Notebook of a Digital Naturalist

Every scientist keeps a personal journal, and in this I am no different. My day job is Resident Director of a biological field station called the James Reserve, sort of a bed and breakfast for biologists.

As the Bee Fire threatens Idyllwild, a laptop computer and GIS database become tools for understanding fire behavior from a Black Mountain lookout.

What is a digital naturalist? My earliest memories merge images of catching snakes longer than I was tall, and discovering that my father's soldering iron could deliver a painful burn to a curious child.

A mountain bike expedition into Mexico's Sierra San Pedro Martir reveals what healthy fire-adapted forests look like—and what a century of fire suppression has cost us.

Norm Hogg passed away last night, and I find myself flooded with a thousand vivid memories of condor watching on Mt. Pinos, story telling around campfires, hooting for spotted owls, and banding song birds.

Watching the last total lunar eclipse of the 20th century among 4,700-year-old Bristlecone Pines at the White Mountain Research Station.

Getting lost in a Venezuelan cloud forest, then descending into the bat-filled ruins of an unfinished dictator's hotel to band three hundred bats in one night.

A harrowing journey through Venezuela's gold rush frontier reveals environmental devastation and human tragedy at Kilometer 88.

A helicopter expedition to the Tepui mesas of Venezuela—the real-life inspiration for Conan Doyle's "The Lost World"—in search of rare pitcher plants and perhaps a dinosaur or two.

A real-time email journal following a day at the James Reserve—from morning coffee to bird walks and picking up the kids from school.

Reading about MIT's groundbreaking interactive video project on a flight back to Cornell plants the seed for what would become a lifetime pursuit of electronic nature education.

The origin story of the Macroscope—hauling video equipment up Black Mountain to create the world's first interactive multimedia nature walk on Apple II and laserdisc.

A memoir of hang gliding adventures, from Yosemite's El Capitan to soaring with Red-tailed Hawks on Black Mountain.

A personal metaphor exploring relationships, self-discovery, and the journey of life through the lens of being a car on an endless road.

A vision for the "virtual reserve" - how Internet technology could expand access to ecological research without increasing physical impact on fragile landscapes.

A memorial reflection on the first anniversary of losing a beloved Queensland heeler companion of fifteen years.

Reflections on a rare "great day" that began at 3:45 am getting a son to his 8th grade Catalina Island field trip.

A philosophical exploration of whether ecosystems should have legal rights, prompted by the Idyllwild Environmental Group's challenge to Forest Service logging.

A contentious meeting with the Forest Service over logging 120 ancient trees at Black Mountain reveals the conflict between traditional forestry and modern ecosystem science.

An investigation of proposed logging in Dark Canyon reveals an ecological refugia harboring rare salamander hybrids, Mountain Yellow-legged Frogs, and the only Pacific Dogwood population in the San Jacinto Mountains.

The pile of cut and stacked logs towered thirty feet over our heads as my colleagues and I diligently counted the minuscule rings. Two hundred and fifty rings—more than qualifying this stand as an Old Growth Forest.

Thirty-year population trend data for eleven old growth dependent bird species breeding in the Black Mountain Scenic Area of the San Jacinto Mountains.

A winter camping trip to Anza Borrego reveals Golden Eagles, bighorn sheep bones, and the timeless drama of survival at a desert spring.

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve by honoring the legacy of Harry and Grace James, wilderness advocates and founders of the Trailfinder School for Boys.