An acorn is the fruit of an oak tree. Inside an acorn rests a single seed. Inside the seed rests an oak embryo. This embryo is produced by pollination. Oak trees have both sperm-producing and egg-bearing flowers that bundle together. Sperm-producing flowers, or catkins, are inflorescence clusters that look, inContinue Reading
More and more people are realizing we live on a finite planet, with finite resources, and the clock is ticking to clean up the mess we have made. Further, we are discovering that a sustainable life does not mean we have to give up our comforts, but instead expand themContinue Reading
“Thanks for getting me out here, babe.” My voice is excited but gruff. “I didn’t get much sleep at all last night.” I’m feeling the effects of our 2021 all-day New Year’s celebration. Despite some muscle aches, moderate anxiety, and a tad bit of brain fog, I’m happy to beContinue Reading
. . . Climate change, by the very nature of the problem, is global in scale. Global change is the most complex issue facing humanity as a species – not as a system of government, not as a national debate, but as a threat to the future of organized humanContinue Reading
The loss of wild spaces happens slowly. An acre here, a hectare of deforestation there, is hardly noticeable day by day. As decades roll on, however, the loss of wilderness is vivid. Further, the global implications of this loss, as evident from the climate irregularities of this 21st century, areContinue Reading
Autumn is the season of dying and death – but life, as in our own experience, carries on. Winter, to me, is the first season of life. In temperate zones, perennial plants, most notably trees, are asleep in winter. Thing is, a lot of infant vegetative color appears throughout theContinue Reading
“I want to walk with Dada,” Eli announces. I smile to myself when I hear his little six-year-old voice. On this October day, a clear, expansive sky spreads across the land. My boy runs to me and takes my hand. Tall grass, gradually fading to brown in the autumn season,Continue Reading
Past Cane Island, the river widens along a beautiful stretch of form and color. No words from either science or poetry, reason or romance, can do justice to the natural world around us. The sound is still – nothing but the rippling, bubbling current. Suddenly, the burble becomes a loudContinue Reading
The headwaters of the Hiwassee River emerge off the northern slopes of Rocky Mountain in Georgia’s Appalachian region. These waters crash and cascade into one another and build momentum as they travel northward across ancient altars of rock. The currents trickle through smoky Blue Ridge forests as they twist andContinue Reading
In reflection, over the past two decades, the global human population has witnessed three novel coronaviruses emerge and cause outbreaks with considerable health consternation. Further, all outbreaks (likely) have a zoonotic origin, or, diseases that spread from animals to humans. The question begs to be asked: Why? III. Scientists whoContinue Reading