Summer in the Rockies is a colorful season, especially thanks to the diversity of paintbrushes (Castilleja spp.) This genus contains hundreds of species that are well known for their colorful blooms. Their bright colors hide a dark secret – like many species in the family Orobanchaceae, paintbrushes are parasites – they steal resources from the…

Home for the summer is the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. I’m living in Paradise, which is a small cabin built in 1935 and not much-renovated since then. It is a beautiful place to be, but sometimes it can be difficult to sleep. The reason: porcupines. Last night this one found its way into the shed…

Time travel is hard, which makes learning about the earth’s past climate difficult. For example, what happened to the earth’s temperature at the end of the Cretaceous, when dinosaurs went extinct? To find out, we have to use proxies – ancient objects whose form or composition indicate the climate at the time they were made.…

This week I am working in the paleobotany collections at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. A good place to work becomes an even better one if one’s visit aligns with the transit of Venus across the sun. I spent the evening at the museum, watching the one immense object hurtle past another even…