Timothy Baird, an assistant professor in the Department of Geography in the College of Natural Resources and Environment, has received the university’s 2018 XCaliber Award.
Established in 1996 by the Office of the Provost, the XCaliber Award is presented annually by Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies to recognize individual faculty members or teams of faculty and staff who integrate technology in teaching and learning. The award celebrates innovative, student-centered approaches.
Baird teaches a two-course series: GEOG/NR 1115 and GEOG/NR 1116 Seeking Sustainability, commonly known as Seeking 1 and Seeking 2, respectively.
Seeking 1 examines fundamental concepts in the social sciences, including the evolution of altruism, social network types and functions, social dimensions of diversity, cultural patterns of property and commerce, disturbance and resilience in social settings and denialism. Seeking 2 examines several other social concerns, including visions of human nature, livelihoods and decision-making, demography, theories of poverty and social dimensions of public health.
The BUILD project (Boosting University Infrastructure for Learning + Discovery), an interdisciplinary project that includes Baird, has worked to examine how sensors can be used to better understand patterns of human behavior in formal and informal learning spaces. The Seeking courses have been one of the main foci of the BUILD project.
“He is developing exceptional learning environments that are technology-rich, student-centered, and active, and using them in innovative ways to improve student engagement, creativity and learning. A unique aspect of Tim’s project is that the technology is not in the foreground of the classroom, but instead disappears seamlessly into the background, allowing students to focus on learning and collaboration and providing teachers with objective measures of the effectiveness of pedagogical approaches,” wrote Thomas L. Martin, associate director of the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology, in a letter of nomination.
Briefly follow Route 12 South to Route 15A; Follow Route 15A to Route 15 East; Turn right on Route 15 East. Take the first left onto Garfield Road. Follow Garfield Road for 3.1 miles to the yield sign and turn right (still Garfield Rd.). Take your next immediate left onto Green River Reservoir Dam Rd. Follow to 1.3 miles to park entrance.
Remote Camping: Green River Reservoir State Park has 27 remote tent sites, accessible by boat. There are no boats available for rental at the park.
Boating: The park does not rent boats. Boats are available to rent through a variety of outfitters in Morrisville and Stowe.
Fishing: This is a great park for fishing. Pickerel, small-mouth bass, bullhead and panfish swim throughout the reservoir. This park also participates in the Reel Fun Program.
For reservations during the park operating season, call either the park directly or the call center. For reservations during the winter months, call the call center at 1.888.409.7579 (Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm). Reservations for group sites can only be made by calling the park.
Welcome to Green River Reservoir State Park. Green River Reservoir became a state park in March 1999 when 5,503 acres were purchased from the Morrisville Water and Light Department. This is not your typical Vermont State Park – Green River Reservoir provides camping and paddling experiences in a remote setting. All campsites can only be reached by paddling to them - some are a 1 to 2-mile paddle from the launch site.
The park will remain in its wild and undeveloped condition, with low-impact, compatible recreational use allowed on and around the Reservoir. Management activities will be only those necessary to maintain the property’s character, protect the environment and critical resources, demonstrate sustainable forest and wildlife management, control excessive recreational use, and ensure high-quality outdoor experiences for visitors.
The 653-acre Reservoir includes about 19 miles of shoreline, one of the longest stretches of undeveloped shorelines in Vermont. Access to the park is in the southern part of the Reservoir off of Green River Dam Road. The Reservoir is designated as a “quiet” lake under Vermont “Use of Public Waters Rules.” Boats powered by electric motors up to 5 mph and human-powered watercraft (canoes, kayaks, etc.) are allowed.
There are 27 remote campsites at various locations around the Reservoir. Camping is allowed only at designated campsites and can only be reached by boat. Each remote site has a maximum site occupancy based on the characteristics of the site. There are two designated group campsites that can accommodate up to 12 people each. Some campsites are closed each season and rehabilitated due to overuse through the years. There is also an ADA accessible boardwalk that leads from the parking area to an accessible boat launch. The best way to protect all sites is by using a portable stove instead of a campfire for cooking. Please carry out what you carry in and leave no trace of your visit.
The park does not rent boats. Visitors are responsible for bringing their own watercraft. Kayaks and canoes may be rented nearby through a variety of outfitters in Morrisville and Stowe.
Day use is allowed on the reservoir in limited numbers. Please do not use campsites for day use activities. There are designated day use sites where fires are permitted. Please build fires only at these sites and in the provided fire rings. Respect the areas of the shoreline that are closed to use for re-vegetation of the sites.
Group Use: In order to provide a primitive camping/paddling experience, only two groups of 8 to 12 (maximum) people are allowed for either camping or day use at one time. Group permits are required for day and camping uses during the season. A license or special use permit may be needed for group activities during the off-season. Please contact the park directly to reserve group sites.
