We can protect California's forests from megafires. Last month, I visited part of the Sierra Nevada that burned in 2021. In unmanaged areas, most trees died. But where land managers had thinned trees and conducted prescribed burns, nearly every tree survived. These photos show the difference.🧪🌿🌎

Oak‑savanna birds thrive after fire, a new study found. Dozens of species preferred areas that burned in the 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire over unburned areas. So far, these ecosystems are proving resilient to increasingly severe wildfires, the authors concluded. 🧪🌿🌎

‪This was a fun story to write. Last year, environmental police in Brazil stumbled upon thousands of climbing bumblebee catfish. Scientists know almost nothing about this species, which only became known to science in 2017. 🧪🌿🌎

Botanical surveys of more than 2,000 European cemeteries found that they support at least 65 native orchid species. Graveyards might be the last best plant habitat around cities, the study authors said. 🧪🌿🌎 nautil.us/orchids-thri...

There are so many fascinating studies you can find while looking through recent issues of scientific journals. Here is an article I wrote about a study that used high-speed videos of volcanic eruptions to determine the shapes of the projectiles they shoot. 🧪

Burning coal and smelting metals vaporizes small amounts of iron. Some of the iron produced by East Asian industry has been wafting into the North Pacific, where it supercharges an algal bloom. 🧪🦑

In 1988, wildfires razed one-third of Yellowstone National Park. While most park woodlands are regenerating, some have turned into meadows. A new study digs into why. 🧪🌿🌎

Whether it’s ice cream, a greasy hamburger, or a heap of french fries, everybody loves fatty foods. For coyotes, that meal is a blubbery seal pup, according to a new study led by UC Santa Cruz scientists. 🧪🌎🦑 They published the first known videos of California coyotes hunting harbor seals.

Happy #salmonsunday!! 🦑🌎🐟 The Santa Cruz Mountains are home to the world’s southernmost coho salmon runs. Although this population of fish is critically endangered, scientists are finding that they were relatively unaffected by a major wildfire.

Happy #saltmarshsaturday!! 🌎🦑 Salt marshes are powerful tools in the fight against climate change because they trap more carbon than nearly any other ecosystem. In this story, I wrote about the scientists who are measuring how much carbon is stuck in the muck of a northern California salt marsh.

Walking through a coastal northern California forest that burned a little over 4 years ago. Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), madrone (Arbutus menziesii) and manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp) are THIRVING. 🌎🌿🔥

Young trees and saplings are choking out many forests in the western United States after 150 years of grazing and fire supression. I really enjoyed reporting on this Navajo-led project to reverse these changes. 🌎

Got to watch a prescribed burn for a story I’m writing about using fire to revive prairies. The most incredible thing about it was that the actual burning only lasted about 15 minutes. Fire moves fast through dried grass. #photography #nature 🌎

Anyone here give a hoot about owls? 🦉🌎 If you do, I recommend burrowing into this story about burrowing owls. They are a candidate for endangered species protection in California, and scientists are working to protect one of the last populations in the Bay Area.

Blub 🐟🫧 Blub 🐟🫧 Blu…efin tuna are swimming toward recovery! Down to just 2% of historic levels in 2014, international cooperation is now reeling them back from extinction—and faster than expected. 🦑

Sperm whales abound off the coast of California, according to scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. They found these elusive creatures not with their eyes, but with their ears. 🦑 www.mercurynews.com/2024/10/21/a...