My freshman year at Yampah Mountain High School I had the opportunity to fly over the roaring fork valley looking at water sheds. These are pictures from the flight, the organization was called eco-flight and was aimed at teaching youth about water sheds and the problems we are facing in these major drought conditions all over the U.S.
This is a speech I wrote, and read allowed at an open forum in Glenwood Springs, co. in relation to oil gas regulations and lease extensions.
Daniel Boatwright
Ninth Grade
Yampah Mountain High School
Speech Class
February 4, 2013
The generation we live in today is one that I’ve always looked at as the generation of no problems, the afterworks of a once oppressed country. I used to look around at forming countries with naïve eyes and wondered what in my world is worth fighting for. If anyone here has had that thought go through their head, then you need to know now that we are being robbed of our land, and being poisoned by unknown hells.
Would it bother you the least bit to know that the people poisoning you were told to leave, and because of a lack of public support (outcry?) basically slipped back in undetected? They’ve come to take what’s on our land, the people’s land, it’s oil and gas. If this is our land, why are we standing by while they blatantly disobey the people’s will to leave this land alone.
This is our land. To let those who are not of our land take what’s our is out of the question.
Yes, we do need fuel. But what’s apparent in all spectrums of life is that we do not crap where we eat. Would you crap on your plate—your one and only plate—just for a pile of money? And they will give you money. Take it or leave it now, for their wine is tainted with the blood or hardworking people. But if you choose to bathe in a pool of your very neighbor’s blood, then there will be no peace for you. Only the persevering may drink the wine of pleasure and bathe in clear water. These are not easy to obtain but if your will is to move a wall then we, we the people, will move that wall.
JSEP application form
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1. I learned about the Joint Science Education Project through my Science teacher, Susy Ellison. I am interested in the opportunity because a chance to participate in a scientific activity in a climate such as Greenland is too great a chance to give up, and to be able to experience a new culture and learn about the island in a way only a scientist could is something you can get nowhere else. Mainly I just want to be a part of cutting-edge science and bring that information back home and to my community at large.
2. Participating in JSEP 2014 would not only support my goals for traveling and studying extreme terrain, it would also start them. I have never had the chance to experience a place and profession like this so an introduction into scientific exploration and all the work that has to be done is what I’m looking forward to. It would give me a good start into a field like cryoecology, climate science, and glacier preservation. I hope in the future that I’ll be able to travel and actually make a life in the name of these studies.
3. I believe in our time the discovery of the Higgs or “god” particle is the most important, but what I believe is the most interesting discovery is the use of the Spatula gene (the gene which puts plants in hibernation) in the final growing stage, speeding and keeping the plant production during cold weather conditions such as the southeast has experienced this winter.
4. I very much look forward to meeting people from different cultures and hope I will be able to learn some things about them and their origin. I also hope to learn how to speak some of these different languages if I can in this amount of time. I am especially interested in learning to speak the native Greenlandic language and learning some cool habits and nuances.
5. My proudest or worthiest qualities would have to be my patience and endurance. I’m sure the cold weather in the Arctic is nothing compared to Colorado’s, but where I live in Colorado camping, hiking, hunting, and skiing are all tests of my endurance. In addition, I would have to claim my optimism as my proudest trait, and promise it will show in my actions.
6. If given the chance to participate in JSEP 2014 I would document the experience with stories, pictures, and writings as well as creating a class at school, with the help of our science teacher, where i'll be able to show what i've learned and get people excited about Greenland and polar science. I hope and would be prepared for teaching or part teaching a class like this on cold climates or preservation of ice shelves and inhabitants.
7. One of my most memorable family trips is when my brother, father, and I went hunting in a valley outside our little mountain town. It was a good 5 miles there and 5 back so we started just before dawn and got to the top just after daybreak. All day we saw tracks but only until we were in a thick aspen grove did we see the bull, a beautiful 4 pointer looking right at us. The bull was such a sight that we didn’t shoot. We hiked over a few more ravines and saw a young buck with his harem only a few yards away; in a split second my dad dropped it to the ground. The next hour we spent field dressing and got it back home before 11:00am. It was one of my most pivotal and important moments and really shows you the value of life and what it takes to feed your family with what God gives you.
8. What I am most proud of in my life is my family and community. My family’s great and their positive attitude helps my brothers and I achieve and succeed in life and school. They push me toward participating in community forums and events to help protect our fragile watershed. I am also very proud of my community’s willingness in helping preserve our mountains and watershed in a time where voices are usually overheard.
