The feeling that there might just be an elephant nearby – that is the feeling of walking through a forest in Lopé, Gabon. In this part of Gabon, there are only forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis). There are signs of these elephants everywhere, reminding you that the forest is someone else’s home, and not yours to…

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…