In my companion article to this piece, I wrote that one of the top reasons that stargazing is the ultimate outdoor pursuit is because of the real world drama played out in the nightly motions of the stars and other celestial objects. A recent night of stargazing which I recently enjoyed in the remote and therefore star-happy location of Big Bend National Park serves as an illustrative example. I reserved a backcountry campsite sight unseen; as I set up my tent and went out for a day hike, I didn’t think much about the mountainous ridge to the east, especially not as a backdrop for my evening e ..read more

When we hear the phrase “outdoor activity,” images of someone lugging a backpack deep into a remote forest or furiously paddling through a series of churning rapids likely fill our minds.  Activities like these appeal to us for being exhilarating and challenging ways to get us in touch with our natural surroundings while improving our health through exercise. Perhaps ironically, we can become deeply acquainted with much more distant surroundings without even taking a step by partaking in an outdoor activity which can’t be paralleled for its ability to spark the imagination and engage the ..read more

When we hear the phrase “outdoor activity,” images of someone lugging a backpack deep into a remote forest or furiously paddling through a series of churning rapids likely fill our minds.  Activities like these appeal to us for being exhilarating and challenging ways to get us in touch with our natural surroundings while improving our health through exercise. Perhaps ironically, we can become deeply acquainted with much more distant surroundings without even taking a step by partaking in an outdoor activity which can’t be paralleled for its ability to spark the imagination and engage the ..read more

The following is an excerpt from my reflections on a conversation I recorded while traveling through the US documenting the work and personal stories of wildlife biology technicians. It centers on the dramatic events which convinced Mark Steele, a former field tech, to return to a life as a seasonal technician after working for several years at a remarkably ordinary corporate job. The circumstances which resulted in Mark returning to fieldwork allowed him to appreciate the unusual but rewarding lifestyle more consciously and not to take it for granted. They also gave him a greater capacity to ..read more

It was my first week as a field tech, and I’d just been caught trespassing by a landowner in Wyoming. My supervisor offered me the opportunity to put in some extra work by matching up printouts of aerial photos with what was actually on the ground, a process called “ground truthing.” The idea was that for each polygon on the photo, I’d be able to provide detail on what it actually was — perhaps an alfalfa field or a fallow pasture. I wanted to demonstrate my work ethic because recommendations from previous supervisors are essential in getting work as a field tech, and more practically, I had ..read more

If you read an article in a biology journal or a news article discussing the results of a biological study, you’re seeing the results of the challenging and often dangerous work of wildlife biology technicians, or as they’re more commonly known, field techs. Although their daily lives are defined by enduring physically and psychologically challenging conditions as they collect the data and perform the observations that form the basis for scientific inquiry, you won’t see their names in scientific publications and they won’t be appearing in a documentary or delivering pithy quotables to Natio ..read more

The following is an excerpt from my reflections on a conversation I recorded while traveling through the US documenting the work and personal stories of wildlife biology technicians. It centers on the dramatic events which convinced Mark Steele, a former field tech, to return to a life as a seasonal technician after working for several years at a remarkably ordinary corporate job. The circumstances which resulted in Mark returning to fieldwork allowed him to appreciate the unusual but rewarding lifestyle more consciously and not to take it for granted. They also gave him a greater capacity to ..read more

It was my first week as a field tech, and I’d just been caught trespassing by a landowner in Wyoming. My supervisor offered me the opportunity to put in some extra work by matching up printouts of aerial photos with what was actually on the ground, a process called “ground truthing.” The idea was that for each polygon on the photo, I’d be able to provide detail on what it actually was — perhaps an alfalfa field or a fallow pasture. I wanted to demonstrate my work ethic because recommendations from previous supervisors are essential in getting work as a field tech, and more practically, I had ..read more

If you read an article in a biology journal or a news article discussing the results of a biological study, you’re seeing the results of the challenging and often dangerous work of wildlife biology technicians, or as they’re more commonly known, field techs. Although their daily lives are defined by enduring physically and psychologically challenging conditions as they collect the data and perform the observations that form the basis for scientific inquiry, you won’t see their names in scientific publications and they won’t be appearing in a documentary or delivering pithy quotables to Natio ..read more