Articles by Caleb O'Brien

Photo by Caleb O'Brien.

Airborne agriculture

Drones and orange sweet potatoes — two unlikely examples of agricultural innovations being deployed in rural Tanzania.
Photo by Caleb O'Brien.

Animal paparazzi: Camera traps focus on small critters

As camera trap technologies become cheaper and more reliable, and as research budgets shrink, more scientists are using the tools to study small and elusive animals around the world, such as hummingbirds and one of Australia’s rarest mammals.

Putting our heads together for tigers

A group of scientists from the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) and World Animal Protection is on the prowl for new tools to help protect wild tigers.…
Mark Hebblewhite and Kelly Proffitt use an ultrasound to measure an adult female elk's body condition in Montana's Bitterroot Valley. The elk was captured via a helicopter net gun and sports a GPS collar around her neck. Photo courtesy of Mark Hebblewhite.

Wildlife biology in the 21st century

By combining wildlife tracking data with information from satellites, Mark Hebblewhite pushes the boundaries of wildlife biology to uncover new information about the complex interplay among wolves, large ungulates such as elk and caribou and the ever-expanding human footprint.
Mark Hebblewhite and Kelly Proffitt use an ultrasound to measure an adult female elk's body condition in Montana's Bitterroot Valley. The elk was captured via a helicopter net gun and sports a GPS collar around her neck. Photo courtesy of Mark Hebblewhite.