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I’m long behind on updates but we’re back in the land of ice and change and berries and fish. It feels good to be home! by @sunisacompass

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13 days ago

Beach combing finds. Can you ID them? by @sunisacompass

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2 months ago

Skiing spring-style! by @sunisacompass

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2 months ago

Portraits from the rainforest…the little Savannah Sparrow that stopped in for a visit had the same question we do: Can it possibly get any wetter?! by @sunisacompass

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2 months ago

From studying migratory birds and changing ecosystems to documenting a 4,000-mile, human-powered journey to the Arctic, wildlife biologist and author Caroline Van Hemert's work revolves around the ways we stay connected to place and each other during times of change. On this episode of Chatter Marks, host Cody Liska sits down with Van Hermert to discuss her upcoming book, "Upwellings," which challenges the idea that decline is the only story left to tell, because she believes that recognizing what’s possible in the wild can ultimately reshape what feels possible within us.

Search for "Chatter Marks," available now wherever you stream. by @sunisacompass

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3 months ago

Drippy forest hikes, mixed precipitation, and a steady 38 degree chill. Feels like home! by @sunisacompass

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3 months ago

Turnstone is back in the water! A few minor shakedown mishaps but feels good to be exploring AK coastlines again. by @sunisacompass

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3 months ago

In this episode of Chatter Marks, Cody talks to Caroline Van Hemert. She’s a wildlife biologist, writer, and researcher whose work moves between science, story, and the lived experience of wild places. She’s based in Alaska, where she’s spent years studying migratory birds and the shifting ecosystems they move through, paying close attention to how climate change is reshaping patterns that have existed for generations. She’s also the author of “The Sun Is a Compass,” a memoir that traces a 4,000-mile journey she and her husband made from Washington State to Arctic Alaska under their own power—by boat, ski, canoe, and foot. Across her work, whether in the field or on the page, she’s asking a version of the same question: how do we find our way through a changing world, and what can the natural world teach us about movement, attention, and belonging?

Her writing merges the personal with the scientific, a perspective shaped by her early research into beak deformities in black-capped chickadees. That work led to a broader focus on wildlife health, studying everything from parasites in polar bears to harmful algal blooms and their effects on seabirds — and how disease, toxicants, and environmental stress ripple across entire ecosystems. Because a change to one species is never isolated, it’s a community-level shift. For a long time, that work felt heavy, like serving as a gatekeeper at the morgue, documenting decline. But more recently her focus has begun to shift. In her new book, tentatively titled “Upwellings,” she looks for moments of surprise, places where the natural world resists the expected ending. Because she believes that by recognizing what’s possible in the wild can reshape what feels possible within us. It’s a shift that also reflects a deeper question about science itself: whether data alone can still move people, or whether it requires a more engaged, more human voice.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Just search “Chatter Marks” by @sunisacompass

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3 months ago

Conservation Enters a New Era 🐘🦧🦈

Over the past 12 months, the global conservation landscape has undergone a seismic shift—one that will impact how conservation is funded, what it looks like, and the stories we tell about it for decades to come.

The U.S. government has long been one of the world’s biggest funders of biodiversity protection. But one of President Donald Trump’s first actions in office in January 2025 was to shut off U.S. aid money abroad and gut federal agencies domestically.

Those cuts had a tremendous impact on wild animals, their habitats, and the people who defend both—in the United States and around the world.

Follow the link in bio to read a new bioGraphic series that explores how biodiversity protection and conservation are continuing to change in response.

With stories by Michelle Nijhuis, Jude Isabella, Caroline Van Hemert, and Madeline Ostrander and data visualizations by Jonathan Thompson. by @sunisacompass

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5 months ago

My first time without these two in many, many months. I miss their spark already but I’m ready to embrace the quietude & get to work! Headed to the Canadian Rockies for a much-anticipated writing residency @banffcentre & @banffmountainfestival. by @sunisacompass

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9 months ago

Last day of the Northwest Passage, 2025. Five thousand nautical miles later, our salty crew is home safe & sound. So thankful for the people, places, and critters we met along the way.

I can’t wait to get back on the water but touching land feels pretty good too! by @sunisacompass

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9 months ago

Here’s a glimpse of the Bering Sea on a calm day. For many residents in Western Alaska this view turned into utter devastation when the remnants of Typhoon Halong hit remote coastal communities.

If you’re able to donate, please consider doing so. Let’s help our neighbors who have no homes to return to. Compassion is a core American value, despite what our current leadership tells us.

alaskacf.org/westernalaska
@akcommunityfoundation

Headlines from the Guardian & Anchorage Daily News. by @sunisacompass

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9 months ago