Wall texturing, also known as brocade, is a type of textured finish that can be applied to the ceiling or walls of a home. This texture can be deep or very light, though the lightly textured "orange peel" style is most common. Painting the ceiling of a room can greatly change the overall appearance by contrasting with the walls or making a room's color scheme more prominent. Fortunately, painting a brocade ceiling isn't much different from painting an untextured ceiling.
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Remove as much furniture and decoration from the room as possible. Cover the floor and any remaining furniture with drop cloths.
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Use painter's tape to protect the border between your ceiling and walls if they're two different colors. Loosen or remove ceiling fixtures if you're able to so that you can paint underneath them. Use painter's tape to protect the edges of fixtures if you can't loosen them. Cover ceiling fan blades with lightweight plastic or masking paper.
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Repair any damage to the ceiling. Small holes or cracks can be filled with joint compound and a putty knife. You may need to smooth the compound with your fingers to make it match your current texture. If your ceiling is heavily textured, you can benefit from vacuuming it first. If your ceiling is stained or tends to get dirty easily, use a stain-blocking primer as your first coat rather than your ceiling paint. You will most likely need two coats of primer.
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Mix your ceiling paint and pour it into a paint tray. Attach the roller pole to your paint roller. This will enable you to paint the ceiling without being on a ladder. Flat or satin paint is best for ceilings.
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Roll the paint roller in the tray, then apply the paint over the ceiling going in straight, even lines without using too much pressure. Use a brush to reach corners. If your ceiling is highly textured and you cannot get paint into some areas, use a stencil brush for touchups. Dip the tips of the brush into some paint, then "tap" the brush against the area that you are having trouble painting.
Brocade geranium, also known as variegated geranium, is a type of zonal geranium (Pelargonium X hortorum). Unlike most traditional zonal geraniums, Brocade series geraniums are valued not for their blooms but for their big, showy leaves. For a splash of color in a flower bed or patio container, plant Brocade geraniums where the interesting foliage complements a mix of colorful annuals. Cultivars in the Brocade series include Dolly Varden, Catalina, Happy Thoughts, Indian Dunes and Wilhelm Langguth. While Brocade geraniums prefer cool summers with temperatures around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, they tolerate both cooler and warmer temperatures.
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Plant Brocade geraniums in a sunny location with well-drained soil. Alternatively, place the plant in a container filled with a lightweight commercial potting mixture.
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Water Brocade geraniums deeply once per week, saturating the soil to a depth of about 8 inches. Allow the top 1 to 2 inches of soil to dry before watering again to prevent fungal disease and rot. Containerized plants require water more often and may require irrigation every day during hot, dry weather.
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Fertilize in-ground geraniums regularly using a general-purpose dry fertilizer. For potted geraniums, use a general-purpose liquid fertilizer. Read the label carefully, as rates of application vary widely. Always water immediately after applying fertilizer to distribute the fertilizer evenly around the roots. Undiluted fertilizer is strong and may burn the roots.
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Deadhead Brocade geranium blooms as soon as they wilt. To deadhead, pinch off the bloom and the stem down to the next leaf. Deadheading creates a healthy, bushy plant and promotes more blooms.
What is course certification?
The purpose of the USATF course certification program is to produce road race courses of accurately measured distances.
For any road running performance to be accepted as a record or be nationally ranked, it must be run on a USATF-certified course. In addition, the certification program is very important to the average road racer, as well as those of exceptional speed. Most runners like to compare performances run on different courses, and such comparisons are difficult if course distances are not reliable. No one can truly establish a personal best if the course distance is not accurate.
Certification now follows a rolling model for applications and approvals. If you have questions after reviewing this website, please contact cert@nullesa.org or 202-833-8773.
The period of certification lasts for 5 years, retroactive to the first day of the month the application was approved and expiring on final day of the same month 5 years hence. ESA staff will communicate with you about your status beginning at least 60 days prior to expiration, and will additionally remind you to submit your CEU data on a regular basis.
