Unit 01: Relationship with Nature 🐿️

Describe your current relationship with nature. How has this developed/evolved? Who offered you “a sense of place,” as described in our textbook?

Hi everyone! My name is Sam (she/her) and this is my third year in the Bachelor of Science in Environmental Sciences (Ecology) program here at the University of Guelph. 

Like many, my positive relationship with nature developed from a young age. My fondest memories from childhood are homed by forests, rivers, and family gardens. Observing lily pads while canoeing with my mom, petting banded wooly bear caterpillars Pyrrharctia isabella on hikes, thanking trees for letting me climb their branches, and staying up late reading so I could identify every shell I found on the beach. I felt a strong urge to nurture nature as it did for me, despite the fact I had so much growth ahead.

The summer before highschool I started volunteering as a camp counselor at a farm on the Niagara Escarpment, where I found my “sense of place” in nature surrounded by free-roaming chickens, acres of horse pasture, and a group of children eager to learn about forming relationships with animals. Around the same time, I attended “Discovery Vet School” at the University of Guelph, which opened my eyes to the plausible academic future I had in the environmental sector. One of the lectures focused on the ethics of the meat industry; needless to say (against my family’s wishes) my stubborn grade 9 self was vegetarian by the time I got home— an ethical decision that has stuck with me these past seven (7) years. In highschool, I also started volunteering with and fostering for the Humane Society and private animal rescues. With a focus on neonatal kittens, my desire to research the biology and behaviour behind animals skyrocketed. At the same time, I was mesmerized by how deeply bonded I felt to each individual in my care (over 50 cats and kittens by the time I was moving away!). These deep bonds transitioned to plant life too. I started working for a local garden centre and conservation area in my last year of high school, which brought along incredible mentors and life-long friendships built on the foundation of a love for nature. Every plant, animal, and component of our natural environment was solidified in my mind as a someone instead of a something.

Furthermore, I spent Summer 2023 as a full-time Plant & Biocontrol Research Assistant at Vineland Research & Innovation Centre, where I contributed to a variety of experimental projects involving plants, insects, and growth substrates. Whether I was identifying/tracking microscopic insects, testing soil pH levels from Ontario conservation areas, conducting biostimulant fieldwork, or caring for hundreds of greenhouse plants, each day took my passion for ecology to a more feasibly impactful level— I loved it! However, this newfound “measurement of impact” came from a western science perspective spent in labs where all my observations were easily transferable to a spreadsheet. When I was tired from long days of work, it was still nature that would soothe my aches and cradle my mental exhaustion. Evenings spent digging around in my home garden and harvesting vegetables grown without the grand purpose of contributing to scientific reports. Evenings spent reading in the grass accompanied by my family cat and best friend, Delilah, while watching insects crawl between the words of the book I was reading. Evenings spent climbing the backyard tree that had watched me like a grandmother through every stage of life, even though I couldn’t swing on her low hanging branches like I once did. 

These moments after work, coupled with summer weekends spent hiking or kayaking, lead my story to right now. I’ve returned to the University of Guelph, taking on the role of ecology student for my third year. My “sense of place” within nature has truly blossomed here, where I spend my academic life studying our complex ecological world and my personal life finding natural influences in the music, clothing, activities, and friendships I immerse myself in. The relationship I share with nature is constantly evolving, and I’m looking forward to exploring the intricacies (and sharing them with you!) during our Nature Interpretation course this semester :)

