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The day started early. Kyle from Bridgetown Computers arrived to assist Heather organize her photographs on the cell phone. She was running out of space. Generally, I do not use my cell phone, except in emergencies. However I do recognize the convenience of having both Internet and telephone connectivity on the same device. This seems to be a debate in the media today.

Afterwards, I headed to Bridgetown to meet with John W. I wanted to share my experiences of the CSRS conference in Halifax. John recalled being part of the organizing committee in the 1980’s for an earlier venue in Halifax.

As we discussed the ‘joys of Decluttering’ , John handed me a mint copy of the 1988-90 calendar for the College of Geographic Sciences. Of particular interest, to me, were pages 14-15. It gives a list of faculty: twenty one in total, plus emeritus James Doig and Walter Morrison.

Programs were grouped under three departments (p.9).

Survey Department

Surveying, Survey Office Technician, Survey Assistant

Mapping Department

Cartography and Planning

Computer Department

Scientific Computer Programming, Remote Sensing, Computer Graphics and Geographic Information Systems.

It would be interesting to compare the instructional staff and programs between 1988 and 2024.

The third meeting after lunch was in Annapolis Royal with Anne Crossman. Anne needed my signature as part of the process of closing down EBLES (Ernest Buckler Literary Event Society). The funds remaining will be divided between Centrelea Community Hall and West Dalhousie Community Hall. Both communities have been very supportive over the years. I wish to thank the other members of EBLES for their good work and camaraderie: Anne Crossman, Jane Borecki, John Montgomerie and Steve Raftery..

In the heat of the evening, we took a cooling drive up the Hampton Mountain Road to the Bay of Fundy, Port Lorne to Mount Hanley, before returning on the Clarence Road to Lawrencetown and home. In the setting Sun, the house on South Mountain had remained warm.

Acknowledgements

Edward and Anne Wedler are away in Parsboro for the International Plein Air Art festival. Perhaps, Edward will author a blog on his return. Meanwhile no graphics or links for a week or two.

Today, Heather and I visited Brian Arnott on the shore of Atuomkuk/ Wentzell Lake of the Pijnuiskaq/ LaHave River Watershed. Brian and Leslie Wright have been the Principals for Novita Interpares Management Consultants, since 1972 (read the post, Citizen Advisory).

We met when I was a Senior Research Scientist at the Applied Geomatics Research Group (AGRG) in Middleton.

From the ‘Future of Windhorse Farm, Ulnooweg Education Centre :

‘ through a combination of purchase and gift, Windhorse has been transferred to the Ulnooweg Education Centre, an indigenous-led registered charity serving all of Atlantic Canada.’

‘Asitu’lisk part of the Ulnooweg Education Centre, is a place for the indigenous people of Atlantic Canada to welcome all who wish to come and learn about culture, language, ecology, health, ceremony and science. Asitu’lisk is a place to connect the generations and a place to heal and grow for all people.’

Brian provided a guided tour of the buildings and grounds. We walked through Asitu’lisk ‘It contains a hemlock grove that is over four centuries old and at least one tree – Grandmother Maple that has been dated at 530 years old; older than the arrival of Europeans on these shores.’

For more information go to Asitu’lisk or reach out to Leslie Wright, Lead, Planning and Management (lwright@ulnooweg.ca).

PS
At the end of 2021, Jim and Margaret Drescher brought their long-standing dream to life by returning Windhorse Farm to the rightful caregivers, the Mi’kmaq, the original people of this land Mikma’ki.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Brian for his guided tour of Asitu’lisk ( a verb that means that which gives you balance). The word is pronounced (ah-see-dew-lisk)

Reference

Go to the Asitu’lisk web site online.

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In ‘The Story of COGS’ I use a Venn Diagram of three intersecting circles to show the intersection of Concepts, Technology and Applications. At the intersection we have collaboration, projects and partnerships (see posts Background Story to the COGS and CCA Relationship and Tour de COGS).

This came to mind yesterday, as I was reading my emails.

The second email was a notice from Esri Canada about a webinar on June 19 ‘ Sky bound solutions. Drones revolutionizing AEC practices.’.

AEC stands for Architecture, Engineering and Construction. In essence, it is the application of GIS to the ‘ built environment’.

From my opening slide ‘ Fifty years of GIS and RS at COGS’, it shows me on our ‘walk to Georgetown in 2013. The message is simple. You have to ‘walk the talk’.

The message is also true from Edward Wedler. In the same time frame, he invented the venue ‘Ride the Lobster’, an 800km unicycle relay race around Nova Scotia (i.e. ‘the lobster’)

One final link, from Maria Popova, I received my weekly newsletter. The Marginalian. June 9, 2024.

References

Bob Maher and Heather Stewart, 2014, The Story of the College of Geographic Sciences: A Nova Scotian experiment in Technical Education.

We have been away for a few days in New Glasgow. It is good to get back to the gardening. The sunshine with the occasional shower has been good for the flowers: rhododendrons, wisteria and lupins.

In essence, Red, White and Blue; the colours of the Union Jack.

