What are the logistics like on a field campaign to collect leaves from the canopy of a tropical forest? We collect them to profile these species’ functions – measuring things like photosynthetic capacity that help predict forest function or carbon fluxes. But where do these numbers come from? Here is a small vignette into how…

Most people’s imagination of doing warm tropical landscapes involves charismatic megafauna. They are there, but they are not the primary experience of fieldwork. They shape the landscape deeply, but it can be a rare even to see them, especially up close. Here in Gabon, this is especially true. Forest buffalo make tracks all over the…

Flowing water is a rare feature in the canyons of the American southwest. The few that do have it are magical and dynamic places. Aravaipa Canyon is one of them – fifteen miles long, a few hundred feet deep, with narrow walls. It drains an area with complex geology, yielding a permanent stream that brings…

I have been in Lopé National Park, Gabon, for the last few weeks, helping Dr. Sam Moore as he leads up Oxford’s field campaign to sample the functional diversity of these forests in collaboration with Gabon’s national parks agency and the Wildlife Conservation Society. The forests are unique in still having large elephant populations, a…