supervisors. I gathered some thoughts from all sides and came up with this post – hope it can be helpful […]
-
Graduation Thoughts
After my graduation day, my friend Gabriel Tao asked me an intriguing question – “Do I feel proud of what I have accomplished or where I reach today? Research or academic wise?” It took me some moments to think through – there is something so immersed that couldn’t be wrapped into some simple adjectives, proud, […]
-
Climate change impacts Prairie Agriculture
Climate change, generally perceived as rising global temperature and changing rainfall patterns, has a large impact on crop production. Canada is a high-latitude country in Northern Hemisphere, whose major croplands originated from the three Prairie Provinces, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Thus, climate effects, potentially, could have significant opportunities and challenges to the crop production in […]
-
Ask the right questions
Zhe Zhang, Ph.D. of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan After the five-year journey of struggles, happiness, and achievement, I finally defended my Ph.D. thesis in Oct 2021. When all excitements, thrills, nerves, and anxieties faded away in the next few days, I started to reflect on this journey and asked myself: what did I […]