Writing Nonfiction
Reporting in Russia, China, the United States, and elsewhere
My most recent reporting, including "Defending Russian Wilderness" from fall 2010 (cover at right), has focused on the work of environmentalists in Russia, fighting on behalf of splendid lands in the world's largest nation, one with a proud but little-known history of protecting pristine landscapes against great challenges, throughout the past century and continuing today.
In the photograph below right, taken while reporting articles on Russia's nature reserves (zapovedniki or заповедники) for Sierra and Smithsonian magazines, the young cranes in the left foreground, trying to untie the laces of my boots, are red-crowned cranes (grus japonicus). The young cranes in the right background are white-
naped cranes (grus vipio), also called Daurian cranes. These crane chicks are recent additions to two of the rarest species of birds on earth. The Russian field scientists at Khingan Nature Reserve where this photo was taken, in Siberia just north of the Amur River (the border with China), are breeding these cranes for release into the wild. The crow tugging on my notebook at right is not endangered as a species. Click here to read this article in English or here to read this article in Russian (Русская версия).
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