Brian Switek
Brian Switek is an ecology & evolution student at Rutgers University.
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Posts by this author
September 4, 2009
I'm still re-acclimating to New Jersey (I think northern Utah suits me better) so blogging has been a little slow. I have a spate of book reviews and other posts in the works, but for the moment I wanted to ask my remaining readership a question. Who are your favorite science writers working today…
September 4, 2009
A sign warning visitors about elk at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone (with a female elk in the background). The well-groomed lawns there provided a 24/7 buffet for the herbivores.Some people ignored the signs.
September 3, 2009
A black bear (Ursus americanus) walking along the trail near Leigh Lake in Grand Teton National Park. It was one of two black bears I saw along the trail that afternoon.
September 2, 2009
A female mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) photographed by the road in Grand Teton National Park.
September 1, 2009
A lone female elk in the morning fog near Grizzly Lookout. I had heard one of the Hayden Valley wolf packs in this area just a few minutes before taking this photo.While traveling through Yellowstone National Park I was struck by the way in which the park's wilderness is being reshaped and…
September 1, 2009
A group of bison (Bison bison) walking down the road in Yellowstone National Park, not far from Uncle Tom's Trail. The roads are frequently used by the bison and have been important to the population's recovery within the park.
August 31, 2009
The larger of the two dogs in the campground in Wyoming's Wind River Range mountains.After more than an hour of navigating the pothole-pocked dirt road leading up to the park Tracey and I finally made it to our campsite in the Big Sandy Opening in Wyoming's Wind River Range. It was cold despite the…
August 31, 2009
A male pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), photographed yesterday morning at Antelope Island State Park, Utah.
August 31, 2009
A black bear, photographed at Grand Teton National Park.I'm back! I have a lot of cleaning up to do (both around the apartment and on this blog, especially the latter because of all the spam that has accumulated during my absence), but I thought I would post something to let you all know that I…
August 24, 2009
Earlier this month I shared with you a review of Stories in Stone, a new book on urban geology by David Williams. It was a very enjoyable read, but I had a few questions about it. Fortunately David was glad to answer them, and you can see my interview with him below;
[Brian Switek] What got you…
August 21, 2009
An adult and a juvenile osprey, photographed in Cape May, NJ.
August 17, 2009
Osborn's view of the progressive evolution of the brontotheres. Notice the references to the "geneplasm" at left, which Osborn interpreted as spontaneously giving rise to new adaptations. From Osborn (1935).Every now and then I like taking a break from the latest technical papers and conference…
August 17, 2009
The Cape May lighthouse, photographed in Cape May, NJ.
August 16, 2009
An eastern cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus), photographed in Cape May, NJ.
August 15, 2009
The skull of a restored Tyrannosaurus skeleton (cast), photographed at the Maryland Science Center.
August 14, 2009
An urgent dispatch from Mike of Tangled Up in Blue Guy;
Bing Haubrich has made new friends in Japan, but they want to keep him there. In fact, they have threatened to hold him for ransom unless his American friends and family do two things:
1. Answer questions about Japan/Nippon culture and cuisine…
August 14, 2009
A male western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla), photographed at the Bronx Zoo. The origin of human bipedalism has long been a hot topic among paleoanthropologists. At the very least it is seen as something of a marker for the emergence of the first hominin, yet it remains unclear whether the earliest…
August 14, 2009
The skull of a restored Tarbosaurus skeleton (cast), photographed at the Maryland Science Center.