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Today, I went into COGS to meet with David MacLean. Since I only have the resources of my iPad, I don’t have-access to software to create slides for the CSRS keynote presentation next week. With significant help from both David and Edward, they were able to master the complexities of the Google world.

Even using my iPad at COGS, I needed to bring my cell phone to obtain an access code to the Internet. Oh, the joys of keeping up with technology.

In presenting Fifty years of GIS and RS at COGS, I have been able to witness the changes in technical education at a rural institution. It remains a remarkable story.

Besides the technological changes, we have witnessed significant changes in the philosophy of education, especially in relationship to an aging population. The other key factor is the change in our relationship to the landscape and the community. Fortunately, there have been a number of writers who have reflected upon these relationships

This week (Thursday, May 30), I attended the Annual General Meeting of the Geomatics Association of Nova Scotia at the ESRI Canada office in Bedford.

Simeon Roberts invited me to give a ‘dry run’ of my CSRS presentation ‘Fifty years of GIS and RS at COGS’. To be delivered in Halifax in June.

Of particular interest to me was the concern of GANS on education. This has been heightened by the cancellation of GIS programs (among other programs) at SSFC (Sir Sanford Fleming College) in Ontario and at RRU (Royal Roads University) and Vancouver Island University (Masters Program) in British Columbia. Their closure appears to be the result of the federal reduction in funding for foreign students coming to Canada. GANS expressed the concern of the possibility of increased competition, elsewhere in Canada for COGS graduates.

To counteract the shortage of qualified GIS/RS professionals, we must better understand that ‘geography matters’ to address the issues of climate change across the vast, diverse landscape of Canada. We need a better understanding of our geography and access to appropriate training in the related technologies of GIS and RS. This will likely require input from the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS), as well as the GIS community at the federal level. We need the equivalent of CACRS (Canada Advisory Committee on Remote Sensing) — a CACGIS ( Canada Advisory Committee on GIS).

Useful Online and Related References

Ellsworth LeDrew and Robert Ryerson, The Evolution of Remote Sensing Education in Canada’s Universities and Colleges: Decades of Innovation and Expansion, Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, Vol 49, 2023, Issue 1

Robert Maher and Heather Stewart, 2014, The Story of COGS (https://thestoryofcogs.ca/)

Check out Robert Maher’s blog site. ernestblairexperiment.wordpress.com

Visit the GoGeomatics online magazine

In 1977, George Argus at the Canadian Museum of Nature invited the author to join his Rare and Endangered Plants Project in Ottawa (see posts Enlightenment and Biogeography). Both Patrick and Andrew were born at the Ottawa General Hospital.

Move forward to today.

I discovered a copy of a short commentary by George in the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Journal tucked away in my bookcase. The title is Technological Barriers.

‘The computer seems to be the ‘magic bullet’ that will solve our communication problems and will permit us to turn around the environmental crisis in the next decades. The use of Geographic Information Systems to put our problems into some kind of geographic perspective, holistic modelling to see the big picture and expert systems to train cadres of ‘village ecologists ‘ who will keep watch on the ecosystem in which they live. I don’t believe it will work.’

‘Remote Sensing is an effective way to gather data on a macro scale level. The need however for extensive ground truthing and continuous examination of assumptions cannot be overemphasized.‘

‘In the face of problems such as world overpopulation, our undeterred rush towards more and more consumerism now being clothed in ‘green rhetoric’, the continued exploitation of the natural world, and the measure of everything in economic terms, the technological barriers to environmental information seem trivial.’

‘Although these technological barriers are not completely clear, I have a feeling that their solution will involve grappling with three other problems: politics, education and money.’

Heather and I have fond memories of our time in Ottawa. From a work perspective, it produced two publications. The Rare Vascular Plants of Nova Scotia, and the Rare Vascular Plants of Saskatchewan.

Today, I look across the road at the flowering horse chestnut tree. I remember George, the beekeeper and willow (Salix) expert, being impressed by the diversity of bees on the tree (see post The Bookshelf )

I believe that George’s comments on technology are even more true today.

References

G. W. Argus, 1992, Technological Barriers, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Journal, v 20, p.175-177.

R. V. Maher, David White, George Argus and Paul Keddy,1977,The Rare Vascular Plants of Nova Scotia, 37 pp, Syllogeus 18, Published by the National Museum, Ottawa.

R. V. Maher, George Argus and Vernon Harmes, 1978, The Rare Vascular Plants of Saskatchewan, 42 pp, Syllogeus 19, Published by the National Museum, Ottawa.

This week, (May 22,2024) we held a meeting of the Ernest Buckler Literary Event Society (EBLES).

Jane Borecky, Anne Crossman, myself and Heather Stewart met at John Montgomery’s house in Bridgetown. Our motto remains Reading where we live: A Celebration of Local Writing (read posts Eccentrics, in Paradise, Authors Among Us, and EBLES Meeting).

Once again, I went to my bookshelves. I found the EBLES program for Saturday, June 3, 2017, at the Bridgetown Legion and one for Saturday, June 29, 2019 at the Temple on Queen. Somewhere, there is a program for the West Dalhousie Community Hall event for Saturday, May 19, 2023.

