Hi. My name is Brian C.L. Shelley, owner and author of this website. I initially started this as a blog during a recent adventure to South America as a way to keep family and friends up-to-date on my travels and adventures. I also wanted to have an outlet to talk about other adventures, and more. This is a work in progress, and I do hope folks forgive my occasional typo, I do try to avoid errors as much as possible, but darn it, stuff slips through the cracks, makes me really mad. I also hope readers of this blog get a chance to learn about my past adventures, learn about possibly new and interesting places to visit, and see some really cool photographs. In addition, I plan to provide posts on conservation and environmental issues which are relevant to anyone who enjoys time spent outside, hiking, biking, paddling, or whatever you enjoy doing outdoors. I will express my opinion, which will be supported with data, with facts, as much as possible, and my goal is never to offend anyone, though that is always possible. I do want to educate and inform, and entertain if possible. I have been fortunate enough to explore some pretty cool places, including visits to other countries, and I thought it might be worthwhile to share some of my adventures, add yet another outdoor blog to the plethora of outdoor and adventure blogs and websites out there. While I am not some crazy adventure athlete, and am definitely not a globe-trotter, I do feel I have something to add, and I hope all who visit my blog, and website, enjoy looking at a few nice photographs, maybe even a video or two, and learn something, about my adventures, about places to visit, about equipment I use, and about the amazing natural world which surrounds and supports us. "Nature doesn't need people. People need nature." (Conservation International, "Nature is Speaking"). Outdoor adventure is all about experiencing, being immersed in, the natural world, and without protection and preservation of species and natural habitats, there will be no wild places left to explore. Adventure needs nature, wild nature, as without it, outdoor activities are not adventures.
Education and Background
I have a Ph.D. in biology, ecology really, and my primary research interests involve the study of freshwater systems, including streams and lakes. I completed my undergraduate education at Colgate University in upstate New York, and after a brief hiatus working in Texas, I went back to school, the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities, where I completed my masters (M.S.) and my doctorate (Ph.D.). After I finished my Ph.D., I began a career in academia and I have worked as a professor at a number of mostly small, private, liberal art colleges. I taught a number of different courses, often with a laboratory, including aquatic ecology and limnology, conservation biology, environmental science, general ecology, and recently, restoration ecology. I have also been an active scholar, and have worked on a number different projects, ranging from research on exotic (non-native) species in the Finger Lakes in upstate New York, U.S.A., to some of my most recent work trying to understand factors influencing macroinvertebrate community assembly and diversity in small, high-gradient streams in New England. I consider myself to be a broadly trained ecologist, and conservation biologist, who is interested in understanding the complexity of natural communities and ecosystems, and learning how best to protect and preserve these habitats, and the diversity of species they contain. I am a scientist, and I am all about data-driven decision making, it is all about data, collected by trained scientists, using the scientific method. I am also now very interested in applying all that I know about species, habitats, and the nature of communities and ecosystems to the protection and management of these species and natural systems. We need to do more to prevent extinction and loss of habitats such as tropical rainforests, do more to prevent and remediate pollution of all types, do more to address the impacts of climate change and work to prevent further accumulation of greenhouse gases, and do more to restore what we have damaged. My interests in outdoor adventure stems in part from my intellectual interests, and a career spent doing field work, trying to understand the structure and function of freshwater systems, and the complexities of the natural world in general. I love being outdoors, whether mucking around in some small stream in the White Mountains of Maine and New Hampshire, U.S.A., or pounding the single-track on my mountain bike in Moab, Utah.
Gear
I have been hiking and camping, biking, and taking pictures, most of my life. I also fell in love with paddling early on, I guess this is in part the result of my research interests. I also have been biking almost since I learned to walk, and Colin Fletcher is my hero, camping and hiking are part of who I am. I love spending time on the water, and on the trails, and I really believe good equipment makes any adventure more enjoyable. I am a total gear head. I do hope to provide some insight into equipment, camping, hiking, biking and paddling equipment, which I have used over the years. There are a million blogs out there with extensive gear reviews; here goes one more.
