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I am writing this report while sitting on a patch of very green grass, under a palm tree while overlooking a lagoon full of pink flamingos. No, I am not on an exotic vacation, but rather on a monthly town trip to Walvis Bay to get groceries and run errands. Sitting on the Namibian coast, a 120 km drive from Gobabeb, Walvis Bay (pronounced something like "Vall-fish Bay" by those who live here) is one of Namibia's biggest cities and is Gobabeb's nearest non-virtual gateway to the outside world.
Walvis is also a meeting point of incongruent natural environments, industries and cultures. In Walvis, the hyper-arid Namib Desert meets the Atlantic Ocean and the highly adapted desert species are replaced by migratory coastal species. The offensive smell of processed fishmeal is reminiscent of the City's prosperous port days, while business advertisements are indicative of the rising tourism industry that is struggling to both make a name for itself and support the city's faltering economy. Signs of old and new cultures abound: lunch specials of "Schnitzel and Pouding, N$35" are a reminder of residual German colonial culture, the lively locations tell of the number of Namibians who turn to urban areas for economic opportunity, and the surprising number of China Shops, which sell everything from underwear to electronics, reflect the increasing presence of Chinese immigrants in Namibia.
While the incongruence that defines this city is part of my life for no more than one day a month, I cannot help but make a comparison between the contrasts that I see around me and the contradicting vibes that I am faced with at this point in my stay at Gobabeb. After nine months, I have adapted to the cadence of work and life by finding my way through the challenges and taking advantages of the good resources and celebrating the accomplishments. On the other hand, at this point I am also increasingly aware of the reminders that my time here is limited. I know I need to finish up projects in the next couple months so that I don't have to pass it down to my successor and I need to document my accomplishments and progress with other projects to support the institutional memory. While these reminders, which come in various forms, are not particularly welcome, they have not by any means paralyzed my activities and outputs--this would be something that I cannot afford. In this report I will try my best to
describe some of the notable experiences and highlights of the last 3 months.
Day-to-day experience at Gobabeb: the ever unpredictable
It should be known that it is a rare day when I actually accomplish everything I set out to do at the beginning of a work day. This is not for lack of planning on my part, but rather a testament to the nature of most of my duties as the Research and IT Support, which tend to have an uncanny and relentless element of surprise to them. I never know, for instance, when I will arrive at the office and find that the computer network does "notwork", or when a group of visitors with a particular interest in research will show up needing to have an overview of the Gobabeb's current research activities, or when our outgoing email will be stagnated by MWeb, our email service provider, who happened to change the settings without notifying us. Especially when it comes to urgent computer situations, these surprises can even take up days of my time, regardless of whether I have the time to spare or not. A great example of this occurred just last week, when an IT specialist came to Gobabeb to upgrade the operating system of
our network server. This was a process that I wanted to observe closely not only to ensure that it went as planned but also to learn more about the intricacies of the system. He expected the job to take about a day, but planned to stay for two full days just in case. I thought this was good planning, but apparently it was not good enough. A number of stumbling blocks and three and a half days later, he finally left us with our upgraded and intact network. While I was able to use the additional time to ask him computer questions that had accumulated over the past couple months, in no way had I anticipated spending so much time working with him to get things running smoothly.
From my perspective, these things are unpredictable but, according to the laws that keep Gobabeb running from day to day, they simply are to be expected. From my experience it seems as though the concept of mastering the Goba-system is, in and of itself, oxymoronic. That said, I have picked up a couple little tricks to adapt to these circumstance: the main ones being not to plan no more than two-third of my time (if anything the estimate of 33% surprise activities is on the conservative side) and to address items on my to-do list ample time prior to the deadline. Save for the major computer setback, which defy all rules of order and fortunately do not occur all that often, these usually do the trick.
GIST, round two
In previous reports I have spoken about my role with the Gobabeb In-Service Training program in which I supervise a number of junior researchers during their independent research projects and coordinate the activities project activities. January saw the arrival of four new GIST students from Polytechnic of Namibia to Gobabeb. Building off of previous student research findings, these students have designed and begun conducting research on sustainable agriculture and land use in the Kuiseb River Basin.
The focus of this session has shifted as compared to last year's four month session. As opposed to last year, where the students came mainly from the Nature Conservation Department, this time around the students' projects are based on the Station grounds and the results can be seen in the yield of the green pepper, tomato, cucumber and !nara plants that are growing in Gobabeb's very own garden.
In addition to a change in the type of research that is being conducted by the students, I am finding that the task of coordinating the students' activities is much easier the second time around (surprise!). I am in a better position to successfully incorporate the various workshops and activities that are outlined in the project framework. It is no easy task to lead workshops on career development and writing and presentation skills to begin with, nevermind right after I first arrived when I was overwhelmed by the need to catch up with computer skills and to confront the seemingly endless flow of imminent deadlines. Thus, with much student feedback, extended communications with Namibian lecturers, and 4 months previous experience to gauge realistic goals, I find myself in a better position to organize these activities. Half way through the session I can already see and feel the improvements because I know that my improved coordination allows the students to take more complete advantage of their time at
Gobabeb, in effect developing skills that will broaden their experience and be more useful to them no matter what career path they should pursue.
Research
Over the course of the past couple months, my involvement in current research projects being conducted at Gobabeb has also taken a new form. Since the beginning of 2007, I have undertaken the responsibility of collecting and overseeing data collection for the WADE project. WADE is a UN funded project that is looking at various aspects of water dynamics of ephemeral rivers in dry land environments in Namibia, South Africa, Spain and Israel. The scope of the project includes the development of water dynamic models, but also extends to analysis of the impact of water on social dynamics, gender roles and legal policies.
At Gobabeb, I provide the ground support for the data collection that is used by the scientists to understand how the river floods (or lack there of, as the case may be) impact the underground water levels. I also collect samples and data as needed to support other subprojects, such as the characterization of water use by consumers along the river. While the communication about data needs are not always the clearest and I definitely feel the pressure of collecting perfect data because of the scale and importance of the research, I really have learned a lot about science and about scientific collaboration by participating in this research.
What to do with all that data?!
Yes, Gobabeb does research. Yes, Gobabeb has a LOT of data. Some of it, like the climate data that has been measured more or less on a daily basis since the early 1960s, is far older than any Grinnell Fellow who has ever worked at Gobabeb.
The question is: what exactly do you do with all that data? First of all, we collect it and then we store it (recent data goes into massive spread sheets, old data goes into closets). Then, we brag about it a whole lot, we share the more recent figures with scientists who need it for their research, and, well, if the scientists want the older data, that means that somebody had to go to the closet and face the hand-written log books (a fate to be avoided at all costs!).
Well, at least this was the status until recently. One of the most tangible accomplishments that I have been a part of during the past couple months is the beginning of the setup of a data management system at Gobabeb. In the long term this means that at Gobabeb we will be able to easily access our old and new data and update it as we collect more. Additionally, we will be able to share it (within the stipulations of our data sharing policy) with the outside world.
For the time being we have set up the necessary programs and uploaded a script that will run the system. The truth is that there is much to be done before the output completely materializes (think lots and lots of data entry), but these tasks do not have the innate element of technical difficulty that has hindered us until now. As we import our data into the system month by month, year by year, the data management will become easier for us at Gobabeb, the value of our dataset to the scientific community at large will be augmented.
Final thoughts (for now)
In the coming months the undercurrent and unpleasant reminders that my time is coming to an end will only increase until they give way to the reality of the conclusion of my time at Gobabeb. With that in mind, I am determined to fight the current and tackle my tasks one by one. I will refrain from planning my time too much, however, because it will, inevitably, change.
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