Brown Stick Mantis - Horizontes Biological Station

Hidden in Plain Sight

July 20, 2015 in July 2015

Familiarity can be the breeding ground for complacency. The repetition of a morning’s commute is a mind-numbing experience as we become underwhelmed by the sameness of each passing moment. The redundancy of the route makes us blind to subtle changes and the little hidden pearls that are always present. The shackles of life’s endless rerun are not difficult to escape given the opportunity to break from work. It is the monotony of daily life that fuels the wanderlust that I feel down to my bones.

Cat's Eye Snake (moderately venomous) - Sensoria Rainforest Preserve

At 1:00 a.m., June 20, 2015 Tamy and I left the comforts of home for the airport to begin our tenth excursion to Costa Rica. As with a few prior trips to Central America, we were chaperones to fourteen high school students who would be doing research with leaf-cutter ants. Much like the 2014 trip, the students were everything a chaperone could wish for. Polite, committed and adventurous, each one of my charges became wonderful travel companions. While much of our time was devoted to making their experience a positive one, we managed to steal minutes throughout the days to pursue our passion for nature and photography.

Peek-a-Boo Bananaquit - Finca La Anita in Colonial Libertad

Adventure and international travel is a transformative experience. Rather than residing in some miniature recreation of home or a pseudo-utopian vacationland, eco-travelers revel in the realness of a place where non-humans freely interact with the humans in their landscape. Such experiences are a hard break from the “Groundhog Day” we relive in our working lives, and it is times like this when adults can play and begin to hunt for the gems that are hidden in plain sight.

Green Mantis - Horizontes Biological Station

Megalopyge (Puss) Caterpillar - Selva Verde, Costa Rica

Did You Know (38)?

February 16, 2015 in February 2015

Biodiversity is the scientific way of describing variety; it is a measure of the total number of distinct species in a defined area. Some biologists assess biodiversity by examining genes within a population, while others invoke the classical “species concept” as a way of defining the species richness of an ecosystem. Regardless of the measurement tool, high biodiversity is a good thing and is cited as a positive indicator for environmental health.

Costa Rica and its tropical forests are known for its high species richness. Some regard the entire country as an ecological hotspot. With the Atlantic Ocean to the east and Pacific to the west, two distinct weather systems collide where the mountains bisect the country. Traveling east to west, the elevation increases along the Caribbean slope. The cumulative affect of oceanic air and elevation changes result in the formation of distinct microclimates that define multiple ecosystems within small patches of land. Like the Caribbean, the Pacific Slope is geologically diverse. As the mountains sink towards the ocean, the structure and diversity of the forests change. Geographic diversity and climate stability contribute to the staggering biological variety found across the country.

Recent research suggest that scientists have underestimated the diversity of life on the planet. Specifically, Genoveva Rodriguez-Castaneda found that tropical insect diversity increases with increasing elevation1. Montane forests are defined by plant species that have adapted to narrow geographic and climactic conditions. Each valley or hill creates a microclimate that defines a distinct ecotone (ecotone: transition zone between habitats). As environmental characteristics become increasingly narrow, so do the characteristics of a given niche. These narrowly defined niches promote specialization and diversification. As a result of these observations, scientists now project that there may be six times more insect species than previously suggested.

The sloth-like Megalopygidae larvae pictured here is an embryonic crinkle or flannel moth species. Megalopygidae species can be found in North America and the Neotropics. The larva are often called Puss Caterpillars and have venomous spines that, when touched, can produce a variety of symptoms. In addition to pain and inflammation, a sting can cause headaches, nausea and shock2. This individual was found in a secondary tropical forest within Costa Rica’s Caribbean Slope.

Genoveva Rodríguez-Castañeda, Lee A. Dyer, Gunnar Brehm, Heidi Connahs, Rebecca E. Forkner, Thomas R. Walla. LETTER: Tropical forests are not flat: how mountains affect herbivore diversity. Ecology Letters, 2010
"Megalopygidae." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.