Photography
I have been taking pictures for a long time, starting with my first real camera, an SLR, a Pentax Spotmatic F. I quickly moved to another film camera, and my first Nikon, a Nikon FE, which I loved (and still have). I have moved into the digital age of course, starting with a Nikon D40X, and now a full-frame Nikon D610. I like taking pictures, and I continue to develop as a photographer, and hope to continue to do so for many years to come. I am not a professional, but do get lucky on occasion, and I think I have taken some pretty good photos in the past. I hope you enjoy what I have to offer. All the images and video found on the pages of this blog were taken by me, and are my intellectual property, unless otherwise noted. I do try and provide captions as much as possible, though that will not always be the case, sorry.
Education and Background
I have a Ph.D. in biology, ecology really, and my primary research interests involve the study of freshwater systems, including streams and lakes. I completed my undergraduate education at Colgate University in upstate New York, and after a brief hiatus working in Texas, I went back to school, the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities, where I completed my masters (M.S.) and my doctorate (Ph.D.). After I finished my Ph.D., I began a career in academia and I have worked as a professor at a number of mostly small, private, liberal art colleges. I taught a number of different courses, often with a laboratory, including aquatic ecology and limnology, conservation biology, environmental science, general ecology, and recently, restoration ecology. I have also been an active scholar, and have worked on a number different projects, ranging from research on exotic (non-native) species in the Finger Lakes in upstate New York, U.S.A., to some of my most recent work trying to understand factors influencing macroinvertebrate community assembly and diversity in small, high-gradient streams in New England. I consider myself to be a broadly trained ecologist, and conservation biologist, who is interested in understanding the complexity of natural communities and ecosystems, and learning how best to protect and preserve these habitats, and the diversity of species they contain. I am a scientist, and I am all about data-driven decision making, it is all about data, collected by trained scientists, using the scientific method. I am also now very interested in applying all that I know about species, habitats, and the nature of communities and ecosystems to the protection and management of these species and natural systems. We need to do more to prevent extinction and loss of habitats such as tropical rainforests, do more to prevent and remediate pollution of all types, do more to address the impacts of climate change and work to prevent further accumulation of greenhouse gases, and do more to restore what we have damaged. My interests in outdoor adventure stems in part from my intellectual interests, and a career spent doing field work, trying to understand the structure and function of freshwater systems, and the complexities of the natural world in general. I love being outdoors, whether mucking around in some small stream in the White Mountains of Maine and New Hampshire, U.S.A., or pounding the single-track on my mountain bike in Moab, Utah.
Gear
I have been hiking and camping, biking, and taking pictures, most of my life. I also fell in love with paddling early on, I guess this is in part the result of my research interests. I also have been biking almost since I learned to walk, and Colin Fletcher is my hero, camping and hiking are part of who I am. I love spending time on the water, and on the trails, and I really believe good equipment makes any adventure more enjoyable. I am a total gear head. I do hope to provide some insight into equipment, camping, hiking, biking and paddling equipment, which I have used over the years. There are a million blogs out there with extensive gear reviews; here goes one more.
Photography
I have been taking pictures for a long time, starting with my first real camera, an SLR, a Pentax Spotmatic F. I quickly moved to another film camera, and my first Nikon, a Nikon FE, which I loved (and still have). I have moved into the digital age of course, starting with a Nikon D40X, and now a full-frame Nikon D610. I like taking pictures, and I continue to develop as a photographer, and hope to continue to do so for many years to come. I am not a professional, but do get lucky on occasion, and I think I have taken some pretty good photos in the past. I hope you enjoy what I have to offer. All the images and video found on the pages of this blog were taken by me, and are my intellectual property, unless otherwise noted. I do try and provide captions as much as possible, though that will not always be the case, sorry.