Parking: Parking is extremely limited and is available on a first come, first serve basis. Once the parking areas are full, visitors will not be allowed to enter the park.
Those of you who are Madhava and know about Sonde mutt might have heard about a seva called Ishtartha Sidde Seva (Tying coconut around the waist and doing pradakshine). This is a rigorous seva performed by devotees to fulfill there desires (Ishtartha). I was also one of the devotees who performed the seva from 17th August 2012 to 20th August 2012. As my wife had a harike which needed to be full filled, we headed out to Sonde vadiraji mutt to perform this seva. I would like to give you my first hand experiences and information regarding this seva.
We left Bengalure on 16th August Thursday 2012 on a night bus and reached Sonde Mutt on friday 17th August morning around 6:30 am. As we had booked the room 2 weeks in advance there were no hassles for accommodation. Rooms were given in Rajadhama complex, Rooms were new and very clean, as devotees should not be expecting any luxuries only a cot and two mats (chaape) will be provided. Rooms have Indian WC and running cold water (no hot water will be provided).
After refresh we headed straight to mutt office for seva registration. The rules and regulations starts from the time of registration itself. If you are not wearing a dhoti(Kacche panche) for men and Saree for women you will not be registered, As I am used to wear dothi in normal way (adda) I was asked to go back to room and wear Kacche panche. Only after wearing Kacche panche I was registered for the seva, you will not be able to register for other person (family members) if they are not present in the office so I had to tell my wife to be present personally to register. Registeration fee for Ishtartha Sidde Seva is Rs 50.
While registration you will be give a detail information about rules and regulation both verbally and printed matter. Our seva started on the same day itself, seva can be done for 3 or 5 or 7 days depending on the comfort of devotees. We had planned to do for 3 days, It is recommended to start the seva on some auspicious day w.r.t. ur star (nakshatra). Except Ekadashi in all days we can start this seva. As we did not had any choice we started on the same day. On the very first day we need to do saMkalpa of seva in front of rajaru. except dwadashi first Sankalpa will be done around 7AM and 9:30 AM in front of vrundavana. First we need to take a holi dip (Snana) in (Dhavalagange) pushkarni perform your daily sandhyavandane. We need to take one coconut for the sankalpa which will be kept in front of vrundavana and will be given back to us at the end of sankalpa. Then we should cover the cocnut by a cloth and we need to tie that coconut to waist, We have to see to it that coconut will not touch ground till the completion of seva. For men I would suggest that you tie the coconut along with the cloth so that coconut is at the back(not towards the side) because when you do saatanga namaskara the coconut will touch the ground. For women they can tie towards the side. we have to take seven times avagahana snana in dhavaLaganga (pushkarni), and should do pradakshina starting from mukyaprAna, krishna dEvaru, ashwattaNaRayaNa, aakyaana maMdira, vrUndavanagaLu, nagadEvaru, paapanashini theertha, raajaru, bhootharajaru, maharudradEvaru and finally veenapaNi prANadEvaru.This conpletes one pradakshina. Like this we have to do 7 pradakshina. Every time after Snana women should apply Kumkuma to forehead and men should apply gopi chandana. After 7 pradikshana like this, again have avagahana snana and we have to do 7 pradakshina in rama trivikrama temple also. Then we can remove the coconut with the cloth covering it n we can tie it in the place near to prANadevaru in front of dhavalaganga. Then we should do 108 pradakshina in vrundavana sannidhi which includes raajaru, vEdavEdyaru and bhootharajaru. You have to change to dry cloths for 108 pradakshina.
Seven outer pradakshina must be done before having any food and it is adviced to do 108 pradakshina too in the same way. If you can't complete all 108 pradakshina before theerthaprasada, they you have to take bath again to complete this 108 pradakshinas.
On the 4 day morning after completion we should do krishnarpana of seva in front of rajaru. Again have a snana in Dhavalagange(pushkarni) and be ready around 6:00 AM in the morning, Archakaru will take the coconut inside garbhagudi and keep it in front of rajaru n give it back as prasada. Till this point we shold be careful to see that coconut will not touch ground.
How to reach Sonda from Bangalore: The best way is to catch direct bus. Private buses from Seabird, Sugama and VRL operate to sonda. If you want to try KSRTC then many Rajahimse (Rajahamsa) goes to Sirsi then you have to take taxi or connecting bus to Sonda.
Really really thanks a lot for sharing this. Actually i'm also planning to do this seva. So this info helped me a lot. . . Thank u very much.
You are welcome, nice to hear that this posting in my blog helped you in some way. Let me know how was your experiences when you complete, good luck.
