Life in a giant sequoia tree

In August 2011, I climbed two giant sequoia trees: Odin in UC Berkeley's Whitaker Forest and The President in Sequoia National Park as part of a National Geographic Society project by photographer David Liitschwager. The goal was to photo-document all the organisms that live on and in a giant sequoia tree (Sequoiadendron giganteum).

View from the canopy of Odin.

Jim Spickler (canopy biologist) preparing to shoot a line over Odin.

Learning the ropes.

Climbing Odin.

Anand Varma climbing the President.

Photographing plants in a tree hole in Odin.

Plants (bedstraw, dogwood, sequoia) growing in a tree hole of Odin at 250 ft.

Climbing the President.

Netting arthropods in the canopy of Odin.

Netting arthropods in the canopy of the President.

Taking a snack break in the canopy of the President.

Collecting at the UV light at 260 feet in the canopy.