Field Notes

An excerpt from the autobiographical novel Sunset in Wajir
An excerpt from the autobiographical novel Sunset in Wajir

by Jack Meyers

From 1968 to 1970, I was in the Peace Corps. First in Somalia and then, after a military coup there, in Kenya. The experiences I had led me to my graduate degree in agricultural economics and subsequent…

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- Jul 24, 2022
Fieldwork in Namibia
Fieldwork in Namibia

by Tara Waters Lumpkin

In old Africa: Dust stirred by bare feet and lions’ paws . . . Gone now.

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- Sep 20, 2021
A Sapphire in the Rough
A Sapphire in the Rough

by Joe Gray

It is early June 2018, and I am kneeling down with my face just inches from the short herb layer that makes up the rough along the border of a golf course. The course is that of Royston Golf Club in Hertfordshire,…

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- Oct 03, 2018
Stolen Lives: Meeting Rescued Primates in Vietnam
Stolen Lives: Meeting Rescued Primates in Vietnam

by Caroline Jeffery

Despite protective laws, thousands of primates are taken from the wild every day. They are then illegally sold for the exotic pet trade or roadside tourism. And because they are no longer getting the correct…

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- Jun 06, 2018
When a Tourist Meets Nature: A Story from a City-Dwelling Brit
When a Tourist Meets Nature: A Story from a City-Dwelling Brit

by Caroline Jeffery

"What about there?" I point at a green patch on the computer screen. My partner and I are planning the next route of our journey through Southeast Asia. And by planning, I mean deciding one day in advance.

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- May 02, 2018
In the Wake of Dolphins
In the Wake of Dolphins

by Debra Denker

The pod of five dolphins gracefully, effortlessly, swims past me, perhaps a dolphin-length away. Entranced, I simply follow. Dolphins swim with powerful vertical thrusts of their tails, and for a few moments…

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- Mar 14, 2018
Conservación de Aves en los Bosques Andinos de Colombia
Conservación de Aves en los Bosques Andinos de Colombia

by Natalia Ocampo-Peñuela

Me despierto a las 4:30 de la madrugada en mi tienda de campaña y salgo a admirar el bosque oscuro y cubierto de nubes. Me reúno con mi equipo local para entrar en calor y discutir nuestro plan de acción.

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- Dec 15, 2017
The Whales of Husavik, Iceland
The Whales of Husavik, Iceland

by Erika Reiter

There is a small town in northern Iceland that describes itself as Europe’s best whale-watching destination. I traveled there in August 2016 to conduct research for my master’s thesis — I wanted to interview…

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- Dec 06, 2017
Studying Sea Otters at Elkhorn Slough
Studying Sea Otters at Elkhorn Slough

by Erika Zambello

I stood atop Yampah Hill with Kerstin Wasson, Research Coordinator for the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve (ESNERR). A large tidal creek wove through the marsh grass, its arms snaking…

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- Aug 06, 2017
Searching for Fish in Cameroon
Searching for Fish in Cameroon

by Joe Cutler

Crowds of people funneled past me as I unloaded my sampling equipment from the back of a taxi in Cameroon’s Kumba Market. The driver helped me pull my gear from the trunk: a huge backpack, a sack of gillnets,…

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- Jul 02, 2017
Waiting for Owls
Waiting for Owls

by Laurel Mundy

In the woods, the air is still and quiet. The ground is warm from the sunshine that beats down on the hillside all day, but mostly, it’s dark. The lightest breeze brings the smell of ponderosa bark and…

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- Jun 26, 2017
The CITES Meeting: A Closer Look
The CITES Meeting: A Closer Look

by Alfred Mepukori

My amazing trip all began when the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) announced a global search for 34 international conservationists aged 18 to 25 to attend the first-ever Youth Forum for People…

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- Mar 06, 2017

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