Welcome to the web page ofLYN BALDWIN

coring a white pine at Ethan Allen Park

"To the extent that this world surrenders its richness and diversity, it surrenders its poetry. To the extent that it relinquishes its capacity to surprise, it relinquishes its magic. To the extent that it loses its ability to tolerate ridiculous and even dangerous exceptions, it losses its grace. As its options (no matter how absurd or unlikely) diminish, so do its chances for the future."

tom robbins

I am currently Ph.D student in conservation biology at the University of British Columbia (Department of Botany). My research is documenting the effect that large-scale forest fragmentation has had on bryophyte (that's mosses and liverworts) diversity in the coastal forests of British Columbia. To see a synopsis of my dissertation research go here. I am educated as a scientist, but my first love is teaching natural science in field settings. The question becomes not just how to learn interesting facts about the natural world, but how to ask "testable questions" that will allow us to understand the processes underlying the patterns we see on the landscape.

Although I have lived most of my life west of the Rocky Mountains, Vermont is where I first started to explore natural history and plant ecology. I first encountered the deciduous forests of Vermont as an undergraduate at Bennington College and then returned in 1993 to obtain my M.S. from the Field Naturalist Program at the University of Vermont in 1995.

As I finish up my Ph.D, I am actually living ust east of the Continental Divide in the Montana where I share my house with two dogs and my husband, Marc.