Buffalo Broke a Record

As I sit at my desk early Thursday morning, the beautiful 65 degree day of Wednesday has long past. I hear the wet wind whipping at my window and according to my IPhone, today will have only a high of 52, and a low of 27 degrees. For many, Wednesday was the highlight of their week. Kids did not have to wear their heavy winter jackets to school, no one needed to pull out a shovel or snow blower, and I know my mother was certainly thankful for a smooth ride to work this morning. But we are avoiding the giant pink elephant in the room. Yesterday was January 30th. According to http://www.wunderground.com:

Normal temperature for Buffalo NY on January 31st: 18  -  32 degrees
Record for Buffalo NY on January 31st:                   - 11  -  66 degrees
                                                                               (1920)        (2013)  

There is a problem with the fact that I am wearing Toms shoes in the picture posted above instead of my snow boots, as well as the fact that the snow has all melted and green grass is prominent across the quad. My environmental sociology professor (Erin Robinson) mentioned how tulips in her neighborhood were beginning to pop out of the ground this morning and she "just wanted to tap them back in...it is not time to bloom yet!" The signs for global warming are here, and have been here for some time- some people just do not recognize the repercussions of having one nice day when we are supposed to be in the dead of winter. I mean, even someone as environmentally conscience as myself still appreciated the pleasant weather on Wednesday, even though I know how harmful it was to our surrounding ecosystems.

While observing the quad yesterday, the overall mood seemed to be calm and distant. I was surprised that I  saw less than a dozen people walk through the quad from 1:45-2:00 pm since everyone in my earlier classes had been ecstatic about "how nice it is outside." I hate that expression. How nice it is outside? It is "nice" outside everyday- the environment can never be mean (joke). The air feels "fresh" (or at least it feels that way) against my skin and being out in the sunlight always makes me feel a little more rejuvenated afterwords. I believe the majority of students took the tunnels to classes once it began to sprinkle outside.

Here were some of my interesting finds at my spot today:

This is a metal pole that surrounds the statue in front of the Horan O'Donnell building. As one can see, it has begun to experience some rusting. Also observe the complete melting of the snow, however, the concrete base was damp from the sporadic rain showers that took place yesterday




Although it is hard to see in this picture, there are multiple foot steps in the soil around the area where the statue is situated



The tress in the quad are stripped of leaves and budding does not seem to be present



Where the grassy patches meet the bricks/concrete sidewalks, the lawn is destroyed due to the "salts" laid down during the heavy snow accumulation over the past few weeks. This can be noted around the entire campus.


I am eager to go exploring in my spot again next week, stay tuned!

"There is an air of unreality in debating these arcane points when the world is changing in such dramatic ways right in front of our eyes because of global warming." - Al Gore

The Spot

Let me first start off by explicitly stating my mission:

It was proposed by my RST 342 professor to creatively journal about a spot of your choice outside over the course of the semester. 

The goal: to discover something new about this spot- a spot that maybe you pass everyday and have never stopped to appreciate. I intend to research my location- especially since I only recently found out Canisius College was not always located at 2001 Main Street and to relate back to my audience all the new and exciting spectacles I find out about my spot. 

Today was the day I decided to begin observing my spot. My own little area in the vast wide world where I will sit and reflect at every week. It took me a while to find a spot I liked. I first envisioned picking a spot in Delaware Park, but after countless days of snow, rain, and sleet- I came to the conclusion I would not want to walk that far every week, let alone walk that far with that dry, freezing wind Buffalo is notoriously known to get this time of year. Therefore I decided to go with this spot right here. The Quad. I specifically chose this angle- my back facing Horan O'Donnell, looking  towards Loyola Hall because I will not get distracted from what is behind (as it is a building). I will purely get to capture every moment that occurs in front of my eyes. Also- I am curious to witness the traffic of students, faculty, and staff trying to reach their desired destinations as you can go four different ways on this brick road and the spot I chose to observe allows me to view all of the activity.

I like this spot because I remember when I was a freshmen the quad ignited with activity as soon as the first spring days struck. I think it would be an incredible experience to document the quad's activity up to that point. Because as you can see, the quad is not too busy this time a year. However, that does not mean I wont uncover some of the quad's winter marvels in future posts...

Get to Know the Author

Let me introduce myself- My name is Marissa Verdi. I am currently a sophomore at Canisius College pursuing an undergraduate degree in biology. I was not always a bio major, in fact I was a digital media arts major all of last year until I had a life altering experience. Okay- I mean it was not as dramatic as I just made it sound. More of a reality check. I had realized after seeing my professors' enthusiasm and passion for the subjects they preach that I completely lacked any zeal for computers and design. I was in the major for two reasons. 

1. My uncle is a graphic designer and was pretty successful until he got laid off over a year ago.

 2. I thought DMA would be easy. 

I came to the conclusion shortly after spring semester began that I wanted out of DMA; what I thought I wanted to do as a naive senior in high school had changed.

However, the odd thing was- I knew exactly what I wanted to switch my major to. A total epiphany moment occurred when I decided I wanted to become an entomologist. 

Entomology- The Scientific Science of Insects

Just even saying the word makes my mouth muscles twitch to smile because it is absolutely what I want to do. As a child- my first grade teacher asked us to write down what job we wanted to have when we grew up. I had three in mind.

1. Cashier

2. Waitress

3. A job no one else has

Well- I've accomplished having the first two jobs, but the third is an interesting one. I knew even fifteen years ago that I did not want some job behind a cubicle, where a suit would need to be worn, and a briefcase purchased. I have always tried to be uniquely myself. 

But why entomology?

I have travelled to Costa Rica twice- once in 10th grade, the other time senior year and that is where my appreciation for conservation began to cultivate. When I returned back home the second time (senior year)- I came back to school to my 7:30 am AP Biology class to find a new assignment on my desk. We were to catch, pin, and identify 10 insects and write a small paragraph summary about each specimen. By the time the project was due I had caught 25 insects- some of which I hunted for in the early morning hours to even going on adventures chasing moths and dragon flies for hours at a time. I loved the project. However,  It was not until I came to college that the thought of even tackling entomology crossed my radar. 

I have recently come to the conclusion that I will go on to graduate school for entomology and continue my education to get my ph.D. With entomology I would absolutely love to explore the forensic side and use insects to determine time/cause of death in murder cases like on television shows! Unfortunately for me my chemistry skills = nonexistent and I would not be happy being in a laboratory all day. That is why I think I want to endeavor in environmental entomology. I want to be one of the leading ladies to discover why our bee colony numbers are dwindling down to almost non existent, create alternatives to using harmful pesticides in the world war battle of invasive species vs our native species of plants, animals, and vegetation, and I want to investigate more into the deadly diseases transferred to humans through insect vectors. 

Enough about what I want to do with my life....here are some other fun facts about myself:

Activities I am involved in on campus:

Vice President and Co-Captain of the Club Field Hockey Team

Sophomore Senator

Rifle Team

Orientation Leader

Hometown: Webster, NY

Favorite Food: All dairy, specifically- cheese

Favorite Animal: a woodchuck

Favorite Insect(s): bees, beetles, & moths

If I could bring back an extinct species what would it be: Dinosaurs

If I could spend a whole day with someone who would I pick: My dog

What I hope to get out of this blog: a clearer understanding of our relationship with the environment and to witness the changing of a season unlike any other