Data Centers

 In New Brunswick they successfully fought against a new data center. Meanwhile in Louisiana, Governor Landry happily announced that three Amazon data centers were coming to Northeast Louisiana. Data Center Infrastructure is the  newest planning board version of the big box store or cell tower - the controversial topic that is loved and hated and poorly understood.

Not everything should go down the drain

 Someone noticed sludge in the Elizabeth River and called it in. Based on the coverage in NJ.com, it looks like someone might have by-passed the sanitary sewage system and released it into a storm sewer catch basin instead. The EPA is investigating.

Using the EPA WATERS tool, we can see what the path might look like:

Learn something

On Fridays this spring, OSU Center for Urban and Regional Analysis is hosting free webinars. Here are some topics worth watching for:

• Local Data, Local Impact: Community-Centered Research in Central Ohio
• What are child-friendly cities like, why do they matter, and how do we build them?
• Building Cities for Everyone: Disability-Forward Housing Futures
• Creating Age-Friendly Communities: Local Approaches from Practice, Policy, and Research

Topo Map from Culver's Gap NJ

 

USGS Topographic Quad Maps

After talking about USGS topographic quads for NJ in class, these might be useful ways to explore the language used throughout the US on these amazing maps.








A special thanks goes out to Mike Siegel and the Rutgers Cartography Lab.  This is a great resource for students and for pros.

Federal government shedding PhDs

Science reports that the US Government now has 10,000 fewer STEM PhDs than it did a year before. 

Updating Canada's Floodmaps

10% of all houses in Canada are in the floodplain, but the maps in Canada are out-of-date. It turns out that the question of whether they should update the maps to a more accurate outcome is being fiercely debated.

Nature's 10

A fascinating list of people worth knowing about: Nature's 10