Bixby Canyon, Big Sur, CA

This photo was taken on a pilgrimage to a place made famous by some of my favorite photographers, notably Wynn Bullock. Now, this scene may have been lost to the inferno of the Soberanes Fire, which has already engulfed nearly 40,000 acres on the Big Sur. As an ecologist, I embrace change, but, increasingly, change exceeds natural bounds as extreme heat and drying surpass conditions that previously shaped these environments. I remain hopeful that we can address climate change, but already there are many places I have documented that will not be restored in my lifetime. One can accept change and still feel the loss.

Oregon Coast

Every stand of trees has a lengthy tale to tell. The high-altitude krummholz speak eloquently about the harsh conditions they have endured. The doghair pines, by their very name, define a certain thick growth. And the grandeur of the great sequoias are a pure testament to time. This coastal forest speaks to the both the limitation of light and the moist growing conditions of its oceanic setting. Wherever you go, the forest has much  to tell you.

Condon, MT

Wherever found, beauty transforms our day, but never more so than when it occurs in odd settings, like an abandoned wheelbarrow. It is easy enough in these times to dread the unexpected, but I ask you to also leave open the possibility of encountering something worthy of joy. Be looking for it, and you will not be disappointed.

Joshua Tree National Park, CA

Every living thing adapts to its environment, yet, why are those adaptations so various? One plant thrives with threadlike leaves, another with thick pads covered in thorns. Aspens glow next to evergreens. Floppy kelp holds to the same sea rocks as glass-encased diatoms. It’s the no-single-right-answer theory and can be applied universally…even to humans.