Crisis Relief
In the midst of writing a PhD thesis crises of confidence are like those Routemaster buses I was talking about the other day (but on a different temporal scale); days and weeks without a worry and then a couple come along on the same day. Sometimes the end feels infintely far away. Today has been such a day.
However, I've found by writing down my specific aims and objectives and then reviewing my progress toward them I can calm myself down before any lasting damage is done. So here's what I wrote today:
Aim
Objectives
To achieve aim i): Develop a spatially-explicit computer simulation model to examine:
To achieve aim ii):
(And England won the cricket! GET IN!)
However, I've found by writing down my specific aims and objectives and then reviewing my progress toward them I can calm myself down before any lasting damage is done. So here's what I wrote today:
Aim
- Examine the impacts of human land use/cover change upon wildfire regimes in a Mediterranean landscape
- Explore and evaluate novel methods to 'validate' simulation models (and processes of modelling) of environmental change considering human activity
Objectives
To achieve aim i): Develop a spatially-explicit computer simulation model to examine:
- impacts of change in land use/cover configuration (specifically fragmentation) on future wildfire regime (spread component)
- impacts of change in vegetation (land cover) composition on future wildfire regime (spread and ignition risk components)
- impacts of change in human population (size and 'type' of inhabitant) on future wildfire regime (ignition risk component)
To achieve aim ii):
- Explore ways of using local stakeholder input to 'validate' (or assess the 'warrantability' of) the construction of the model (emphasis on the 'realism' of the model rather than dynamics
- Discuss potential uses of narrative approaches to present processes of model construction and interpretation of results
- Examine use of 'table of inductions' as proposed by W. Whewell
- Think about discussion of potential of online tools for collaborative/participatory approaches to environmental modelling
(And England won the cricket! GET IN!)

This work by James D.A. Millington is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home