9. I would like to emphasize my excitement and anxiousness to experience and gain first hand knowledge about climate change science and the arctic. Being in a environment such as Greenland only deepens the learning connection and my enthusiasm to be around such a unique and interesting cultural setting.
2. Participating in JSEP 2014 would not only support my goals for traveling and studying extreme terrain, it would also start them. I have never had the chance to experience a place and profession like this so an introduction into scientific exploration and all the work that has to be done is what I’m looking forward to. It would give me a good start into a field like cryoecology, climate science, and glacier preservation. I hope in the future that I’ll be able to travel and actually make a life in the name of these studies.
3. I believe in our time the discovery of the Higgs or “god” particle is the most important, but what I believe is the most interesting discovery is the use of the Spatula gene (the gene which puts plants in hibernation) in the final growing stage, speeding and keeping the plant production during cold weather conditions such as the southeast has experienced this winter.
4. I very much look forward to meeting people from different cultures and hope I will be able to learn some things about them and their origin. I also hope to learn how to speak some of these different languages if I can in this amount of time. I am especially interested in learning to speak the native Greenlandic language and learning some cool habits and nuances.
5. My proudest or worthiest qualities would have to be my patience and endurance. I’m sure the cold weather in the Arctic is nothing compared to Colorado’s, but where I live in Colorado camping, hiking, hunting, and skiing are all tests of my endurance. In addition, I would have to claim my optimism as my proudest trait, and promise it will show in my actions.
6. If given the chance to participate in JSEP 2014 I would document the experience with stories, pictures, and writings as well as creating a class at school, with the help of our science teacher, where i'll be able to show what i've learned and get people excited about Greenland and polar science. I hope and would be prepared for teaching or part teaching a class like this on cold climates or preservation of ice shelves and inhabitants.
7. One of my most memorable family trips is when my brother, father, and I went hunting in a valley outside our little mountain town. It was a good 5 miles there and 5 back so we started just before dawn and got to the top just after daybreak. All day we saw tracks but only until we were in a thick aspen grove did we see the bull, a beautiful 4 pointer looking right at us. The bull was such a sight that we didn’t shoot. We hiked over a few more ravines and saw a young buck with his harem only a few yards away; in a split second my dad dropped it to the ground. The next hour we spent field dressing and got it back home before 11:00am. It was one of my most pivotal and important moments and really shows you the value of life and what it takes to feed your family with what God gives you.
8. What I am most proud of in my life is my family and community. My family’s great and their positive attitude helps my brothers and I achieve and succeed in life and school. They push me toward participating in community forums and events to help protect our fragile watershed. I am also very proud of my community’s willingness in helping preserve our mountains and watershed in a time where voices are usually overheard.
9. I would like to emphasize my excitement and anxiousness to experience and gain first hand knowledge about climate change science and the arctic. Being in a environment such as Greenland only deepens the learning connection and my enthusiasm to be around such a unique and interesting cultural setting.
This is an essay about the STP or Spatula gene. This is the essay I based question three off of in my JSEP application form.
Can Plants Grow in cold Weather?
The environment I’ve grown up in has always been a bit on the cold side so I’ve always looked at things that help plants grow when it gets cold. Other than reflective blankets and using a greenhouse there isn’t much you can actually do. Once I started looking at what helps plants grow genetically I started seeing some new research about the SPATULA or SPT gene. What the plant uses SPT for is it puts the plant in a vegetative state such as onion bulbs so they can sprout later in the spring. At first I thought I was reading the wrong article then they started talking about manipulating this gene so instead of putting it in a sleeping state when its cold it actually can double the growth. Even in some studies its being used to help ripening non-climatic plants in early cold seasons. Now two years after this research was under way it’s starting to look like it could be used in cooler temperate areas on a large scale. Looking forward I hope one day this discovery can make it to cold weather gardeners all over the world. and even in our many garden states just this year alone millions of dollars in citrus production has been lost to a sudden freeze. So to answer my age-old question, can plants grow in cold weather? , I say one day over that rainbow; yes we’re well on our way to cold climate carrots corn and yearly profit. By Daniel J Boatwright BIBLIOGRAPHY :pcp.oxfordjournals.org/content/53/6/1134.abstract www.isb.vt.edu/news/2010/Nov/SPATULA-Gene.pdf szie.hu/file/tti/archivum/TiszaV_thesis.pdf |