While browsing, I found a newsletter from the Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia (Summer 2012) plus a self-guided tour of Elizabeth Bishop ‘s Great Village. It amuses me that both Ernest Buckler and Elizabeth Bishop share the same initials EB (read posts The Pastoral Economy and Geography III: Place Writing and Maps)

Two other finds.

The Nova Scotia Policy Review (2008, 2009) and Coastlands (2009, 2011), edited and published by Rachel Brighton, a resident of Bridgetown (read post Bring Back Coastlands).

MapAnnapolis Community Mapping project (read post Mapping Annapolis County)

About us:

‘Community-created asset maps are based on the premise that local residents possess expert knowledge of their local environments which can be expressed in a geographical framework which is easily understandable and universally recognized. Participatory maps often represent a socially or culturally distinct understanding of landscape and include information that is excluded from mainstream or official maps.’ Map Annapolis.

EBLES continues to support both the West Dalhousie and Centrelea communities. This seems appropriate: The Mountain and the Valley is important to David Manners (see post The Curious Mind), Ernest Buckler and those of us interested in the literary legacy of this part of the Annapolis Valley.

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This week spent time financing property in Middleton. Changed our bank from Scotia Bank to Credit Union. Despite its name, Scotia Bank is not serving the needs of Nova Scotians in rural areas, closing branches in Annapolis Royal and Bridgetown.

Acknowledgements

Thank you John Montgomery for the hospitality. Jane Borecky and Anne Crossman for their hard work. Heather Stewart, for sharing the load.

References

Rachel Brighton, 2009, Coastlands: The Maritimes Policy Review, Vol 3.1, An ethical look at agriculture.

Rachel Brighton, 2011, Coastlands: The Maritimes Policy Review, Vol 4.1. Feast to Famine.

Claude Bissell, 1989, Ernest Buckler Remembered. University of Toronto Press.

David Manners, 1941, Convenient Season, Dutton Press.

One of the surprises that comes from Decluttering is the discovery of old newspaper clippings. I found the following four articles from the Annapolis County Spectator of interest. All written by the author.

1) Geography matters: place-based economic develop. October 29, 2011
2) Geography, technology and scale. October 11, 2012
3) History, information and cultural mapping. February 21, 2013.
4) Connecting the stories. October 21, 2013.

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GEOGRAPHY MATTERS ARTICLE

It is significant that the NSCC fired the author, Chris Hopkinson and Jeff Wentzell on November 22, 2011 (after the first article was published).

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HISTORY, INFORMATION & CULTURAL MAPPING: GEORGETOWN LETTER ARTICLE

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On a different note, I found the obituary for Roger Tomlinson, the Father of Computerized Cartography; a full page in the Globe and Mail, Saturday March 1, 2014.

It includes a photograph of Roger conducting field work in Labrador in 1957.

The author was in Labrador at the McGill Sub-Arctic Research Lab in Schefferville conducting field work in 1964-65. He completed his B.Sc. Honours thesis ‘ A Biogeographical Study of the Shoal Lake Area, Labrador’ at the University of Birmingham, UK.

ROGER TOMLINSON OBITUARY ARTICLE

These last couple of weeks I have been Decluttering our house and my mind. We have decided to move to Middleton where we can walk to the grocery store, health services and the bank. Philosophically, we want to increase our level of walking and decrease jumping in the car to buy the necessities of life.

At the same time, in preparation for a talk on ‘Fifty Years of GIS and RS at COGS’ I have been Decluttering my mind.

A third dimension is going through the book cases, determining which books that I likely won’t re-read. They can go to Endless Shores in Bridgetown. Thank you, Jennifer Crouse.

Two books did demand my attention.

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Next week, I am scheduled to speak at the Geomatics Association of Nova Scotia (GANS) AGM. It will be a chance to test out a few ideas before the Canadian Society for Remote Sensing (CSRS) keynote talk in June.

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As the post-war boomer generation reaches eighty it seems appropriate to declutter life. This means simplifying, identifying core values, and looking at the larger issues of our generation (e.g. climate change).

The provincial government has scrapped the Coastal Protection Act; instead, it downloaded coastal problems to the municipalities and individual landowners (see post Two Emails).

The Coastal Zone is essentially a geographic problem. Here is my question. Has the government approached the Centre of Geographic Sciences (COGS) scientists and faculty?

In addition, the Applied Geomatics Research Group (AGRG) under Tim Webster has access to field equipment to monitor changes in the coastal zone.

If the plan is to download the problem to municipalities, do these organizations have access to these tools and trained staff? Do Planning graduates from COGS have these skills? ( see previous blog)

From my perspective, the NSCC should ensure there is a sufficient number of graduates with both the technical skills and the geographic science.

I will forward this blog to Tim, to find out whether AGRG has been approached to provide both types of expertise. The Coastal Zone remains a critical component of both the economic and environmental future of Nova Scotia. We need to prepare for this future, through education and training.

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The location is Spa Springs, just outside of Middleton. The story is fiction. Leeson has also written The Dome Chronicles about the back-to-the-land movement in rural Nova Scotia.

Acknowledgements

Edward added the graphics and links.

Reference

Garry Leeson, 2021, The Secret of the Spring, Moose House Press.