Biography
- I wish I were an expert in:
- Quantum theory
- Dream jobs:
- Mad scientist
- About me
- I've loved electronics since I was a kid. Always liked to tinker and was lucky enough to get paid for it! First year for Mentoring and looking forward to it.
Science in my life
- What is science to you?
- It's what I do and I do it well.
- I would invent
- Transmute of lead to gold
- Technology I love
- Internet, wireless.
- Technology that drives me crazy
- AI robots that take over the world
- What technology do you use every day?
- Cell phone, computers, radios
- What math do you use every day?
- Designing electronic circuits
Biography
- I wish I were an expert in:
- Playing the piano. I used to play when I was 7 years old for about 5 years. I took lessons at the Sabathani Center and even got to play in a concert for family and friends when I was 12. I would also like to play the harp and guitar better.
I'd like to take more lessons to become more proficient. - Dream jobs:
- I like a position where I get to work directly with customers and employees. I enjoy mentoring and coaching employees to help them develop and be able to position them for a role that meets their career objectives. I get a lot of satisfaction out of knowing that I've helped customers or employee meet their needs or goals.
I also like roles where I get to work with young adults or children - helping them aspire and achieve their goals and dreams.
I enjoy working with children who have health needs - it's always so inspiring to me to see the strength of these children as they work hard to overcome their health issues/obstacles.
- About me
- I grew up and spent most of my life in South Mpls and moved to northern MN when I was in 10th grade. Some of the schools I attended were: Horace Mann Elementary, Bryant Jr High, Ramsey and Mpls Central (which was torn down quite a few years ago). I have worked at GE Capital Fleet Services for 28 years in various roles. I am married and have two grown children. A daughter Jen who graduated from college in 2007 with a major in graphic design from Winona State University and a son, Tom who is completing his last year at UND (University of North Dakota) majoring in Industrial Technology. Tom recently participated in a college job fair and interviewed with several employers looking for graduating seniors in the engineering field. Tom was offered a job starting in May in northern Minnesota. I also have two cats - Missy Lou and Charlie. I am also a Sr. Mary Kay Beauty Consultant. I participate in many community or volunteer events since I like working with and meeting new people. I believe in the Golden Rule - treat others as you would like to be treated. I start each day in a positive way by 'choosing my attitude' and setting the stage for how my day is going to go.
Science in my life
- What is science to you?
- Science to me is trying to figure out what is the logical reasoning why something exists or occurs. I've always been intrigued by science (one of my favorite classes in school) - that and biology.
- I would invent
- I would invent a car that has a lever that you pull that raises your vehicle up and over all the other cars on the freeway during rush hour so I can cruise along and get to work in 20 mins instead of 45 mins to an hour.
- Technology that drives me crazy
- I love computers and blackberries/cell phones but sometimes they can drive you crazy when you need to fix them and don't know how to fix it yourself.
- What technology do you use every day?
- I love ATM or check cards. It's so nice to 'pay at the pump', pay for groceries with a card rather than writing out a check, completing purchases on-line. I do love Blackberries since as a manager when someone needs to get ahold of you, they can email or call you and you get the message right away. You also don't have to log on to your computer to check email messages. Everything is at your fingertips with a Blackberry.
- What math do you use every day?
- As a manager, we report out on 'metrics' - which is how we measure an employees performance. We use a lot of calculations, excel, dashboards which show the results of how an employee performed for a given time period (kind of like a report card). With excel, we use a lot of formulas or formula wizards to add up columns of data.
Biography
- I wish I were an expert in:
- Being able to make people laugh when I have to give presentations, so they're not boring!
Getting more educated in my field related to retirement plans - the more knowledge you have the more valuable you are.
How to make specialty cakes (that actually taste good!) - Dream jobs:
- Run a camping resort
Wedding planner
Event Center Manager
- About me
- Have worked at GE Fleet Services for 8 years, have been in the Human Resources field for 11 years. This is my 4th year in the mentor program. I enjoy walking, reading, and spending time with my family. I grew up in northern Minnesota, but have lived in Minneapolis for 11 years.
Science in my life
- What is science to you?
- The study of the world around us, attempting to understand how things operate from a physical and non physical perspective.
- I would invent
- A way to download information into my mind, so I could spend less time reading data, and more time analyzing it and finding effective ways to improve the benefit offerings for the company I work for.
- Technology I love
- computers - and the ability to store things electronically - it helps you remember things!
- Technology that drives me crazy
- i-pods, I don't know how to use them yet!
- What technology do you use every day?
- Computer, cell phone, email, internet
- What math do you use every day?
- All the time - everything from creating my personal family budget related to: home costs/vehicle costs/cabin costs/schooling costs, to grocery shopping to work. I use math a lot in my job specifically around analyzing data.
Biography
- I wish I were an expert in:
- Finance and reading financial information because I work with financial people every day in my job.
- Dream jobs:
- My dream job's would all include the outdoors, be a float plane pilot in Alaska, operate a fishing guide service in northern Wisconsin or Minnesota, or work as a game warden for the state. Also, be able to race high performance cars or motorcycles - snowmobiles, because going fast can be a lot of fun, in a controlled environment.
- About me
- I've lived in Minnesota my whole life, and I love the outdoors and the Midwest. I enjoy my job, and have worked for GE Fleet for over (27) years.
Science in my life
- What is science to you?
