Travis Knowles – Medium

Travis Knowles

Requiem for the Oaks of King

Oaks are truly magnificent trees. To speak of “the oak” elides a multifarious diversity; oaks in the genus Quercus are widely distributed…

11 min readOct 10, 2023

--

Requiem for the Oaks of King

--

Travis Knowles

“Instant” (almost) Nature ID

Below appear three 4-minute-plus runs of Cornell’s free Merlin app, which identifies the songs and calls of most North American birds…

9 min readJun 18, 2023

--

1

“Instant” (almost) Nature ID

--

1

Travis Knowles

A life of enchantment

This short essay is praise for the life and influence of Edward O. Wilson, who died on December 26, 2021.

3 min readDec 27, 2021

--

A life of enchantment

--

Travis Knowles

Sleuthing out an heirloom

Tree climbing is standard issue entertainment for rural kids. I was fairly chicken-edgy about heights myself, never once making it to the…

9 min readFeb 14, 2021

--

1

Sleuthing out an heirloom

--

1

Travis Knowles

Great Moments in Biology Revelation: Entropy

Welcome to my new, episodic series on great moments in biology. Let me be clear, these are not Great Moments in the sense of Biology, but…

8 min readFeb 10, 2021

--

Great Moments in Biology Revelation: Entropy

--

Travis Knowles

Spring greens in Appalachia

Recent popular culture has given currency to the phrase, “winter is coming.” My progressive migration southward over the last four decades…

6 min readFeb 5, 2021

--

1

Spring greens in Appalachia

--

1

Travis Knowles

Obit: Over The Moon

Objections to the year 2020, including the passing of eminent persons, have become social media feedstock. Future retrospectives will…

20 min readNov 8, 2020

--

4

Obit: Over The Moon

--

4

Travis Knowles

Cicada Zeitmarken

Last week I journeyed home to Appalachia, looking for a wildlife spectacle that first captured my imagination in 1969: The emergence of…

20 min readJun 9, 2020

--

1

Cicada Zeitmarken

--

1

Travis Knowles

The Skeptic’s Toolbox: Reverse Image Search

What good is being a skeptic, unless you’re willing to poop a few parties?

8 min readMay 24, 2020

--

1

The Skeptic’s Toolbox: Reverse Image Search

--

1

Travis Knowles
in
The Startup

Pandemic natural history

Spending time alone outdoors has long been the norm for me, from childhood until today. As a kid growing up in Virginia’s Blue Ridge, I…

10 min readApr 19, 2020

--

Pandemic natural history

--

Travis Knowles

Travis Knowles

Writing about natural history, biodiversity, skepticism, southern Appalachian language and culture. Opinions expressed here are solely my own.

Following

Help
Status
About
Careers
Blog
Privacy
Terms
Text to speech
Teams