Mating Monarch Butterflies (Danaus plexippus) - William Obrien State Park, MNCanon 10D + Canon 300mm f4.0L IS + Canon 1.4x converter — Mating Monarch Butterflies (*Danaus plexippus*) - William Obrien State Park, MN
Canon 10D + Canon 300mm f4.0L IS + Canon 1.4x converter

Did You Know (2)?

January 11, 2015 in January 2015

Although the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) can be found as far north as Ontario, Canada, it is a tropical species. Monarchs are year round residents in parts of South and Central America and have established stable populations in Africa, Australia, Hawaii, New Zealand and Oceanic Islands. The famed migratory phenomenon that originates in Mexico and extends into Canada appears to be due to a single gene called Collagen IV alpha-1. Those individuals with the gene are capable of long distance migrations that is not possible for those that lack the gene. Evidently, collagen IV alpha-1 contributes to the production of metabolically efficient muscle tissues that convert these tropical sprinters into marathon runners.

Behind the Lens (Number 1)

September 21, 2014 in September 2014

Every year the transition from August to September and September to October offers me the opportunity to reflect. Unlike most people approaching middle-age, I live the life of a student. Every spring I go to prom (as the coordinator), celebrate new graduates (as a teacher, advisor and mentor) and experience the elation of freedom that only a summer can offer. And, just as I've grown accustom to the nothingness of long summer days, I am rudely jerked into another school year destined to repeat these landmark events. Like the movie Groundhog Day, my life is an endless loop of predictability that is only interrupted by the changes I choose to create. So it is with this bizarre perspective that I celebrate the transition from summer to fall.

During the next few days I plan to post a series of images that convey the transitions I've observed from behind the lens. With each post, I'll describe my photographic approach as well as the impetus for choosing the subject. In this way, I hope to connect the dots between anticipation and excitement I always seem to feel at the end of summer.

About the shots: It is in late August that I begin to realize that the number of "free days" are diminishing at a feverish pace, and my typical response is to spend more time on long walks with the gear. On August 10th I found myself wandering about a nearby patch of protected land in search of something to photograph. I did not begin the walk thinking about macro subjects, rather I was searching for something large and feathered. Nearly a mile into the hike I gave up the pursuit and sat in a patch of big bluestem. After fruitless minutes of swatting at the local blood suckers, I stood up and realized that I was surrounded by color. I ditched the long lens for a macro and began to survey the area. My first subject was the pair of soldier beetles (Genus Canthariday) mating on some old bee balm. I could only imagine that the two knew that summer was quickly coming to a close and had better get on with things before it was too late. I positioned the tripod at the same plane as the beetles and waited for the occasional wind gust to subside. Shooting at f/8.0, I managed to get just enough depth of field to produce the sharp image pictured at the top. In contrast to the beetles, the jewelweed (Genus impatiens) was shot at f/3.5. The goal here was to focus on the clinging drop of dew while gently blurring the flower in order to emphasize the color and form rather than the details.

The Butterfly Effect

February 24, 2013 in February 2013

Moon Tree Number II - Minnesota

Canon 5D mark II & Canon 50mm f1.4 USM

Most of my free time is spent at work, working on work or talking about work. My commitment to “the job” reflects the passion for the work I do. Twenty-one years later, I still believe that I can influence the future and make a real difference in the lives of the people I see each day. Teaching is one part insanity and one part naïveté.

I am delusional because I believe that what I do each and every day really matters. It’s a crazy thought when you go to work with the assumption that what happens today makes a difference tomorrow. Some call it the “butterfly effect;” a sensitive dependence on initial conditions which assumes that a small perturbation will result in large-scale changes to a future state.

Eastern-tailed blue butterfly ( Cupido comyntas ) - Wm Obrien State Park

Canon 5D mark I & Canon 100mm f2.8 USM

What is your motivation? If you work for the money, you will never know the pleasure in the work you do. My craft, photography, is not limited by the product. The picture is something to share, while the story in the image reflects the life that is lived. Like the work I do everyday, my art is my passion. Images are like the beat of wings in the still of the night that generate ripples in the air. Regardless of the stimulus, both will have unpredictable consequences. In this non-linear world where chaos rules, I choose to embrace the experience, and believe my actions can influence the future.

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