Hello everyone. My name is Tyler Brackbill and I am a senior at University Park in State College. I am a telecomm major and I am also pursuing a certificate in sports journalism. I am originally from outside of Pottstown, Pennsylvania which is about an hour northwest of Philly. I am a diehard Philly sports fan and hope to work in the sports industry in some fashion. I am also a huge Breaking Bad nerd and Taylor Swift fan. (Fun fact: I went to high school with a former classmate of hers in 3rd grade). I have a dog named Riley (9) and a cat named Nittany (4) who we both rescued. Anyway, I live within the 10 mile “safe radius” of the Limerick Nuclear Generating Station which is run by Exelon (and is what the nuclear power plant in The Simpsons is based off of). Because of living in its shadows, I have always had a small interest in the power plant, but not enough to become a nuclear engineer haha. I did learn that it is one of the cleanest power sources there are, and that you can’t judge the entire field off of events like Chernobyl and Fukishima. I feel like this, with my previous class about environmental science, made me interested in this class.
With this class, I believe that visualization is the most important medium to show change in the earth from year to year. For example, the difference in the size of glaciers or ice caps from the year 1965 to 2015. Visuals like these can help drive home points because there is actual evidence if front of you. Pictures and comparisons are what help me learn and they can help everyone else too.
Hey Tyler! I actually live near the Limerick power plant too, small world I guess. It’s interesting to hear that you want to learn more about nuclear energy. I’m sure that it will be covered somewhere in the sustainability lessons. The visual depictions representing of how we as humans are impacting the earth every year are important to understanding why geography is a vital field of study when looking at what our planet can look like in the future. If you’re interested, check out my post below.
http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/01/19/module-1-getting-to-know-you-13/
Hey Tyler, my name is Molly and we actually have a couple things in common! I’m a huge Taylor Swift fan and a little jealous of you knowing a former classmate of hers. My family recently got a bunny and named him Nittany just like you cat. Finally, I am also a visual learner and think that it would be beneficial for people to see how much we are actually hurting the earth.
Here’s a link to my post too!
https://sites.psu.edu/geog30/wp-admin/post.php?post=41996&action=edit
Hi Tyler, my name is Ryan Daley. I am a senior professional golf management major. I was thinking of doing nuclear engineering when i was going into college but am happy I ended up choosing golf (engineering=too much math). I agree with what you said about visualization being a good medium for showing change and i also feel like this is the most effective way to drive home the point that climate change is a real issue.http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/01/20/module-1-ryan-daley/
Hi Tyler, my name is Johnna and I’m a Junior at University Park. It’s very interesting that you live so close to a nuclear station. I also agree that visualization is a very important way to show change. A great example in Module One was the lake in Folsom, California. It showed how little time it took for the lake to dry up due to human impact and drought. Visuals help clearly show changes over a time span. I think they’re key when learning about human impacts.
You can refer to my blog post if you’d like: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/01/20/getting-to-know-you-module-1-2/