Crunch time...

As with everything in (student) life months of heavy working or studying precede months of relaxation and pleasure. We are about to finish our first year at Utrecht University and enter 2 months of well deserved vacation. I have mostly been occupied with my research project in the last couple of months. Turns out the computer refuses to process my data the way I tell him to do. And trust me I already tried a couple of different computers so I´m close to admitting my own failure. But I´m not yet ready to abandon the field. Two weeks to go as I said!

However, the fact that 31 teams are currently trying to defy our German youngsters in South Africa is not making it any easier to focus on this year´s final tasks. On top of that Utrecht and the Netherlands presented themselves in the best light recently. We had tons of free concerts, the highlights having been of course Queen´s day and Liberation day. My personal favourite was Liberation day in Wageningen, a small city some 50km east of Utrecht. About 10 stages with performing artists from all over the world made up for a perfect day. The Festival op de Werf right in the heart of Utrecht (Neude square) also contributed to a really nice spring time in Utrecht and warm summer nights at the oudegracht (Utrecht´s main canal) are unrivalled anyways.

But back to university:

Only one week till I have to present my research results to my fellow students and the 28th is already the due date for my final report. It has been an interesting and challenging venture into plant physiology and computer-based modelling but it will probably not become a big passion of mine.

In the second year of my Master in Sustainable Development we will mostly be writing our thesis though some courses are scheduled as well. I can´t wait to gain further insight into non-natural science related issues as this my motivation to apply for this inter-disciplinary program.

The issue of sustainable development is so complex and mutli-faceted that approaching it from only one specific angle inevitably leads to failure. Every single issue of modern unsustainability can be addressed in a multitude of ways. Take the oil spill in the gulf of mexico for example: there´s an engineering, technical side to it just as much as it is a policical, social and environmental issue. What´s the aftermath going to look like for business, the political and societal sphere and of course for nature? Of course I personally, given my biologist background, am most worried about the consequences for wildlife and the ecosystems directly impacted by the spill. But viewed from an economical perspective, you might also bring up the immense damage done to fisheries and tourism. It´s a paradigm for the destructive power of men´s greed for oil and for the string puppetry nature of our domestic and international politics.

I nonetheless sincerely hope that this catastrophe might mark a turning point in our headless love of fossil fuel driven economies and that nature´s sacrifice will not have been futile.

I wish you all the best for the upcoming summer months!

Andy