A quick iPhone snap of my wife and best friend at lunch. Not a technically perfect picture, but that's not the point of this shot.
I think I used Camera+ for this one. I like that app for its ability to split focus point and exposure metering. The downside is that you've got to manually export to your photo folder. That's nice in a way, because I tend to sort photos when choosing which to edit. I have less repetition in my folder and can quickly select a photo I'm looking for later.
To support enrollment efforts, I worked with the Office of the Governor to secure a personalized welcome for admitted students.
In particular, students from smaller cities and towns indicated that this was an impactful communication that reinforced the university's distinctive location across the street from the Oregon State Capitol.
When a fraternity's private Facebook posts were published anonymously, members of the campus community expressed serious concerns about messages' misogynistic content.
After the local paper published a story—including photos of students' signs—journalists flocked to campus. The Portland NBC affiliate was one of many outlets that covered the issue:
The incident sparked discussions about sexual assault, campus climate and Title IX.
In addition to developing a robust understanding of these issues through associated research and discourse, I was moved by stories from people involved and wanted to help address the need for men to become more engaged. I sought out formal training from the Association of Title IX Administrators, and I serve as an investigator and hearing panel member for related conduct cases.
In partnership with Oregon's science museum staff, we launched Science Pub and earned prominent coverage in USA Today. Plus, fun!
Love this!
Willamette's Mill Stream as the sun rose
The iPhone is revolutionary, particularly for photography. While it's no DSLR, it is capable of capturing high quality images. I rarely lug my camera gear around, so my phone is my camera. This was a snapshot taken last week on a morning walk at Willamette.
With the light waning on a hillside facing away from the setting sun, I approached this from a photojournalist perspective and just followed Arthur as he cruised around the orchard. What a photogenic guy!
I shared the following column, which ran on March 11, 2013, as part of the "My Passion" series in our local newspaper.
Growing up in Las Vegas with parents that insisted I venture out into summer’s sandy oven, I spent a lot of time catching scorpions, vinegaroons and all kinds of reptiles. I marveled at the way each creature seemed perfectly suited for its place — and its prey.
I’ve seen blood squirt from the eyes of a horned lizard, and I’ve dropped a desert iguana when distracted by the whip of its separated, writhing tail. One of my best friends can attest to the wallop a small sidewinder packs.
Despite all the time I spent exploring and experiencing the desert, it wasn’t until a college trip with friends to Zion National Park, far from the electric skies of Las Vegas, that I looked up and saw the Milky Way - the band of stars that form the “backbone of night.” I felt the bewildering immensity of nature for the first time.
I still wonder what our ancestors thought as they gathered around a fire pit and looked to the sky. Some of their answers became myths that shaped and were shaped by society, but what of the countless millions who weren’t satisfied by such explanations? Among the everyday struggle for survival, there must have been people like me — people for whom the echoing question, “What are stars?” would never be silenced.
Human nature is to seek understanding. Our minds are powerful, complex but imperfect pattern detectors. When we look at clouds, we see shapes. We impose meaning on randomness. We confuse correlation and causality. We infer intent by default, and because we are biased to reinforce our own beliefs, it takes effort to overcome an incorrect idea that has taken root.
These biases served us well through millennia. We survived.
Through science, we’ve opened a window to the heavens, and we’ve looked back in time to discover much about how we came to be.
I was stunned to learn that nearly half of Americans don’t know how long it takes our planet to revolve around the sun. I cringe when politicians deny evolution. My heart breaks when children die from easily preventable or treatable conditions because parents decide against vaccines or choose prayer over medicine.
Though science has certainly demonstrated its value to our health, economy and quality of life, it is more than advanced technology or medical treatments. The scientific method is humanity’s best tool to discover truth.
I started the local Science Pub series in conjunction with OMSI, and I collaborate with scientists to help share their work with the public. I’m passionate about the public understanding of science not just because I love the mysteries of quantum mechanics, neuroscience and cosmology, but because scientific literacy affects our ability to evaluate important issues facing our society.
With our growing population, its commensurate impact, our advancing technological sophistication and proliferation of ideas and claims, we need decision makers who understand the value and methods of science. We need a scientifically literate electorate that is able to face with open eyes our economic, environmental and geopolitical challenges.
I’m passionate about the public understanding of science not only because it answers the question, “What are stars?” but because I believe that the truth is the best foundation upon which to build our future.
I enjoyed meeting and photographing Karen Steele, a criminal defense attorney who handles death penalty appeals. Her work made for interesting conversation, and I had an opportunity to try out The Nest in downtown Salem.
