Biologist taking skin sample from a whale shark to determine what plankton types the animal has been feeding on, Yum Balam Marine Protected Area, Quintana Roo, Mexico, North America

Scientist free diving to make a photo identification of an individual manta ray (Manta birostris), Yum Balam Marine Protected Area, Quintana Roo, Mexico, North America

Energy efficient CIEMAT building research at Solar energy research establishment near Tabernas, Almeria, Andalusia, Spain, Europe

A small group of introduced reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) before eradication in Stromness Bay, South Georgia, Polar Regions

The carcass of an eradicated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in Fortuna Bay, South Georgia, Polar Regions

Archaeologists at work, Chichen Itza, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Yucatan, Mexico, North America

The female Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) named Tic-Tac-Toe, a regular visitor to the area, breaches close to the research vessel. Out of joy, to fool around, or simply to impress people or her companion Siam? St. Lawrence estuary, Canada Sequence 2/3.

Person with a safety suit in a forest area. Ayegui, Navarre, Spain, Europe

Person with a safety suit lying down in a flowers carpet in a forest area. Ayegui, Navarre, Spain, Europe

Person with a safety suit in a forest area. Ayegui, Navarre, Spain, Europe

Sign marking a wilderness research area in the desert in front of sandstone mountains, eroded landscape along the Paria River, setting of many classic westerns, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Utah, USA, North America

Milky Way above Halema'uma'u crater eruption, Kilauea volcano, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Big Island of Hawai'i, USA, North America

Science Park Gelsenkirchen, technology and business centre, congress and event center, Gelsenkirchen, Ruhr Area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe, PublicGround

Science Park Gelsenkirchen, technology and business centre, congress and event center, Gelsenkirchen, Ruhr Area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe, PublicGround

Aerial view, IWG Innovationszentrum Wiesenbusch, innovation centre, Pilkington Deutschland, Glashuette Gladbeck glassworks, Gladbeck, Ruhr Area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Aerial photograph, FEZ, research and development center, University of Witten Herdecke, Witten, Ruhr district, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Aerial view, Mark Dion research station, Gesellschaft der Amateur-Ornithologen art project, Emscherkunst.2010 art project, Bogomir Ecker, Buelent Kullukcu, artworks on the Emscher river, Herner Meer site, Herne, Ruhr area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany,

Wissenschaftspark Rheinelbescience park, Gelsenkirchen, Ruhr area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Institute for Analytical Sciences, Dortmund Technology Park, Dortmund, Ruhr Area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Aerial view, forensic hospital, Herne Wanne-Eickel, Ruhr Area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Science Park Gelsenkirchen, technology and business centre, congress and event center, Gelsenkirchen, Ruhr Area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe, PublicGround

Aerial view, Mark Dion research station, Gesellschaft der Amateur-Ornithologen art project, Emscherkunst.2010 art project, Bogomir Ecker, Buelent Kullukcu, artworks on the Emscher river, Herner Meer site, Herne, Ruhr area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany,

Wissenschaftspark Rheinelbescience park, Gelsenkirchen, Ruhr area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Aerial view, forensic hospital, Herne Wanne-Eickel, Ruhr Area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Aerial view, Technology Park Dortmund, University of Dortmund, the Fraunhofer Institute, Dortmund, Ruhr area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Aerial view, Technology Park Dortmund, University of Dortmund, the Fraunhofer Institute, Dortmund, Ruhr area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Aerial view, Technology Park Dortmund, University of Dortmund, the Fraunhofer Institute, Dortmund, Ruhr area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Aerial view, Phoenix-West grounds, TechnologieZentrumDortmund technology centre, Dortmund, Ruhr area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Aerial view, Technology Park Dortmund, University of Dortmund, the Fraunhofer Institute, Dortmund, Ruhr area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Aerial view, Forensik Wanne-Eickel, forensic hospital, Herne, Ruhr Area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Aerial view, forensic hospital, Herne Wanne-Eickel, Ruhr Area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Aerial view, Technology Park Dortmund, University of Dortmund, the Fraunhofer Institute, Dortmund, Ruhr area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Bicycles for hire, The Pirelli Hangar Bicocca Foundation, contemporary art gallery, Milan, Lombardy, Italy, Europe