If you currently hold a certification from pre-2021 and will expire the next June from now, you should recertify in the spring of the year your certification expires; if your certification expired in the previous June, you may still recertify or upgrade.
We allow 2 years’ grace periods to recertify or upgrade, but you will be required to pay a penalty fee if your certification has lapsed beyond that grace period. All recertifications at all levels (except Emeritus) cost $25 for ESA Members and $50 for non-members.
Starting in 2022, the penalty fee is the cost of recertification for each year of lapse, with the first 2 years waived if you recertify within 2 years. In other words:
0 yr lapsed: $25 for recertify
1 yr lapsed: $25 for recertify (1 yr of back recertification fees waived)
2 yr lapsed: $25 for recertify (2 yr of back recertification fees waived)
3 yr lapsed: $75 for recertify
4 yr lapsed: $100 for recertify
Minimum Education Requirements to Apply
Candidates for certification must have completed at least a bachelor’s degree or a higher degree in ecology or a related science. Completed undergraduate or graduate coursework must include the following, totaling 42 semester credit hours. Full requirements include areas of coursework and should include some core topics.
Eligibility per Level
Please use this table for a general overview of requirements; specifics for each category follow below. Following approval of the minimum CEU type requirements by the Board of Professional Certification, this table will list requirements to upgrade as well.
| Degree Requirement | Professional Experience (Years) | |
| Ecologist in Training | Bachelor’s + | 0 |
| Cover Letter Detail: Career aspirations, highlights of research/work to date | ||
| — | ||
| Associate Ecologist | Bachelor’s + | 1 |
| Cover Letter Detail: Field work, data skills, understanding of the human dimension in ecological systems | ||
| — | ||
| Ecologist | Bachelor’s + | 2 with master’s degree; 5 with bachelor’s |
| Cover Letter Detail: Independent studies, complex data analyses, journal publication, report writing, oral presentations, understanding of the human dimension in ecological systems | ||
| — | ||
| Senior Ecologist | Bachelor’s + | 5 with doctoral degree; 10 with bachelor’s/master’s |
| Cover Letter Detail: Thorough knowledge of ecological theory and application, including the interdependence and impact of humans on ecosystem structure, function, and environmental change; written original contributions of original interpretation of ecological information; technical or organizational competence as evidenced by supervision of projects | ||
Certified Ecologist and Senior Ecologist certification holders who hold that status for at least 10 consecutive years and are no longer working full-time may upgrade to each level’s respective Emeritus/ta designation. Contact cert@nullesa.org to learn more.
- Professional experience accrues as soon as the minimum education requirements are met (typically with an appropriate bachelor’s degree). Professional experience during graduate studies shall be counted the same as any other professional experience regardless of whether it was undertaken during a degree program such as a master’s or doctoral program.
- For recertifications, courses completed as part of a graduate degree program (or outside a degree program) may be counted toward continuing education in the appropriate category.
- If courses during graduate training are used to satisfy the minimum education requirements, professional work experience may be counted after the last such course is successfully completed.
- Provide an appropriate explanation of time spent in full-time employment (e.g. if working through school, during a gap year, etc.) in your application.
- Length of experience will be evaluated only up to the application submission date.
Continuing Education
Please note that beginning 2021, all newly certified ecologists are required to complete 44 continuing education units over 5 years to be eligible for recertification or upgrade. Currently certified ecologists will be permitted to recertify or upgrade per their original requirements up to 2025; beginning with 2026, all recertifications and upgrades will require having met the CEU requirements. The ESA Board of Professional Certification approved this framework in January 2021.
Certified ecologists should report their CEU as they are earned, or at least on an annual basis. You can see how to do so here.
Interpretive leeway will be given to participants to identify suitable professional development opportunities per the requirements. ESA is partnering with other scientific organizations and training bodies to recommend opportunities for CEU in addition to the content that ESA provides — see the directory. Participants are encouraged to share ideas with staff as well.
