Mary Catherine O'Connor

Ten Years After the Spill, a Look at Where the Cosco Busan Settlement Funding Went

November 7, 2017 by mcoc

Around one third of the $32.3 million directed toward restoration has been spent. Bay Nature The Bay was blanketed in fog on the morning of November 7, 2007 as the container ship M/V Cosco Busan steamed out of the Port of Oakland, toward the Golden Gate. Due to a chain of blunders by its crew, […]

Categories: Oceans, Policy, Recreation, Transportation, Wildlife • Tags: and Bureau of Land Management, Bay Bridge, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California State Lands Commission, Cosco Busan, Delta Tower, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, national park service, nesting habitats, oil spill, Port of Oakland, restoring eelgrass and oyster beds, san francisco bay, trail-building, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Lerner’s Permit: How Young Is Too Young to Begin Avalanche Ed?

November 1, 2017 by mcoc

Teens are breaking trail in the backcountry well before they can drink, vote, or even drive. Avalanche educators are hustling to get to them early. Outside Magazine In 2013, 15-year-old Dawson Toth was perched on a ridge watching his best friend, Evan, ski down the north slope of Hero’s Knob, a popular backcountry area in […]

Categories: Action Sports, Recreation, Technology, Wilderness • Tags: American Avalanche Institute, Avalanche Canada, avalanche safety, Dawson Toth, Jordy Hendrikx, Sarah Carpenter, Selkirks

Building Codes that Promote Resilient Design Still Get a Mixed Reception

October 30, 2017 by mcoc

Five years after Hurricane Sandy—and in the wake of a brutal hurricane season—architects face both forward and backward momentum in their efforts to champion resilient design standards. Architect Magazine Just days before Hurricane Irma made landfall, Michael Lingerfelt, FAIA, sold his house in Orlando, Fla. But the new owners weren’t left in a lurch: Though […]

Categories: Climate Change, Policy, Technology, Transportation • Tags: federal alliance for safe homes, Hurricane Andrew, Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Sandy, international code council, resilient design

AI for Good: Energy, Water, Food

September 19, 2017 by mcoc

A series looking at how the energy, food and water sectors are using AI and machine learning to try to reduce consumption, cut costs and make the use of resources more efficient. It’s not kindness, it’s economics. Medium ($) How Artificial Intelligence Is Making Energy Smarter and Cleaner Artificial intelligence is powering more and more of […]

Categories: Climate Change, Energy, Food and Agriculture, Oceans, Technology • Tags: artificial intelligence, energy, energy efficiency, faming, fossil fuels, hydroponics, machine learning, Medium, precision agriculture, solar, wastewater, water

The Wild West of Predator Control Is Hurting Humans and Pets

July 17, 2017 by mcoc

Idaho is the first Western state to take some action on dangerous cyanide traps, but it’s not enough Outside Magazine One day in mid-March, Canyon Mansfield took his three-year-old yellow lab, Casey, on a walk into open scrubland behind his house in Pocatello, Idaho. It was the boy’s happy place. About 400 yards from his […]

Categories: Food and Agriculture, Policy, Recreation, Wildlife • Tags: canyon mansfield, casey, coyotes, cyanide, M44, pocatello, predators, ranching, Wildlife services

Dumpster Diving Robots: Using AI for Smart Recycling

July 5, 2017 by mcoc

Recycling facilities use robotic sorting stations and object-recognition technology to identify and put garbage in its proper place. iQ magazine July 5, 2017 Filled with intricate mazes of high-speed conveyor belts carrying yesterday’s garbage, high-tech recycling centers use sophisticated sensors to sort plastic from paper from aluminum. While this technology may streamline sorting, it’s not […]

Categories: Technology • Tags: artificial intelligence, Intel, municipal recycling facility, recycling

Invisible plastic: microfibers are just the beginning of what we don’t see

June 29, 2017 by mcoc

The tiny pollutants in our clothes are forcing us to look harder for, and think more carefully about, the ways humans have shaped the environment The Guardian June 29, 2017 Opening my washing machine at the end of a cycle is not something that generally fills me with excitement. But today it did, because doing […]

Categories: Action Sports, Gear, Lifecycle, Oceans, Policy, Recreation, Technology • Tags: Guppy Friend, invisible plastic, microfiber, synthetic microfibers

All Aboard Orlando’s Bid to Be a Transit Hub

June 28, 2017 by mcoc

A new terminal, designed by Fentress Architects, is coinciding with a new rail service to Miami. What can Orlando show other cities about multimodal integration and high-touch terminal design? Architect June 28, 2017 Larger than John F. Kennedy International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, and Miami International Airport combined, the Orlando International Airport (MCO) is the country’s […]

Categories: Energy, Technology, Transportation • Tags: Briteline, Curtis Fentress, Fentress Architect, MCO, Miami, multimodal, Orlando, Orlando International Airport

As Trump moves to privatize America’s national parks, visitor costs may rise

June 25, 2017 by mcoc

Some are concerned that the proposed privatization of some public park services would drive up costs for visitors and fail to raise enough for repairs The Guardian June 25, 2017 America’s national parks need a staggering $11.5bn worth of overdue road and infrastructure repairs. But with the proposed National Park Service budget slashed by almost […]

Categories: Policy, Recreation, Wilderness • Tags: campground, concessionaires, Delaware, Department of Interior, national park service, NPS, Secretary Zinke, Xanterra

Your Fleece Jacket Pollutes the Ocean. Here’s the Possible Fix.

May 25, 2017 by mcoc

A large Canadian gear retailer is working on a project to trace the microplastics that come off its apparel in the wash and prevent them from entering local waterways. Outside Online May 25, 2017 By now you’ve probably heard the news: your favorite fleece sheds hundreds of thousands of tiny synthetic fibers every time it’s washed. Those […]

Categories: Action Sports, Gear, Lifecycle, Oceans, Recreation, Technology, Wilderness • Tags: MEC, microbeads, microfibers, Mountain Equipment Coop, synthetic apparel, synthetic microfibers

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