From the field

Field Dispatches

Short stories exploring the logistics, uncertainty, human relationships, and grit required to gain understanding of wildlife and people in a rapidly changing world.

07Dispatch

Alberta, Canadian RockiesClimate Change & Herbivore Behavioral Plasticity

The Phenological Trap

2020–2025

Finding a phenological trap in two decades of elk data is a feat of statistics, endurance, and community support. From field work at thirty weeks pregnant to navigating a project through a closed border, this is the work behind my PhD research.

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06Dispatch

Hisar Mountains, TajikistanCarnivore Research and Coexistence

Searching for the Ghost Cat

June–August 2014

A blank spot on the map was my invitation to go looking. In Tajikistan’s Hisar Range, searching for a ghost cat alongside local partners meant 40 cameras, dozens of interviews, and enough scat samples to finally map the corridors that link small populations across this landscape.

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05Dispatch

Grand Teton National Park, WyomingWolf Tracking & Winter Ecology

Forensic Winter in the Tetons

January–April 2012

Reconstructing the story of a winter wolf kill means reading the snow like a detective. From the struggle of navigating thick snowy deadfall to the jolt of an answering howl, these are the realities of responding to the Teton wilderness on its own terms.

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04Dispatch

Iringa, TanzaniaElephant Behavior & Community Coexistence

The Giants of Ruaha

June–September 2011

Between digging beehive fences with machetes and loaning cameras for villagers on their first safari, my work in Ruaha was about finding a common language. Read about the effort to bridge the gap between a national park and the neighbors living in its backyard.

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03Dispatch

Cardamom Mountains, CambodiaExpedition Adventures & Biodiversity

Tying my Bootstrings

March 2010

Fording rivers on motorbikes and sleeping in hammocks is the price of entry for protecting a truly wild landscape. Trading personal comfort for the dirt and heat was the only way to see the scale of the wilderness and the reality of the threats it faces.

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02Dispatch

Java, IndonesiaCultural Immersion & Capacity Building

Sometimes You Do, Sometimes You Don’t

March 2009

If conservation is a social science, Indonesia was the masterclass. Between the upside-down writing of a language school in Jogjakarta and the whooping of gibbons in the Gunung Gede mist, I learned that trust is the most valuable tool a scientist can carry.

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01Dispatch

Rajasthan, IndiaWildlife Photography and Carnivore Coexistence

Honey-Dust and Tigers

May 2008

5:00 AM wake-ups and wrapping cameras in pillowcases became a daily ritual in Ranthambhore. Between the guttural rumbles of a territorial fight and the silence of a tiger that can materialize out of thin air, this was the reality of our jungle trek.

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