About Matt
In my years, I have worn many hats. I am a photographer. I am a hiker, backpacker, a traveller, and an explorer. I am a scientist and a naturalist. I am an educator. I am a perpetual student, always learning about the world and its people. Almost everything I do stems from my love of the natural world. As a scientist, I study the behavior, ecology, and evolution of animals (I like plants, fungi, and microbial organisms too!). As a photographer, I’m drawn to the immense landscapes that have been carved out by millions of years of uplift, erosion, and other geological processes. As a traveler, I’m fascinated by the various cultures and their relationships with the natural world around them. This website is my place on the web. From here you will be able to browse my photography portfolio and keep up with my latest adventures and experiences. So have a look around and enjoy my world.
What is “mineral2?”
Mineral2 has been my web alias ever since my first AOL account in the mid-90’s. There are so many Matt Singers out in the world, that finding user names and open URLs associated with my actual name is nearly impossible. So, I’ve kept the mineral2 identity ever since. The name comes from my rock and mineral collecting hobby that I started in grade school ever since discovering fossils in the undeveloped section of my neighborhood. I still collect rocks to this day.
Recent Posts
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The Prairie in Bloom
With the school year over and nice weather upon us, I’ve had some free time to get out and explore the landscape beyond Williston. I’ve been out on the prairie twice to discover the array of early wildflowers in the grasslands. This is the time of year when I feel like I could actually enjoy…
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A Spiritual Moment
My trip to the Redwoods had a profound effect on me. I can’t really explain what it was or why. I’ve been to many amazing and beautiful places never come back as humbled and rejuvenated as I had on this last trip. But everything about it just put me at ease and at awe. It…
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What’s your travel style?
When I think about the way I travel and the way others travel, there are two extremes at the ends of a spectrum: on one side, we fit in everything we can see during our limited time at a destination; on the other side, we stick to a small area and get to know it…
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What have I been up to?
It has been quite some time since I last made a post here, so I’d say I’m a bit overdue for an update. For the past two and a half years, I have been living in northwestern North Dakota. Saying this is an adjustment is an understatement. North Dakota is considerably flatter than any place…
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Fourth of July
For many years, I have spent my Fourth of July basking in the part of America that I enjoy the most: its wild and natural beauty. It started in 2011 when I explored the Hobo Cedar Grove for the first time. Then again in 2013 when I hiked Grandmother Mountain. In 2015, I spent the…
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Why you’re working from home, Part 2: A Shiny Model
Immediately after I published my last post, I wasn’t content with the manner in which I conveyed the SIR model. Simply posting graphs from scenarios that I ran isn’t exciting. It’s passive, and it doesn’t actively demonstrate for the reader how social distancing does work to reduce infection rates. I wanted something interactive. Something that…
