Two people silhouetted against the vivid orange light of a wildfire.

Where There’s Smoke: EPA Air Quality Indices Ignore Deadly Wildfire Pollution

March 19, 2024

Cold air cleansed my lungs as my crampons bit the ice, hungry for the trail after weeks in the garage. February’s frostbite-inducing temperatures had confined most of my runs to the treadmill’s miasma of rubber and sweat. Once the mercury crept into the teens, I pounced on the opportunity to run outdoors again, inhaling the … More Where There’s Smoke: EPA Air Quality Indices Ignore Deadly Wildfire Pollution

Vanishing Vagabonds: Crossing Paths With Bohemian Waxwings

February 29, 2024

Too often I forget that Nature is more than a postcard: an exotic destination like jungles, deserts, or coral reefs. It’s not a place we visit, but a realm we inhabit. Environmental phenomena can whisk us on journeys even in the humblest urban landscape. Still we chase the thrill of terra nova, like earlier this … More Vanishing Vagabonds: Crossing Paths With Bohemian Waxwings

A farm in California's Central Coast. Neat green rows stretch toward low hills on the horizon, under a cloud-scudded sky.

Seeds of Change: Cultivating a Sustainable Food System

February 11, 2024

I leaned over the stewpot and laughed into the fragrant steam. “When did we start eating like peasants?” It wasn’t a complaint, but a cheeky observation on our evolving household diet. Five years ago I rarely made soup unless someone was ill, and then it came from a can. Now the remains of a rotisserie … More Seeds of Change: Cultivating a Sustainable Food System

A Common Redpoll bird pops up from a snowbank, its red cap vibrant against the white snow. Several flakes fly up around its speckled breast.

Bird Joy: Science warms to the idea that birds play in the snow

January 25, 2024

After researching how climate change threatens snowy Arctic biomes, I’ve been spending as much time as I can outdoors in the Alaskan winter. A recent 20-Fahrenheit afternoon felt warm after December’s negative temperatures. My neighborhood stream, artificially heated for utility purposes, burbled along with less ice than usual encrusting its rocks and reeds. Birds took … More Bird Joy: Science warms to the idea that birds play in the snow

A snowy landscape, with an inky stream winding away through white marshland towards a mountainous horizon.

A World Without Winter: New Projections for Climate Change in the Arctic

January 10, 2024

Only one thing scared me about moving to Alaska six months ago. Not the remoteness. Australia got me hooked on wild environments with more nature than civilization, so this was actually a selling point. Not the wildlife. While moose and bears can be aggressive, photography has taught me to keep a respectful distance (and a … More A World Without Winter: New Projections for Climate Change in the Arctic

An older woman's hand supports a young girl's, which cradles a small translucent shrimp.

A Cornucopia of Dystopia: Thanksgiving in the Anthropocene

December 11, 2023

Living in Australia had gotten me and my Laddie off the hook for Thanksgiving travel since 2019, and we expected our recent relocation to Alaska would extend the streak. Then he wound up on a November business trip back to our native mid-Atlantic. With people we hadn’t seen in three years conveniently congregating for the … More A Cornucopia of Dystopia: Thanksgiving in the Anthropocene