As February transitioned into March, I was far from home. Leaving the long leaf pines and palm trees behind in Florida, I flew to Phoenix for a road trip up the West Coast. From PhoenixContinue reading
Category: travel
Snorkeling in Key West’s protected marine areas
In mid-January, I hopped on a boat from a Key West, Florida, harbor with my colleagues from the Natural Resources Leadership Institute. As the sun rose higher in the morning sky, we diligently applied sunContinue reading
Keeping Drones Out of Our State Parks
I recently went on a camping trip to a few Florida State Parks, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of sun-filled fall afternoons. Relishing the lack of a schedule, I reclined on my sleeping bag for aContinue reading
Birding with the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail
It was just past 8:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning, but already a small crowd had gathered at the Blackwater Fisheries Research and Development Center in Okaloosa County, Florida. Based on the proliferation of camerasContinue reading
Visiting New Orleans’ Aquarium
Aquariums and zoos often describe themselves as educational institutions. For example, the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, located in New Orleans, Louisiana, is part of the Audubon Nature Institute, which states as its mission: WeContinue reading
Is Ecotourism the Natural World’s Silver Bullet?
In 1991, the New York Times ran an article entitled: “Ecotourism: Can it Protect the Planet?” You’ll notice that, fifteen years later, I am asking myself the same question. Eric Weiner – author of theContinue reading
Why Google’s Doodle Meant So Much to Me
Everyone loves the Google Doodle program. Google’s founders decided to incorporate the illustrations before the company was even born, and today they have a dedicated team of “doodlers” and engineers to create the cartoons. AccordingContinue reading
The LTER Network: Why I Want to See Them All
Many of my childhood memories are centered around the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, a Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. My mom has worked there for as longContinue reading
The Return of Nesting Seabirds on the Florida Panhandle
Erika photographs nesting Least Terns and Black Skimmers as they begin their nesting season.