Ethics and Professional Conduct
All ecologists certified by ESA shall conduct their activities in accordance with the ESA Code of Ethics and with the highest standards of professional conduct and personal honor.
Application Materials
You can review the full application requirements here.
Here are additional details about the requirements for each certification level.
Ecologist in Training
This category is for graduating students who have met the education requirements for ESA certification but do not have the required professional experience for the current certification categories. The basic requirement is:
- A bachelor’s or higher degree in ecology or a related science from an accredited college or university.
A holder of the Ecologist in Training designation is encouraged to use the full term, “Ecologist in Training,” on business cards or in official signatures, but may use the initialism “EiT” if space limits require.
Associate Ecologist
This category is for ecologists in the early stages of their career. Course requirements may be met with post-baccalaureate courses from an accredited college or university, but professional experience may not be counted until all coursework requirements for certification are met. The basic requirements are:
- A bachelor’s or higher degree in ecology or a related science from an accredited college or university.
- At least one year of post-graduate professional experience gained in the performance of research or data analysis demonstrating technical competence in current application of ecological principles and/or theory.
- Relevant experience should have been gained within the five years preceding application at this level.
A holder of the Association Ecologist designation is encouraged to use the full term, “Certified Associate Ecologist,” on business cards or in official signatures, but may use the initialism “CAE” if space limits require.
Ecologist
This category is for established professional ecologists.
- A master’s degree or higher in ecology or a related science from an accredited college or university and at least two years of full-time equivalent professional experience after degree; OR at least five years of professional experience in addition to the education requirement for Associate Ecologist.
- In addition to the one-year experience requirement for Associate Ecologist, candidates must also demonstrate the ability to perform professional work in ecology, as outlined in the table above. This professional work must follow completion of the education requirement for qualification at the Ecologist level.
- Relevant experience should have been gained within the five years preceding application at this level.
- Note that, beginning in 2022, Ecologist in Training or Associate Ecologist certification holders who achieve a relevant doctoral degree may upgrade to the Ecologist level without completing other CEU for that 5-year certification period.
A holder of the Ecologist designation is encouraged to use the full term, “Certified Ecologist,” on business cards or in official signatures, but may use the initialism “CE” if space limits require.
Certified Ecologist Emeriti
This category is for previously Certified Ecologists who are no longer working full-time. The requirements are:
- Previously certified as a Certified Ecologist for at least 10 years, with no more than a total two-year lapse between periods of certification.
- May no longer be employed full-time.
- DO NOT USE THE APPLICATION FORM for this designation. Contact cert@nullesa.org if you are interested.
If the Certified Ecologist Emeritus/ta desires to depict certification on any official document, they are encouraged to use the term “Certified Ecologist Emeritus/ta.” This is meant as an honorary lifetime recognition and does not imply continued professional status. The initialism “CEE” is acceptable if space limits require.
Senior Ecologist
This category is for professional leaders in ecology who have established a track record of excellent contributions to the field in applied and analytical environments.
- A doctoral degree in ecology or a related science from an accredited college or university and at least five years of full-time equivalent professional experience after degree; OR at least 10 years of professional experience after completion of the minimum education requirements for certification (qualifying bachelor’s degree or completion of required coursework in post-baccalaureate courses).
- Course requirements may be met with post-qualifying degree (post-baccalaureate or post-master’s) courses from an accredited college or university, but professional experience may not be counted until all coursework requirements for certification are met.
- Relevant experience should have been gained within the five years preceding application at this level.
- Note that, beginning in 2022, Ecologist certification holders who achieve a doctoral degree may upgrade to the Senior Ecologist level without completing other CEU for that 5-year certification period.
A holder of the Senior Ecologist designation is encouraged to use the full term, “Certified Senior Ecologist,” on business cards or in official signatures, but may use the initialism “CSE” if space limits require.
Recertification applications at the senior ecologist level require only a cover letter and up-to-date CV if the applicant is, at the time of application, currently certified as a Senior Ecologist by ESA and a member of the Society in good standing.