- Science to me is learning how things interact with each other, what chemical or environmental impacts do things have on our environment.
- I would invent
- I would enjoy inventing a new type of fuel that would not pollute the environment, be easy to manufacturer at a low cost, and help us replace oil as a primary fuel.
- Technology I love
- Using my digital camera to capture nature shots while I'm on the road traveling for business. I also like computers and Wii and Gamecube. My (10) year old son is a wiz at video games.
- Technology that drives me crazy
- I'm not great with a blackberry or texting on my phone.
- What technology do you use every day?
- I use a cell phone every day in my job, and I travel about once a week. I like using my laptop and either wi-fi or an air card to access Outlook - e-mail when I'm on the road.
- What math do you use every day?
- My job requires a lot of interaction with financial people at corporations and small businesses. I enjoy running financial analysis and performing fleet analytics for customers. Basically, I try to show businesses how thye can save money on the vehicles they use in the operation of their company business.
Biography
- I wish I were an expert in:
- Oceanography/ cancer cure
- Dream jobs:
- Oceanographer
- About me
- Very intelegent, handsome, athletic and not conceited.
Science in my life
- What is science to you?
- Discovery
- I would invent
- cancer cure/prevention
- Technology I love
- flushing toilets
- Technology that drives me crazy
- obnoxious ring tones...ear phones on people in public
- What technology do you use every day?
- shower
A turtle whispers its secrets to the orangutan: Unfortunately, all the turtle's secrets are about shoplifting and dirty magazines. Orangutans already know about that stuff.
Courtesy steven2005Just kidding, I can swim. Not very well, but I swim all right. As far as spearfishing goes, though, I couldn’t do that. I mean, maybe it’s just me, but I could never kill a fish with a stick. Unless it was lying on the ground, or something—then I bet I could really bash the heck out of a fish. I’d really whack its little head in.
Orangutans in a conservation refuge on Kaja Island in Borneo, however, have proven to be adept at both swimming and killing fish with sticks. Neither activity was thought to be possible for the great apes, but naturalists on the island have recently observed them swimming across a river to get at their favorite fruits, and using tree branches to stun fish in the water before eating them. Other orangutans were seen attempting to spear fish with branches, supposedly after seeing fishermen using rods. This is thought to be the first documented occasion of orangutans using tools for hunting.
It was also noted that some of the apes quickly came up with an even more efficient way of collecting fish: stealing them from human fishermen when their lines were unattended. Those damn dirty apes!
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Pelagia noctiluca aka the mauve stinger
Courtesy Wikimedia CommonsBillions of stinging jellyfish have wiped out more than 100,000 salmon in Northern Ireland, essentially decimating the region’s only salmon farm.
The attack, which took place north of Belfast just off the coast of the Glens of Antrim, involved an amazing 10 square mile by 35 feet deep swarm (or shoal) of the jellyfish species Pelagia noctiluca.
"It was unprecedented, absolutely amazing," said John Russell, managing director of the Northern Salmon Company, Ltd. "The sea was red with these jellyfish, and there was nothing we could do about it, absolutely nothing."
Workers for the company battled for hours to get through the huge mass of mauve stingers - as they are commonly known - but they were clearly outnumbered. By the time they reached the net pens all the salmon were either dead or dying from the attack. Russell fears that without some sort of government aid the company will be forced to go out of business.
Swarms of mauve stingers are not uncommon. However, they’re mostly known for stinging swimmers in the warmer waters of the Mediterranean. It was rare to see them as far north as Great Britain until recently, presumably due to climate change.
Here's some great video posted on YouTube by NewScientist of a mauve stinger swarm shot near the Balearic Islands in Spain and elsewhere in the Mediterranean.
STORY LINKS
Reuters Science News
UPI Story
Story in Minneapolis Star Tribune
These three stories are all about weird fish. No, not the restaurant in SF, but the wet kind.: Photo by lawgeek at flickr.com
I surf the web. I read the blogs. I see stuff that looks interesting, and I file it away, They accumulate, they reach critical mass, and they burst forth in full, horrendous flower.
Which is a roundabout way of saying, I’ve seen a few interesting articles on marine life lately, and rather than write three separate posts, I thought I’d wrap them all up into one.
Scientists in Hawaii have discovered a new deep-sea creature with the arms of an octopus and the mantle of a squid. Dubbed “octosquid,” it was caught in the filter of a deep sea pipeline.
Hungry squid invade California
Humboldt squid, a giant predator that can grow 7 feet long and weigh up to 110 pounds, has expanded its range into central California. It normally hangs out in tropical waters from Peru to Costa Rica. But fishing pressures have reduced its natural predators – tuna, swordfish and sharks – resulting in a squid population explosion. They have moved north into new territory. Humans, seals, otters and other mammals have nothing to fear, but the squid do eat large amounts of hake, anchovy and other commercial fish.
Check out this photo gallery of weird, cool creatures of the deep.
Photo by lawgeek at flickr.com
Please contact us if you have questions about the rights on this image.
Catfish skullEvery month we pull an object out of the Science Museum of Minnesota's collections and put it on display here at the museum and let you write your own label for the object. This month's we found a catfish skull and it looks particularly cool to my eyes. It's spiky and and kinda looks like it has a mohawk.
What do you think about this unique fish? Head on over to the object of the month and try your hand at writing a label.
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