Jonathan R. Schmidt

Undergraduate Thesis Time!

Well I have finally reached the last term of my undergraduate career. The end of my life as a student in formal education is quickly coming to a close. My final semester is going to be filled with reading reports, researching, and scratching my head on the subject of abandoned military radar bases in northern Ontario. My thesis project, which comprises two of my five courses this term, is focused on an historical look at the investigations into the Mid-Canada Line Radar Sites clean-up. There are sixteen remaining radar bases in Ontario and my thesis will focus on how the clean-up order for these sixteen sites has changed over time. At first glance through the literature it appears that multi-site multi-decade clean-up projects can lack a consistency and a concrete vision of what is most important to minimize risks to human health and the environment, but of course this needs cited proofs and examples. I’m looking forward to getting into this final project. If you are interested in some history of the Mid-Canada Radar Line Larry Wilson has an extensive page with photos, maps and stories.

Canoeing is the life – portaging is the pain

Well I just got back from four wonderful days in Algonquin Park. Myself and seven other guys did a canoe and portage circuit that took us through approximately 30km of paddling and 7.4km of portaging over four days. You can view a map of our route below. This was my first extended trip to Algonquin Park since my dad and I went on a canoe trip when I was still in high school. The trip also brought back great memories of when Darlene and I were engaged in Algonquin Park in May. Some of the stories from this past trip include Mark stalking a chipmunk, me forgetting my lifejacket at the access point, our ‘shortcut’ on day 2, gunnel-bobbing, Adam’s jokes, group stories that went nowhere – oh those frogs and turtles from mars, and lepers! and much more.
Random Quotes from the adventure:
“It’s about the journey, not the destination; except when portaging” Joel W.
“They really did make some weird dolls” Adam F.
“That stinks so bad it’s coming through my sleeping bag shell.” Mark S.
“Let’s think about this for a moment” Richard J.