Senior Ecologist Emeriti
This category is for previously certified Senior Ecologists who are no longer working full-time. The requirements are:
- Previously certified as a Senior Ecologist for at least 10 years, with no more than a total two-year lapse between periods of certification.
- May no longer be employed full-time.
- DO NOT USE THE APPLICATION FORM for this designation. Contact cert@nullesa.org if you are interested.
If the Senior Ecologist Emeritus/ta desires to depict certification on any official document, they are encouraged to use the term “Senior Ecologist Emeritus/ta.” This is meant as an honorary lifetime recognition and does not imply continued professional status. The initialism “SEE” is acceptable if space limits require.
Tile has a bunch of tracker sizes and shapes.
Tile
Life360's Bluetooth tagging device Tile is launching a new anti-theft mode designed to get around a tricky issue: criminals knowing when an item they've stolen is being tracked.
The new anti-theft mode makes a user's Tile undetectable in Scan and Secure, the company's in-app feature that allows iPhone and Android users to locate nearby Tiles. That feature was initially launched to combat the rise in stalking with Bluetooth tagging devices, but now the company say that approach hasn't stopped stalking and has, if anything, made a criminal's job easier to get away with.
"It seemed like the genuine problem of stalking wasn't actually being necessarily solved," said Life360 CEO Chris Hulls. "But what was happening was that there's this new vector that's opening up for thieves, where so much of the reason people buy Bluetooth tags to begin with is to protect their items from theft. And now, if you have a Tile or an AirTag, a smart thief will almost certainly be able to find it."
That's because if a thief learns there is a Bluetooth tag on an item that they stole, they're able to easily remove the tag and prevent victims from tracking down valuables.
Bluetooth tagging devices like Life360's Tile, Apple's AirTag and Samsung's Galaxy SmartTag have come under pressure to increase safety features as stalking cases rose. But robberies are also on the rise throughout the U.S., and according to Hulls, there's been a negligible number of stalking cases. During the first half of 2022, there was a 5.5% increase in robberies throughout the country, according to the Council on Criminal Justice.
"Theft is the primary reason people buy these products," Hulls said. "Our new anti-theft mode is a tradeoff. ... It gives consumers choice, they can turn off all the anti-stalking features, so their Tiles become invisible," he added.
watch now
Tile is taking a new approach to stalking prevention. If a user chooses to use the anti-theft mode, they must go through an ID verification process, which will register the user with Tile and sync their ID with their account.
"From our research, the real issue with stalkers is how do you remove anonymity?" he said.
Scan and Secure didn't address that issue, he said, and it didn't have any enforcement mechanism. That's changing now too, with Life360 threatening stalkers with a $1 million penalty the company will pursue against any individual convicted in a court of law for using Tile devices to illegally track any individual without their knowledge or consent. If someone is convicted in court for stalking using Tile, in which the ID verification makes prosecution easier, Tile would sue that person for violating the terms and services.
But there is a user privacy issue in the changes as well. Life360 is increasing collaboration with law enforcement so that if anti-theft mode is enabled, users must acknowledge that personal information can and will be shared with law enforcement at the company's discretion, even without a subpoena, to aid in the investigation and prosecution of suspected stalking.
"So much of why people buy these devices to begin with is to protect against theft. So, we think this really threads the needle elegantly," Hulls said.
Consumer technology advocates weigh in on safety and security changes
Technology safety advocates aren't convinced.
Kathleen Moriarty, chief technology officer at the Center for Internet Security, said via email that a closer tie to identity should Boost the integrity of the solution by adding in a human factor and sense of responsibility, but as is the case with any new release, "limits and boundaries will be tested in unexpected ways."
For example, if a Tile can be discovered by its authorized owner, to track down the belonging in which it was placed, the Tile is emanating a signal to make that possible. Although the application designed for Tile use will only make that visible to the Tile owner, the signal may be discoverable with other tools.
