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Find Bryan's latest essays at Chasing Nature »
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The Butterfly Effect
In case you missed it, after 21 years of searching I discovered an imperiled butterfly the size of a penny flying in my home state of Vermont. Then came the international “notoriety.”
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Walking, Limping, Sitting
On the occasion of my total knee replacement, here is a reflection on walking, limping and sitting — and on finding equanimity in nature.
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Refuge in a Flower and its Bee
While conducting casual research on one of my favorite flowers, I discovered something intrinsic to nature: escape and respite. (My latest essay for The Boston Globe.)
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Be the Flame and the Moth
The profound diversity of life on Earth — flying now to your doorstep.
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Silent Spring at 60
Were it published today, would Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring have had the same impact? My essay for The Boston Sunday Globe.
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War and Nature
As a biologist here in the relative safety of New England, I’m struggling to reconcile the new life of spring emerging from the horrific shadows of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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FALLOUT
Since last autumn I’ve been photographing fallen pandemic masks. Performance art? Pandemic zeitgeist? You decide.
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The Eagle and the Gull
An exceedingly rare eagle and a gull at sea. Alone and away from the crowds, I more enjoyed the gull.
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Sex and Light
On the shortest day of the year, when most of us turn toward the light, I seek out creatures of the dark: moths mating in the cold.
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Birdwatching’s Carbon Problem
A moral question for birdwatchers and others who enjoy — and simultaneously harm — nature on a warming planet.
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My Extra Hour
Time marches on — but I have a plan to beat the clock on Sunday when we dial back clocks and devices an hour. I’ll save mine for nature. Here’s an essay for The Boston Globe.
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The World on the Wing of a Butterfly
From arctic bogs to southwestern deserts — and lots of places in between — I offer you transcendence on the wing of a tiny butterfly.