Thank you very much for this information. Really useful because we (me and my wife) are planning for the seva. I have one doubt which I am asking on behalf of my wife. You have pointed out that to register for seva one has to wear kacche panche only (regular panche not accepted). Likewise, when my wife enquired about this from some people who have done, they told her that she must be wearing kacche saree for doing this seva. I mean being a madhwa, I do know that for things to be done with extreme madi, married women must be wearing saree with kacche, but what we want to find out is, is this is must for the registration also? It will be helpful to know if your wife had to wear kacche saree for this seva. And if the women are not used to wearing this, would anyone there be able to help, if this is must for the seva? These details will be really useful, so please provide it if you don't mind.
Thank you for visiting my blog. It is NOT necessary for Women to wear Kacche saree (as this was not a must) and you can ask your wife to wear saree in normal way. Even my wife do not know how to wear Kacche Saree and she completed the sava wearing normal saree.You can see lot of women wearing saree in normal way and doing the sava. If your wife is really keen in wearing a Kacche saree, you can ask her to befriend a women who is wearing a kacche saree and learn.
Thank you very much for the quick reply. I have shown your reply to my wife. It seems that the person that told my wife about this seva had told her that sevas like this must be performed as strictly as possible and following the tradition as much as possible for best possible phala from the seva. Since she has had this in mind while having the harike, she wants to perform the seva in complete madi wearing a kacche saree. So she is trying to find some women (searching in Rayara matha) who know how to wear kacche with 6 or 9 yard saree and learn from them by the time we plan to go there. Thanks for sharing the information you know. Will definitely update you once we complete the seva.
I really appreciate you and your wife shradde, bakthi and your enthusiasm in performing the seva in traditional way. I wish you a all the success. If you take any pictures do share it with me if possible.
Just a quick update. My wife and I completed the seva during the weekend one and half days ago. Seva went smoothly even though she was a bit tired from it. The details you have provided were really very useful. So thank you once again. Both of us are very satisfied that we did not have any troubles. Other thing, like you mentioned, my wife was very firm that she wanted to follow complete customs and do this with complete madi. Although we did not have lot of time, she managed somehow to find someone in Rayara matha, took their help and learnt how to wear kacche saree and she performed the seva in full madi, wearing kacche saree only. After coming back, she has decided to follow our customs more strictly and like there, she wore kacche saree to mudradharane function also. We have taken a harike again saying if what we wished for is completed successfully, we will visit and do seva again. Since we were satisfied with our visit to great extent, lot of information from you helped, I thought it is only correct that I shared news of our visit with you.
I am chethan venkobachar working for a reputed software company. I am really thank full to you for information
I had been to sonde before 7 months for rajara darshana and i prayed for job and i decided to to perform IshTartha siddi seva and i came back to bangalore exact after month i got placed as IT manager for karnataka and Hyderabad as a fresher i am really blessed by rajaru and guru rayaru to get this oppurtinity. So i am planning to Visit and perform seve from
1-11-2013 to 4-11-2013 as my bday is on 1st of november i am planning to Give Reshmea Vastra to pancha brindavana of rajaru. and take his blessing on aspecious day..
I called the above no to book the room as am going on friday and fallowed by weekend and Deepavali so its package of holidays the number is switched off can you please help me out by some other number so that i can book it.. And if u can pls join me on this occusion
Wishing you belated birthday, Thank you for visiting my blog. Hope you had a very good Darshana at Sonde and successfully completed the seve. Those were the only contact numbers which was available with me. Thank you for the invite though.
Naveen- This is such valuable information on Sodhe mata. My in-laws are ardent devotees of this mutt, although I am yet to visit the temple. We plan to go to India later this year, and have plans to visit the temple as well. Once again, good job and god bless.
Thank you for Visiting my Blog. Indeed Sonde is a very beautiful place to visit and to seek blessings of raajaru. Wishing you all goodness and peace.
Hello sir.. Thank you for this excellent detailed narration. My husband and I are planning to do seva during this August or September. But we are not sure about rain. From your narration I understand that you visited in the month of August. Was it raining heavily that time? We are afraid that rain might disturb 108 pradakshina. Since you have visited in that period, could you please guide us. Thanks in advance.
No its Not Possible to Leave on 3rd day without giving Krishnarpanam. What ever you have done should reach god through Gurugalu.
Great information. I want to do this Seve, I learnt from your blog that this should be done with at most devotion and Madi. I can manage that however I am not a Brahmana. Can I still do this Seve ?
Hi Naveen, you said we have to tie coconut and do 7 rounds of pradakshine. Should we do this on day 2 and day 3 as well?
Thank you for visiting the page, Yes you have to tie coconut to your waist and do 7 round's of pradakshina on day 2 and 3 also. Make sure you do not ground the coconut after finishing 1st day, Tie it to the railing near Pranadaveru temple to use it on day 2 and 3.
When doing the 108 pradakshinas, how many namaskaras are to be done, and should I kneel (bow) to the ground or is joining the hands enough while doing these namaskaras?
As mentioned in my post you need to do "saasthanga namaskara" thrice i.e., for raajaru, vEdavEdyaru and bhootharajaru. Just joining
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