![Photography: the field scientist’s secret weapon [Part 1]](http://scottystrachan.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC_1593-Medium-557x350.jpg "Photography: the field scientist’s secret weapon [Part 1]")
If there is one practice or tool that every single branch of field science could benefit more from, it is still-picture photography. Communication of your work, your application, and your environment is made infinitely easier when high quality photographs are
The search for the highest wind speeds usually leads us to the tops of mountains and ridges. Higher topography should result in greater air velocity, right? Intuitively, we expect windiness to increase with height and elevation. Tall buildings, towers, poles,
Every field scientist should have their general paper notebook handy at all times, in order to jot notes, organize thoughts, or even sketch unique observations. However, many different kinds of field research also involve repetitive observations or measurements that are
Ever misplace something important, and know exactly where it is, but are unable to access it? A similar circumstance happened to my friend Xiaochun Wang during his time in the DendroLab as a visiting scholar. Xiaochun came to Nevada from
For most students and many researchers, the academic Spring Break is a chance to catch one’s breath during the crazy pace of the Spring semester/term. Some people choose to use it as a vacation, heading to some exotic spot or
It would be understatement to say that air temperature is the single most important climate variable to measure. The growth of biologic organisms, especially plants, is closely tied to temperature regimes. That is, for any given organism there exists some
It’s kinda like standing on a downtown corner: spend enough time in the field, and you’ll see a lot of crazy things. Sometimes, those crazy things happen to you, but those stories aren’t nearly as interesting as the ones that
PACLIM 2015 is in progress at Asilomar, California! Over 100 scientists from around western North America have congregated at this biennial meeting to present and discuss their latest ideas and preliminary results on research related to past and modern climate
Electronics and field research are more intertwined than ever. With the advent of inexpensive multifunction dataloggers, more and more research projects are deploying sensor systems with the intent of obtaining multiple years of data. Long term observation sites have been
Semi-arid woodlands are home to generally older vegetation than montane forests and other places that see frequent natural or human disturbances. In fact, the western United States is chock-full of long-lived trees and shrubs. Most of these “fly under the