Common Amphibians of Costa Rica by David Norman

In 1998, biologist David Norman published a delightful guide to the common amphibians of Costa Rica, packed with his wonderful and detailed illustrations and observations on the species’ natural history. I had the pleasure of working with David for a couple of years,...

Managed Ecosystems – The Mesoamerican Experience

Another book I wrote a chapter for was Managed Ecosystems: The Mesoamerican Experience, by L. Upton Hatch and Marylin Swisher.  Published in 1999, it was one of my early experiencing writing and editing a chapter totally via e-mail exchanges. It is hard to find copies...

River and Streams Ecosystems of the World

One of the most amazing opportunities, and a highlight of my scientific career, was to be selected to author a chapter in this landmark book on rivers and stream ecosystems, edited by three of the top aquatic ecologists in the world.  The original edition by Elsevier...

A Guide to the Carnivores of Central America

This is Claudia and my book, published in 2000 through the University of Texas Press.  The book is currently out of print but this doesn’t mean it is unavailable!  There are many copies out there that can still be purchased and at a substantial fraction of the...

Freeze! Drop! Jump!

What do you do at the sight of danger? I guess it depends. If you think you can deal with it, you make a stand and prepare to fight. If the odds seem against you, you look around and take off running for safety. If the danger is coming at you from above, you duck. If at your feet, you jump. We have all kinds of responses, made in a split second, some evolutionary and quite automatic. No one really teaches you to duck if something is coming straight at your face. Some of these reactions are also learned and, depending of the degree of danger, very effective or totally ineffectual. In the movies we see so many people freeze and stare at the T-Rex coming towards them while our brains scream Run! Run! We could write a whole essay about why people react the way they do when faced with danger or a threat. But what about simpler creatures, like insects? I always walk around the forest with a camera. I know, for a fact, that I’m going to see something I have not seen before, a species, an event, a behavior, a rare combination of all of the above. So, my camera goes with me everywhere and I have been able to capture some very interesting, beautiful and even inspiring moments. But then, after the pictures, out comes the finger…