Author Archives: Frances Sawyer

In the Namibian desert —­ the Fish River Canyon, to be exact — I pick up a small rock. I don’t know what it is. “Adam, what about this one?” I yell over the sound of the river charging below us. I toss the rock, and Adam catches it in one hand, leaning into the »

“But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east…” And what time is it? I woke up with a wicked crick in my neck, looked down 35,000 feet, and there was land below. We were getting close. I checked my watch: one hour left until touchdown, and I begin my journey through »

As I entered the Environmental Science Center of the Yale Peabody Museum, I couldn’t help but notice the tidiness. The ESC is a beautiful building with clean lines. There is barely any dust or grime — except, I found, in a special basement room. There, a tank of beetles devours the flesh of animal carcasses, »

It is inevitable. The first thing you notice is the mustache — a black, glossy, wild shower of facial hair. Situated inches above that dynamic mass is a simple pair of circular golden glasses. You remember the eyes behind these glasses. And, of course, the mustache. This animated man is Ashish Avikunthak, known to his »