Most of the forces in academia work to develop highly specialized individuals. Training comes primarily from a single person, the dissertation advisor. Detailed field study of various forest types or physiographic provinces is often limited to where we trained and where we work (sometime both are in the same location...
Just as Pirsig’s (Pirsig, R.M. 1974. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. William Morrow and Company, New York. 412pp.) account of his motorcycle adventure explores the dichotomy of holistic and reductionistic philosophies, so too does a short course in chainsaw safety and tree felling incorporate these seemingly disparate viewpoints...
By inverting EarthScope long-period magnetotelluric (MT) data from the southeastern United States (SEUS), we obtain electrical conductivity images that provides key insights into the geodynamics of this region. Significantly, we resolve a highly electrically resistive block that extends to mantle depths beneath the modern Piedmont and Coastal Plain physiographic provinces....
