Red leaves, but no red cardinals. Blue sky, but no blue jays. “Maybe I shouldn’t have bothered packing my camera,” I grumbled to the autumn leaves overhead. Back in my hometown for a visit, I’d hoped to photograph favorite childhood birds, but some species seemed sparser than I remembered. New construction had further reduced their … More The Fate of the Animals: The Art of Habitat Conservation
I entered my office and walked straight into a cloud of bats. Cartoonish chiropterans clung to the walls. Orange crepe shrouded the doorways. A plastic mermaid skeleton with blue nylon hair dangled from the light over my desk. My grinning colleague animated a large, fuzzy spider perched on the cubicle divider. “You think that’s going … More Trash or Treat? Escaping the Environmental Horrors of Halloween
“I saw the termination dust in September,” said my colleague, nodding out the office window toward the Chugach Range. When I raised my eyebrows, he added “That’s what Alaskans call that first sprinkle of snow on the mountaintops, because it means summer is coming to an end. I’ve never seen it that early before.” I … More Fire and Ice: How Climate Change Impacts the El Niño Southern Oscillation
My overseas work contract recently concluded, but after three years of vast Australian skies and wilderness at my doorstep, I couldn’t bear returning to the congested mid-Atlantic sprawl I’d once called home. Instead, I took a job in another remote pole: Alaska! I’ve hopped hemispheres from the Great Southern Land to the Great White North. … More The Fifty-Dollar Owl: Contemplating the Cost of Conservation
There’s less fiction than I thought in my upcoming novel about the health impact of climate change: yesterday the American Medical Association (AMA) declared climate change a public health crisis. “The scientific evidence is clear – our patients are already facing adverse health effects associated with climate change, from heat-related injuries, vector-borne diseases and air … More Sick of Climate Change: AMA (and Cli-Fi Writers) Declare Public Health Crisis
Last March I visited Tasmania, a long-awaited voyage to the home of my favorite childhood animal, the thylacine. Since the trip occurred before I rebooted this blog, I didn’t post about it in real-time. This month I’ll take you on an anniversary tour, posting a highlight from my ecological adventure every Sunday. Hit that follow … More The Tasmanian Tiger’s Trail, Pt I: Re-creation
Wild Type 