Janet Yellen just proved markets can't handle the truth The details: At an event hosted by The Atlantic, Yellen, an economist who previously led the Federal Reserve, indicated that the central bank may need to hike interest rates to prevent prices from rising too quickly. “It may be that interest rates will have to rise somewhat to make sure that our economy doesn’t overheat,” Yellen said. Her comments rippled through markets, feeding a selloff in tech stocks that could take a beating when rates rise. She later clarified that she wasn’t predicting or making any recommendations to the Fed, whose independence she respects, and does not expect inflation to be a persistent, major issue. “I don’t think there’s going to be an inflationary problem, but if there is, the Fed can be counted on to address [it],” Yellen said later Tuesday at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit. Step back: The content of what Yellen said wasn’t revolutionary. The US economy is on track to stage a full recovery from the pandemic this year as demand bounces back and the employment situation improves. As the economy strengthens, the Federal Reserve will eventually have to raise rates, which can’t stay at rock bottom levels indefinitely. “Markets were unhappy at this statement of the blindingly obvious,” said Paul Donovan, chief economist of UBS Global Wealth Management. “Rates will clearly rise in the future.” But investors remain on edge about when, exactly, that will happen — especially with valuations of assets like stocks looking extremely rich and vulnerable to a pullback. Most Federal Reserve officials think the central bank won’t move away from super-low interest rates until after 2023. At the same time, signs of price pressures in different parts of the economy are growing. See here: Bottlenecks following the pandemic are causing all kind of problems in supply chains that could lead to higher prices. Carmaker Stellantis (FCAU) said Wednesday that the computer chip shortage roiling the auto industry is getting worse. Meanwhile, the price of commodities is climbing, with the Bloomberg Commodity Spot Index, which tracks 23 raw materials, hitting its highest level since 2011. In a survey of manufacturers from the Institute for Supply Management released earlier this week, suppliers complained of rising prices, as well as limited availability of parts and materials that were making it difficult to meet the burst of demand. “The current electronics/semiconductor shortage is having tremendous impacts on lead times and pricing,” one respondent said. “Additionally, there appears to be a general inflation of prices across most, if not all, supply lines.” Big picture: Whether investors want it to or not, post-Covid inflation has arrived. What matters is whether higher prices are transient, as Yellen forecasts, or turn out to have staying power. “The question is not whether there will be some inflation this year, but whether it will represent ‘overheating’ of the economy as a whole,” J. Bradford DeLong, a professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley, wrote in a column published Tuesday. Wall Street is ready to end the era of Zoom meetings Fed up with remote work, Wall Street’s bosses are preparing to bring employees back to the office on a large scale — moves that could reinvigorate the US financial center after more than a year of pandemic life. The latest: Most Goldman Sachs (GS) workers will be back in lower Manhattan by mid-June, according to a memo sent to staff on Tuesday. “We are focused on progressing on our journey to gradually bring our people back together again, where it is safe to do so, and are now in a position to activate the next steps in our return to office strategy,” CEO David Solomon, President John Waldron and CFO Stephen Scherr wrote. The executives said they “continue to be encouraged by the rollout of vaccines” in many areas and the “effectiveness of the health and safety protocols we have put in place.” Speaking at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon said he’s sick of remote working, which hurts corporate culture and makes it difficult to compete for clients. Last week, the bank announced it will open its US offices to all employees on May 17, subject to a 50% occupancy cap. “We want people back at work and my view is some time in September, October, it will look just like it did before,” Dimon said. “Yes, people don’t like commuting, but so what?” That said: Some fixtures of the pre-pandemic financial world aren’t ever coming back. CME Group announced Tuesday that it won’t reopen physical trading pits that were closed in Chicago last March due to Covid-19. Once iconic hubs for trading commodities like soybeans, such locations have been made superfluous by electronic trading — and after staying empty for many months, they may be on their way out for good. Ethereum’s 27-year-old creator is now a billionaire Vitalik Buterin, a 27-year-old Russian-Canadian programmer, created ethereum in 2013 when he was 19 years old. Now, as the cryptocurrency skyrockets, his net worth is soaring. Buterin holds about 333,500 ether in his public wallet, my CNN Business colleague Alexis Benveniste reports. Multiply that by the $3,500 record high it hit on Tuesday, and you get more than $1.1 billion. Not bad. What we know: Buterin co-founded Bitcoin Magazine, a publication that covers bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, in 2012. In 2014, he was selected to be part of the Thiel Fellowship, a two-year program created by billionaire Peter Thiel that “gives $100,000 to young people who want to build new things instead of sitting in a classroom.” But Buterin keeps a fairly low profile. He isn’t super active on social media — even though he boasts 1.4 million Twitter followers. Big picture: Ethereum is down from recent highs on Wednesday, but is still trading at more than $3,300. It’s surged more than 350% since the start of 2021. Part of the digital coin’s success can be credited to the fact that it’s the cryptocurrency of choice for purchasing many non-fungible tokens, or NFTs — digital artwork and other collectibles that are transformed into one-of-a-kind, verifiable assets that are easy to trade on the blockchain. But questions remain about whether NFTs are a game changer, or just a passing fad. Up next Dine Brands (DIN), General Motors (GM), Hilton (HLT), New York Times (NYT) and Scott’s Miracle-Gro (SMG) report results before US markets open. Booking Holdings, Etsy (ETSY), MetLife (MET), PayPal (PYPL), Rocket Companies and Uber (UBER) follow after the close. Also today: The ADP private employment report for April arrives at 8:15 a.m. ET. The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index, an important read of the US services sector, follows at 10 a.m. ET. Coming tomorrow: Earnings from Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), ArcelorMittal (AMSYF), Moderna (MRNA) and Volkswagen (VLKAF). Source link Orbem News #handle #investing #Janet #Markets #Premarketstocks:JanetYellenjustprovedmarketscan'thandlethetruth-CNN #proved #truth #Yellen

Janet Yellen just proved markets can't handle the truth

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/janet-yellen-just-proved-markets-cant-handle-the-truth/

Janet Yellen just proved markets can't handle the truth

The details: At an event hosted by The Atlantic, Yellen, an economist who previously led the Federal Reserve, indicated that the central bank may need to hike interest rates to prevent prices from rising too quickly.

“It may be that interest rates will have to rise somewhat to make sure that our economy doesn’t overheat,” Yellen said.

Her comments rippled through markets, feeding a selloff in tech stocks that could take a beating when rates rise. She later clarified that she wasn’t predicting or making any recommendations to the Fed, whose independence she respects, and does not expect inflation to be a persistent, major issue.

“I don’t think there’s going to be an inflationary problem, but if there is, the Fed can be counted on to address [it],” Yellen said later Tuesday at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit.

