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In this interview, UMBC Sustainability’s Laura Bartock (‘2013) asks GES Professor Christopher Swan about sustainability and his research.

Dr. Swan is a leading researcher in the Baltimore Ecosystem Study and specializes in Community Ecology, Biodiversity, Urban Ecology, Ecology of Rivers & Streams.

Highlights:

“We know that very diverse ecological communities provide important ecosystem services, such as pollinators, [...] These services are important not only to human well-being, but plants and animals as well.”

“Ask questions that are both intellectually intriguing to you, but at the same time strive to ensure the questions are relevant to society in general.“

“I also believe that most people care more than they know about sustainable practices.”

More from the interview:

Laura Bartock: Why is sustainability important to you (personally/professionally)?

Dr. Swan: The process of accepting the limitations of the environment is an inevitable part of our lives since humans have so successfully been able to extract natural resources for their perceived own well-being.  To me, proceeding without any foresight as to how to best manage the environment is irresponsible. Now, I am not of the mind set at all that the environment can return to its pristine state.  However, I do think that resources can be managed better and more responsibly.  Furthermore, I also believe that most people care more than they know about sustainable practices.

Laura Bartock: How would you explain your research goals to the average person on the street?

CS: My interests in lie in explaining how biodiversity – or the number of different kinds of co-occurring plants and animals – is maintained in space and time.  This is important because we know that very diverse ecological communities provide important ecosystem services, such as pollinators, nutrient recycling, freshwater, improved soil conditions, and how well ecosystems can recover from disturbances, like hurricanes and fire.  These services are important not only to human well-being, but plants and animals as well.

LB: How did you become interested in this project?

CS: A very good question.  Scientists approach their research in an effort to seek generality.  What processes explain the same patterns in different systems?  For example, if we know that nitrogen loading to the Chesapeake Bay can lead to dead zones in the summer, is this process unique to this estuary only, or to all estuaries?  We know, of course, this can occur in all kinds of waterbodies.

I became interested in the field of community ecology, which seeks to understand the mechanisms that shape species coexistence across multiple scales, largely because it was theoretically intriguing.  The notion of generalizing empirical results to apply in many types of ecosystems is powerful, and I wanted to be apart of that.

Another reason is that species are going extinct at an alarming rate.

What are the consequences of this for other ecosystem processes, like nutrient cycling and soil development? Many people in the world rely on the natural environment to provide for them daily.

The link between biodiversity and those needs makes the theory I test relevant.

LB: What advice would you give to someone embarking on their own research journey?

CS: Ask questions that are both intellectually intriguing to you, but at the same time strive to ensure the questions are relevant to society in general. 

Seek to make the work personally rewarding.  Research is hard and iterative, which means perseverance is a must.  Therefore, really having a passion for the science is critical to getting through the tough times.

Read broadly in your field, and often.  Reading good material is essential to being a good writer, and writing will comprise the vast majority of your time.  Some suggest reading two peer-reviewed articles a day, as well as writing 1-2 hours a day.  This is great advice, but often a hard pace to maintain.

Engage with good collaborators.  Personally, I value smaller research teams.  Collaboration is an organic process where intellectual engagement feeds enthusiasm and vice versa.

Take risks and accept failures. One doesn’t grow intellectually without failing, working through the problem, and moving forward. Successes don’t necessarily make you a better scientist, coping with failures does.

Do you know a sustainability champion on campus? Refer them to us to be featured, at sustainability@umbc.edu.

Read the interview in its entirety at Sustainability Matters at UMBC

Another chance to catch the most interesting, and important, articles from the previous week on MIT Technology Review.

Another chance to catch the most interesting, and important, articles from the previous week on MIT Technology Review.

Stripes are pretty easy to do in CSS these days. CSS gradients via the background-image property really got our back. I thought I'd document some variations in one easy to reference place.

