Dear Science Enthusiasts,

Springtime is almost over here in the Great Basin of North America, but up at 3000m everything is still green thanks to recent intrusive low pressure systems. Sage, grasses, and countless wildflowers light up the mountain landscape. Here is senior USFS scientist Connie Millar contemplating a much more senior and very healthy Pinus flexilis (limber pine) near the crest of the Diamond Range, Nevada. These “island” populations of conifers dot the widely-separated mountain ranges in this high-desert region, still holding secrets of climate and biogeography for adventurous scientists to tease out.

Cheers!

Scotty Strachan

University of Nevada, Reno