sna6284
Jewels_of_ANS
Thursday, November 18, 2021
6:43 am: After working all night and sleeping at 3 am, I woke up before my 9:26 am alarm, unable to fall back asleep. When I am stressed – as with the recent surge of exams and projects – I get insomnia. That morning was no different. On the bright side, at least I have more time to do my work, I thought, as I got up and opened my laptop.
9:56 am: I knock on the lab door only to have the grad student inside remind me that lab was cancelled today. Ah, I forgot. As my next class wasn’t until 11 am, I walked to the Animal Science building, buying a coffee on the way to clear my head like it was a crisp fall sky.
10:33 am: Sitting at the Animal Science building courtyard, I sip my coffee and capture the brilliant contrast of golden leaves against the blue sky on my camera. The area around this building seems to be the only place on campus that has proper “autumn” trees instead of the usual dreary brownish yellow or coniferous tree varieties. But as much as I prefer the bright reds and oranges, all of the leaves’ colors are essential for the tree’s growth and survival.
During spring and summer, green chlorophyll is the dominant colored molecule in plant cells because it is key in photosynthesis. Other colored molecules such as red anthocyanin, orange beta carotene, and yellow xanthophyll, are simply at lower concentration within the leaf that they are not visible in the ocean of green chlorophylls. These secondary molecules help keep the leaf healthy by regulating the amount of light that hits the chlorophylls and protecting the cell from UV radiation (Coder 2012). As the warm days come to a close, trees undergo senescence, the ecological process of slowing down tree metabolism and reallocating nutrients from the leaves into the branches (Coder 2012). A byproduct – so to speak – of senescence is the emergence of warmer leaf tones as chlorophyll production decreases. In a few weeks, the trees will have completed senescence, their leaves settled over the roots like a winter blanket, prepared for the coming winter.
I am taken aback every year by the jeweled leaves of autumn reaching towards the empty sky, and it saddens me that there are very few autumnal green space areas on campus to feel such similar joy. But what disheartens me most is that there are people in D.C., in the country, and abroad who do not have even the slightest bit of green space in their communities. Tying it into the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #11 “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” and Target 11.7 “By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities,” the Animal Science courtyard gave me a break from the pressures of school and allowed me to recharge mentally for the rest of day (United Nations 2015). In all honesty, the rehabilitating effects of the nature around me that morning was more effective at improving my mood and energy than was the coffee that I bought earlier. I hope that in the near future societies everywhere can provide green space as a recreational hub, refuge from bustling life, and a safe space for its community members, because access to green spaces should be a liberty, not a right reserved for certain demographics.
Jewels_of_ANS
Thursday, November 18, 2021
6:43 am: After working all night and sleeping at 3 am, I woke up before my 9:26 am alarm, unable to fall back asleep. When I am stressed – as with the recent surge of exams and projects – I get insomnia. That morning was no different. On the bright side, at least I have more time to do my work, I thought, as I got up and opened my laptop.
9:56 am: I knock on the lab door only to have the grad student inside remind me that lab was cancelled today. Ah, I forgot. As my next class wasn’t until 11 am, I walked to the Animal Science building, buying a coffee on the way to clear my head like it was a crisp fall sky.
10:33 am: Sitting at the Animal Science building courtyard, I sip my coffee and capture the brilliant contrast of golden leaves against the blue sky on my camera. The area around this building seems to be the only place on campus that has proper “autumn” trees instead of the usual dreary brownish yellow or coniferous tree varieties. But as much as I prefer the bright reds and oranges, all of the leaves’ colors are essential for the tree’s growth and survival.
During spring and summer, green chlorophyll is the dominant colored molecule in plant cells because it is key in photosynthesis. Other colored molecules such as red anthocyanin, orange beta carotene, and yellow xanthophyll, are simply at lower concentration within the leaf that they are not visible in the ocean of green chlorophylls. These secondary molecules help keep the leaf healthy by regulating the amount of light that hits the chlorophylls and protecting the cell from UV radiation (Coder 2012). As the warm days come to a close, trees undergo senescence, the ecological process of slowing down tree metabolism and reallocating nutrients from the leaves into the branches (Coder 2012). A byproduct – so to speak – of senescence is the emergence of warmer leaf tones as chlorophyll production decreases. In a few weeks, the trees will have completed senescence, their leaves settled over the roots like a winter blanket, prepared for the coming winter.
I am taken aback every year by the jeweled leaves of autumn reaching towards the empty sky, and it saddens me that there are very few autumnal green space areas on campus to feel such similar joy. But what disheartens me most is that there are people in D.C., in the country, and abroad who do not have even the slightest bit of green space in their communities. Tying it into the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #11 “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” and Target 11.7 “By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities,” the Animal Science courtyard gave me a break from the pressures of school and allowed me to recharge mentally for the rest of day (United Nations 2015). In all honesty, the rehabilitating effects of the nature around me that morning was more effective at improving my mood and energy than was the coffee that I bought earlier. I hope that in the near future societies everywhere can provide green space as a recreational hub, refuge from bustling life, and a safe space for its community members, because access to green spaces should be a liberty, not a right reserved for certain demographics.