"Without insight into the technical details, the protections to prevent detection are not clear. Typically confidence from technologists is higher for standards-based solutions due to the rigorous review process by a number of experts. The solution holds promise and time will tell as it gets tested in real-world scenarios," she said.
Adam Dodge, CEO of digital safety education company EndTAB and a member of the World Economic Forum's Digital Justice Advisory Committee, was more critical of the approach in an email exchange. "This update denies stalking victims access to the most essential of safety measures, the ability to verify and locate a tracker to stop the abuse," Dodge wrote.
He says Life360's new safety commitments — identify verification, fines and promises to cooperate with law enforcement — do not offset the increased risk created for victims, and he noted that the features and new company policies only come into play if the Tile tracker is found, something that anti-theft mode now makes much less likely.
"We have to remember that bad actors care most about getting caught. From that perspective, this new feature is a homerun," Dodge said. "I'd rather see Tile's new commitments to safety implemented on their own, as opposed to a way to blunt the risks created with anti-theft mode."
In his view, if the problem of stalking wasn't being solved, companies like Life360 should solve for it specifically through innovation and new safety features. "The irony is that, by making Tile trackers undetectable, it is now easier for stalkers to stay anonymous," Dodge wrote.
This story has been updated to include comments from Adam Dodge, CEO of EndTAB, and Kathleen Moriarty, chief technology officer at the Center for Internet Security.
Listening to the comments of the Aspen City Council members at their meeting of Feb. 13 was a revelation to me and the general public of an exercise in a “do nothing” policy by our present council in public transportation options.
It’s all talk and no constructive action. That’s the way it’s been for the last 20 or more years since we demonstrated the possibilities of a light-rail option for our Roaring Fork Valley. Yes, indeed! “It’s all blow and no go!” by our current Aspen City Council.
With our present “do nothing” council, Aspen citizens, working folks, and visitors will never experience a first-class public transportation system.
The Benefits of Buying a Certified Pre-Owned Vehicle
All things considered equal, it costs more to buy a certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicle than it does to buy the same used vehicle when it is not part of a CPO program. However, while non-CPO vehicles are typically less expensive, they are not equal to CPO vehicles.
Michael Cera can't help but miss his son while he's away filming.
The Superbad star, 34, revealed in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter that becoming a father has changed the way he approaches work, with family now being his highest priority.
"I think the only thing that it affects is that you just want to spend as much time with them as possible," Cera said. "So when I was 20, I would have been way happier to go off to some weird city and live in a hotel for three months. And when you have kids, you want to be with your family. And you miss them a lot."
When asked which of his TV shows or films he would introduce to his son first, he said: "He's only a year and a half old, so he hasn't seen anything yet. But I have a couple of animated movies."
Though he added that 2016's animated film Sausage Party was off the table, noting that it would come "a little later."
In March, 2022, Cera's Life & Beth costar Amy Schumer, 41, accidentally revealed during a joint Entertainment Tonight interview that he welcomed a child.
"Michael has a baby, too," Schumer said. "Is that public knowledge? I just outed him, I just outed his baby."
The Arrested Development star the confirmed the happy news, telling ET, "We're right at the beginning of it. We're doing the very basics right now."
A few days after Schumer spilled Cera's baby news, the new dad gave some details to Extra about his first child.
"He's just a little 6-month-old baby," Cera said at the time of his son with his longtime partner Nadine.
Since then Schumer has gone on to reveal to PEOPLE her best advice for parenting that she's given friends Cera and Jennifer Lawrence. "It's just about failing," says Schumer, who shares 2-year-old son Gene David with husband Chris Fischer. "It's like stand up. You mess up so bad."
"It couldn't go much worse than what we named our son initially," she teases of originally naming her son Gene Attell. "But they're doing great. They really are both just such clear, natural parents."
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Cera has mainly kept his family and relationship with Nadine, whom he reportedly married in 2018, out of the public eye.
The actor will pay a visit to the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival for the debut of the Dustin Guy Defa drama The Adults.