Cited by a prominent financial aid consultant as one of the best communications in higher ed, I created this piece (with the help of an in-house designer and writer) to help shift the college cost conversation to a university value conversation.
Designed originally to strengthen the university’s website, the infographic was heavily used in print enrollment marketing campaigns and in admission fairs to quantify key competitive advantages and to counter prospective students’ perceptions about the value of a liberal arts education.
The university magazine theme and cover concept was based on Willamette's less known places, activities and talents. A friend and chemistry professor created a scale model of Waller Hall, one of the university's iconic buildings.
I'm proud of my team's work on this, which ties into a story on the web and in print:
Willamette University | Jan. 27, 2012
Adam Torgerson, Media Relations, atorgers@willamette.edu, (503) 370-6274
Willamette University brings Saturn to Salem
Willamette University features acclaimed planetary scientist
SALEM, Ore. — On Feb. 9 at 8 p.m., Willamette University’s Atkinson Lecture Series will feature Carolyn Porco, acclaimed scientist, communicator and imaging team leader for the Cassini mission to the Saturn system.
Porco will highlight the discoveries made so far by the Cassini spacecraft and its Huygens probe. In 2005, the probe landed on Titan - the first landing in the outer solar system.
Cassini images trace coastal shores along Titan’s liquid hydrocarbon seas; others depict icy plumes erupting from the surface of Saturn’s moon, Enceladus. The mission’s visually stunning images and crucial data not only give scientists perspective into the nature of the planetary system, they demonstrate that conditions for life may be more abundant than once believed.
Porco has co-authored more than 100 scientific papers in the planetary sciences. Winner of the Carl Sagan Medal for her skill at communicating scientific exploration to the general public, Porco regularly appears on television and has written popular science articles in a variety of publications, including The Guardian, Sunday Times, “New Statesman” and “Scientific American.”
She was the science advisor on the 2009 film “Star Trek” and the character consultant on the 1997 movie “Contact,” for which Carl Sagan personally invited Porco to consult. Among her many accolades, “Wired” described Porco as was one of 15 people the U.S. president should listen to, and Sunday Times named her among the top 18 leaders of the 21st century.
Porco created CICLOPS, where Cassini images are shared with the public, and she is CEO of Diamond Sky Productions, a company devoted to the scientific and artful use of planetary images and computer graphics for the presentation of science to the public.
Tickets
General admission seating is $10, and doors open at 7 p.m. for the 8 p.m. presentation. Buy tickets or learn more at willamette.edu/events/atkinson_lecture.
###WILLAMETTE###
Atkinson Lecture Series – information and tickets:
willamette.edu/events/atkinson_lecture/
Liquid Lakes on Titan:
saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/imagedetails/index.cfm?imageId=2432
Enceladus:
saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/imagedetails/index.cfm?imageId=3852
saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/imagedetails/index.cfm?imageId=4185
More:
diamondskyproductions.com/
saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/
ciclops.org/
When the state public broadcasting station asked the transportation department to speak about plans for the stimulus package (a contentious topic at the time), I spoke live on air for the department. My remarks start just after 9 minutes in, and I answer questions from the audience.
One of the department's first videos uploaded to YouTube was also my first effort at video production. Though I'd make a ton of production choices differently now, the video has been viewed more than 100,000 times because it meets an audience need.
Using my photograph of the Astoria-Megler Bridge, I created a poster for local residents to make them aware of an upcoming bridge painting project. Positive feedback, lack of negative feedback during closures and an usually large number of vanishing posters suggest that the tactic was successful.
The poster was created using InDesign and Photoshop. It was designed to be printed on the district office's plotter, using stock paper. The poster's background and my blog background are white, but you can click on the image below to see the poster against a black background.
This brings back memories! Before becoming editor in chief of my college student publication, I wrote this piece, which earned an Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association award for writing. Download a PDF or click below to make the image full-screen.
I'm part of a creative team, and we spent an hour this morning exploring. Using a camera and one lens, I went looking for colors and textures that are authentic to the place where I work.
After a long day at work and after my final presentation in my next-to-last MBA term, I'm too beat to stay up and hope for a cloud break that lets me photograph the blood moon. I turned up the color quite a bit but otherwise didn't even crop the shot (it was late!). Maybe I'll go back and take another pass later this week.
I hope to take advantage of one of the three upcoming appearances:
When printing new photos for my walls at home, I chose this shot of Liz for our living room.
We had fun with some light sabers during the same trip to the beach.
