Things fall apart on a mountainside, and low-cost choices begin to have their consequences. Three years ago I wanted to set up an alpine plant demography study, but had no external funding available – I had finished my PhD and was working on a part-time basis for Sky School, focusing on science education. I decided…

I was looking forward to my last day of fieldwork this season. No heavy gear to carry, no plants to collect. I had a simple job: climb a mountain and download the summer’s data from my weather station before the snows buried it for the winter. The first snow came by early September but melted…

Autumn is when the quaking aspen trees begin to show off their mysterious side. Questions fall into place, but answers are hard to come by. At lower elevations in the Rockies, aspen (Populus tremuloides [Salicaceae]) is everywhere. Its clones dominate the landscape, creating a sea of white trunks and dark green leaves that rustle softly…

Field season in the Rockies is over, which means no more long days carrying heavy equipment up and down mountains in stormy weather. There is some pleasure in sitting at a desk working through data and manuscripts, but I mostly miss the work – challenges and dangers and all. Most involved ladders – and lightning.…