Stephen Sillett

Bats at the Redwood Treetop

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If you’ve stood in the redwoods near dusk, no doubt you glimpsed bats darting above you. I love to see them, especially when I’m camping, because I know they are hunting pesky mosquitoes. A new research study by Jean-Paul Kennedy, …

Treetop Drought

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With the heatwave we are experiencing in California this week, it’s hard to not think about drought. All this dry weather, combined with below-average rainfall, must pose serious challenges for local trees. What’s amazing to me, is that the fantastically …

During BioBlitz 2014, League scientists climb and explore the tallest trees in Muir Woods for the first time ever.

First Canopy Exploration at Muir Woods

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This time last week, our intrepid research partners were ascending up into the tall trees of Cathedral Grove at Muir Woods National Monument. This historic first climb was part of BioBlitz 2014, a massive effort throughout the Golden Gate National …

Redwood Canopy – A Research Frontier

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Humans have walked through the redwood forest for millennia, but we first journeyed into the redwood canopy mere decades ago. Recent advances in climbing technology now enable canopy researchers to safely access the highest reaches of the redwood tree tops …

Big Trees in the News

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This week, Nate Stephenson and his colleagues published a new study showing that 97% of tree species grow faster as they age. Unlike in animals whose growth clearly plateaus with maturity, older trees just keep getting bigger and bigger. Large …