Spring 2019: Power Systems Journey: Making the Invisible Visible and Actionable
The first Earth Systems Journey based on following the flow of electricity has been launched as a Grand Challenge Course at the University of Minnesota spring semester. 50 students are participating in a journey to follow electric power from a light switch at the Bell Museum, upstream from a variety of power plants and distributed energy generation locations, along transmission lines, to a substation, distribution lines, into the Bell Museum, to the light switch and light. What’s downstream from that? The light itself, that falls on a skull or taxidermy duck, and bounces into the student’s eye, to the retina, interpreted by the brain… – and becomes part of their experience of the museum. The course is co-taught by me and Paul Imbertson, electric engineering professor, with TA, Chris Saladin, and supported by ‘Place Guides’ from the Bell Museum, University of Minnesota Main Energy Plant, Sala Architects and their solar home clients, Xcel Energy, and more. Documentation is in progress and a web link will be added here, when ready. Meanwhile, here is the course listing:
http://gcc.umn.edu/gcc-courses/gcc-30275027
The course will be offered again, Fall 2019.
Coming Summer 2019: Fourth Year of Mississippi River Water Journey Camps
These camps follow the path of rain and drinking water from Institute on the Environment to and from the river, as part of the U of MN Youth Rec and Wellness summer camp program. The camps are in their fourth year, and are almost full. More at: https://waterjourneycamps.blogspot.com/
Summer 2019 Presentation at ESRI Education Summit
Big Stone Lake Stories and its use of GIS Story Maps will be presented at the ESRI Education Summit in San Diego, July 2019.