The logs that sit closest to the water, are the ones that fall in

      This past week Dr. John Rex, a hydrologist with the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operation and Rural Development gave a wonderful talk at the NRESi colloquia. I’ve never been one to think water sheds, let alone the smaller sources of water that eventually add up to river. I’m noticing that NRESi presenters are consistently good at establishing terms with the audience. John Rex does this in his presentation several times, but specifically he does a good job presenting the Strahler method for numbering the bodies of water, and that he would be specifically referring to 1st order and 2nd order streams. Clarifying these terms really helped audience members visualize his project.

Dr. Rex presents both doom and joyous statements in his research. The doom, being that climate change and deforestation are contributing to warmer waters. Along the same lines, BC are entering winter on a drought, meaning that the snow pack won’t be as dense as normal. Since forest fires have been so prevalent these past few years, a dry summer would only contribute to more fires. The more joyous discovery presented, was the BC has experienced sixteen different droughts worse than any thing we have on record based on tree rings from who’ve been around for the last 300 years.

I don’t see a lot of overlap between my work and Dr. Rex’s, however he does remind me of the importance of our watershed. Even the small streams play a big role in biological diversity, nutrient availability and habitat availability. The main takeaway, is the adaptive management strategy he presented. I think it’s important to plan for possible changes to management right from the start of a project as this would likely be more easily implemented by industrial partners.

Rex is a class A presenter. He plays himself down more than I think that he should by stating he has a bring voice, and that he’s not comfortable speaking in from of crowds. I’ve seen a number of presentations where the presenter makes several selfdeprecating comments, making the room feel uncomfortable however Rex’s personality plays it off with amusement in a way that charmed the audience rather than distancing them. All in all, Dr. Rex did a great job at presenting his findings, keeping the audience entertained and responding to wide range of questions offered to him.