Normal Colored Diagonal Stripes

Diagonal stripes are easy to pull off thanks to repeating-linear-gradient():

background: repeating-linear-gradient(
      45deg,
      #606dbc,
      #606dbc 10px,
      #465298 10px,
      #465298 20px
    );

Rather than the very last color-stop being 100% (or nothing, which means 100%) it's a fixed value. Beyond that, it just kinda starts over. This is how I think of it (zoomed in):

See the Pen epfEc by Chris Coyier (@chriscoyier) on CodePen.

Gradient Diagonal Stripes

If you make the background a regular linear-gradient(), and then make half the stripes totally transparent using repeating-linear-gradient(), it can appear as if the stripes have gradients. Because of multiple backgrounds (and stacking order), you can do that all together on a single element:

background: 
      /* On "top" */
      repeating-linear-gradient(
        45deg,
        transparent,
        transparent 10px,
        #ccc 10px,
        #ccc 20px
      ),
      /* on "bottom" */
      linear-gradient(
        to bottom,
        #eee,
        #999
      );

See the Pen xhkpD by Chris Coyier (@chriscoyier) on CodePen.

Stripes Over Image

Perhaps a texture? Any image will work. You could reveal part of the image by making some stripes fully transparent and some fully opaque. Or, any combination. Again multiple backgrounds allows this to all happen on the same element.

background: repeating-linear-gradient(
      45deg,
      rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2),
      rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 10px,
      rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3) 10px,
      rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3) 20px
    ),
    url(http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/s.cdpn.io/3/old_map_@2X.png);

See the Pen gaKyv by Chris Coyier (@chriscoyier) on CodePen.

Any Direction, Any Angle

It doesn't have to be exactly 45degrees. That's part of the beauty of the repeating-linear-gradient(). It's not like this perfect rectangle that has to line up and repeat, it's just a set of drawing instructions that repeats.

background: repeating-linear-gradient(
      -55deg,
      #222,
      #222 10px,
      #333 10px,
      #333 20px
    );

See the Pen qfHmw by Chris Coyier (@chriscoyier) on CodePen.

Straight Stripes (slightly better browser support)

There is a super old syntax for CSS gradients that used -webkit-gradient() (note the no "linear" or "radial"). Basically: Safari 4, Chrome 1-9, iOS 3.2-4.3, Android 2.1-3.0. Old stuff. Those browsers don't support repeating gradients. But you could kinda fake it, especially for straight stripes, by making a small rectangle of background via background-size, drawing the stripes in there, and having it repeat naturally like background-image does.

background: linear-gradient(
      to bottom,
      #5d9634,
      #5d9634 50%,
      #538c2b 50%,
      #538c2b
    );
    /* The rectangle in which to repeat. 
       It can be fully wide in this case */
    background-size: 100% 20px;

See the Pen uxJrf by Chris Coyier (@chriscoyier) on CodePen.

If you wanted to get crazy, you could transform: rotate() some element with these straight stripes and cut off the overflow, in which to replicate diagonal stripes with deeper browser support. Sounds like a lot of work.

Vertical Stripes

You could use the same method as above for vertical stripes too. Or, just use repeating-linear-gradient():

background: repeating-linear-gradient(
      to right,
      #f6ba52,
      #f6ba52 10px,
      #ffd180 10px,
      #ffd180 20px
    );

See the Pen oCpEu by Chris Coyier (@chriscoyier) on CodePen.

Just to be clear, with repeating-linear-gradient() you are best off doing a -webkit-repeating-linear-gradient() as well as the unprefixed one, if you're, you know, prefixing buy yourself which you shouldn't.

Radial Stripes

Who says they have to be straight lines eh? Radial gradients can be repeating-linear-gradients():

/* Note the RADIAL */
    background: repeating-radial-gradient(
      circle,
      purple,
      purple 10px,
      #4b026f 10px, 
      #4b026f 20px
    );

See the Pen AEymd by Chris Coyier (@chriscoyier) on CodePen.

Funky Town

Sometimes rounding errors (maybe?) or other kinda rendering funkiness happens.

Whattyagonnado. I suspect it will get better over time.

All together now.

Stripes in CSS is a post from CSS-Tricks