…you do a beautiful job of telling the process of this big experiment. I believe it was your mentor at the Forest Service, Alan, that kind of brought you into things who told you, hey, you're really going to have to understand experimental design. So we…

…the good they're doing, they might as well paint rocks. And so then we finished our interview and I waddled over to my boss, Alan Weiss's office and I said, yeah, and then she asked me and I said, they might as well paint rocks. And he's like, you…

…just as the nature of the beast, right? So, you know, have the support system. I had a great supervisor in the Forest Service, Alan Vise, who is actually from Britain. And he, you know, he stood behind me and that was essential. If I hadn't had Alan,…

…Alan Vise, who is actually from Britain. And he, you know, he stood behind me and that was essential. If I hadn't had Alan, I think I would have, I don't know what would have happened, but He allowed me to pursue my scientific questions. And he…

…a clan territory. Silken Pacific mist poured down the vertical rock wall and over the monumental trees. With me were Alan Narok, my new doctoral student who would be investigating the patterns of fungal networks, and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Theresa Ryan,…

…to transmit the salmon nutrients help account for the greater fertility of these rainforests? I could barely contain my excitement as Alan, Teresa and I jumped into the sedges with our hip waders and headed to shore. Their path, said Teresa, pointing at…

…guys are nuts. You're asking for trouble with these fresh bear signs. She headed back to the boat to wait with Ron. I looked at Alan to gauge his comfort level and he didn't seem nervous. If I were a bear, I'd take my salmon to where I wouldn't be…

…the grandmother tree, despite my call being muffled by a wall of salmonberry leaves. A grizzly out here would mean a quick death. Alan and I crept up and perched along the bench. Potain de merde, I shouted. Look! Under the boughs of the old mother tree…

…by the roots, transmitted into the wood of the tree, passed to the next life. Tree bones. I'll keep going a little longer. Alan and I collected soil from under the bones, and for comparison, from places where there were no bones. We returned to Teresa…

…not Kwakwat territory, it's Haltzik territory. And Teresa and I, she's a fishery scientist remember, And one of our graduate students, Alan LaRock, went up to 28 rivers around Bella Bella, which had varying salmon populations in those rivers. And we wanted…