Step back: The content of what Yellen said wasn’t revolutionary. The US economy is on track to stage a full recovery from the pandemic this year as demand bounces back and the employment situation improves. As the economy strengthens, the Federal Reserve will eventually have to raise rates, which can’t stay at rock bottom levels indefinitely.

“Markets were unhappy at this statement of the blindingly obvious,” said Paul Donovan, chief economist of UBS Global Wealth Management. “Rates will clearly rise in the future.”

But investors remain on edge about when, exactly, that will happen — especially with valuations of assets like stocks looking extremely rich and vulnerable to a pullback.

Most Federal Reserve officials think the central bank won’t move away from super-low interest rates until after 2023. At the same time, signs of price pressures in different parts of the economy are growing.

See here: Bottlenecks following the pandemic are causing all kind of problems in supply chains that could lead to higher prices. Carmaker Stellantis (FCAU) said Wednesday that the computer chip shortage roiling the auto industry is getting worse.

Meanwhile, the price of commodities is climbing, with the Bloomberg Commodity Spot Index, which tracks 23 raw materials, hitting its highest level since 2011.

In a survey of manufacturers from the Institute for Supply Management released earlier this week, suppliers complained of rising prices, as well as limited availability of parts and materials that were making it difficult to meet the burst of demand.

“The current electronics/semiconductor shortage is having tremendous impacts on lead times and pricing,” one respondent said. “Additionally, there appears to be a general inflation of prices across most, if not all, supply lines.”

Big picture: Whether investors want it to or not, post-Covid inflation has arrived. What matters is whether higher prices are transient, as Yellen forecasts, or turn out to have staying power.

“The question is not whether there will be some inflation this year, but whether it will represent ‘overheating’ of the economy as a whole,” J. Bradford DeLong, a professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley, wrote in a column published Tuesday.

Wall Street is ready to end the era of Zoom meetings

Fed up with remote work, Wall Street’s bosses are preparing to bring employees back to the office on a large scale — moves that could reinvigorate the US financial center after more than a year of pandemic life.

The latest: Most Goldman Sachs (GS) workers will be back in lower Manhattan by mid-June, according to a memo sent to staff on Tuesday.

“We are focused on progressing on our journey to gradually bring our people back together again, where it is safe to do so, and are now in a position to activate the next steps in our return to office strategy,” CEO David Solomon, President John Waldron and CFO Stephen Scherr wrote.

The executives said they “continue to be encouraged by the rollout of vaccines” in many areas and the “effectiveness of the health and safety protocols we have put in place.”

Speaking at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon said he’s sick of remote working, which hurts corporate culture and makes it difficult to compete for clients.

Last week, the bank announced it will open its US offices to all employees on May 17, subject to a 50% occupancy cap.

“We want people back at work and my view is some time in September, October, it will look just like it did before,” Dimon said. “Yes, people don’t like commuting, but so what?”

That said: Some fixtures of the pre-pandemic financial world aren’t ever coming back. CME Group announced Tuesday that it won’t reopen physical trading pits that were closed in Chicago last March due to Covid-19.

Once iconic hubs for trading commodities like soybeans, such locations have been made superfluous by electronic trading — and after staying empty for many months, they may be on their way out for good.

Ethereum’s 27-year-old creator is now a billionaire

Vitalik Buterin, a 27-year-old Russian-Canadian programmer, created ethereum in 2013 when he was 19 years old. Now, as the cryptocurrency skyrockets, his net worth is soaring.

Buterin holds about 333,500 ether in his public wallet, my Appradab Business colleague Alexis Benveniste reports. Multiply that by the $3,500 record high it hit on Tuesday, and you get more than $1.1 billion. Not bad.

What we know: Buterin co-founded Bitcoin Magazine, a publication that covers bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, in 2012. In 2014, he was selected to be part of the Thiel Fellowship, a two-year program created by billionaire Peter Thiel that “gives $100,000 to young people who want to build new things instead of sitting in a classroom.”

But Buterin keeps a fairly low profile. He isn’t super active on social media — even though he boasts 1.4 million Twitter followers.

Big picture: Ethereum is down from recent highs on Wednesday, but is still trading at more than $3,300. It’s surged more than 350% since the start of 2021.

Part of the digital coin’s success can be credited to the fact that it’s the cryptocurrency of choice for purchasing many non-fungible tokens, or NFTs — digital artwork and other collectibles that are transformed into one-of-a-kind, verifiable assets that are easy to trade on the blockchain. But questions remain about whether NFTs are a game changer, or just a passing fad.

Up next

Dine Brands (DIN), General Motors (GM), Hilton (HLT), New York Times (NYT) and Scott’s Miracle-Gro (SMG) report results before US markets open. Booking Holdings, Etsy (ETSY), MetLife (MET), PayPal (PYPL), Rocket Companies and Uber (UBER) follow after the close.

Also today:

The ADP private employment report for April arrives at 8:15 a.m. ET.

The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index, an important read of the US services sector, follows at 10 a.m. ET.

Coming tomorrow: Earnings from Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), ArcelorMittal (AMSYF), Moderna (MRNA) and Volkswagen (VLKAF).