Bicycles for hire, The Pirelli Hangar Bicocca Foundation, contemporary art gallery, Milan, Lombardy, Italy, Europe

Mt Shasta CA, Big Spring Ranch Bill Chesney from the CA Dept of Fish & Game counting redds in a stretch of river that is heavily grazed by cattle who have full access to the river and often drink and eat in it. Mt Shasta in the background. The Shasta River runs through Big Springs Ranch about 20 miles north of the town of Mt Shasta. The ranch, which is contributing to degraded habitat conditions, and actually warming water temps by upwards of 10 degrees as the river passes through the ranch and then spills into the Klameth, is currently under contract for purchase by TNC. Since the contract began, TNC and partner organizations have been allowed to research this stretch of river for the first time. They have discovered that is it a very fertile juvenile rearing area and that there are a surprising number of returning salmon in spite of habitat degradation by grazing cattle (often in the river) and irrigation practices. If this purchase is successful, TNC has the chance to improve a large stretch of habitat and quickly improve conditions that will effect numbers of returning fish and habitat in the Shasta and Klameth Rivers. The Shasta River and its tributaries create one of the most important spawning nurseries for Chinook salmon in the entire Klamath Basin, United States of America

November 7, 2008 Mt Shasta CA A spawned-out Chinook salmon watches over her redd in the Shasta River where it runs through Big Springs Ranch about 2 miles north of the town of Mt Shasta. The ranch, which is contributing to degraded habitat conditions, which actually warm water tempt by upwards of 10 degrees as the river passes through the ranch and then spills into the Klameth, is currently under contract for purchase by TNC, therefor TNC and partner organizations have been allowed to research this stretch of river for the first time. They have discovered that is it a very fertile juvenile rearing area and that there are a surprising number of returning salmon in spite of habitat degraded by grazing cattle (often in the river) and irrigation practices. If this purchase is successful, TNC has the chance to improve a large stretch of habitat and quickly improve conditions that will effect numbers of returning fish and habitat in the Shasta and Klameth Rivers. In California, The Nature Conservancy is focusing its efforts on protecting the Shasta River and its tributaries, which create one of the most important spawning nurseries for Chinook salmon in the entire Klamath Basin, United States of America

November 7, 2008 Mt Shasta CA A spawned-out Chinook salmon watches over her redd in the Shasta River where it runs through Big Springs Ranch about 2 miles north of the town of Mt Shasta. The ranch, which is contributing to degraded habitat conditions, which actually warm water tempt by upwards of 10 degrees as the river passes through the ranch and then spills into the Klameth, is currently under contract for purchase by TNC, therefor TNC and partner organizations have been allowed to research this stretch of river for the first time. They have discovered that is it a very fertile juvenile rearing area and that there are a surprising number of returning salmon in spite of habitat degraded by grazing cattle (often in the river) and irrigation practices. If this purchase is successful, TNC has the chance to improve a large stretch of habitat and quickly improve conditions that will effect numbers of returning fish and habitat in the Shasta and Klameth Rivers. In California, The Nature Conservancy is focusing its efforts on protecting the Shasta River and its tributaries, which create one of the most important spawning nurseries for Chinook salmon in the entire Klamath Basin, United States of America

November 12, 2008 Mt Shasta and the Shasta River, Big Springs ranch, CA Carson Jeffres Staff Research Associate for UC Davis Center for watershed Sciences, conducting research in the Shasta River where it runs through Big Springs Ranch about 20 miles north of the town of Mt Shasta. The Shasta River and its tributaries create one of the most important spawning nurseries for Chinook salmon in the entire Klamath Basin. The ranch is contributing to degraded habitat conditions, which actually warm water temps by upwards of 10 degrees as the river passes through the ranch and then spills into the Klameth River.This stretch of river is a very fertile juvenile salmon rearing area and that there are a surprising number of returning salmon in spite of habitat degraded by grazing cattle and bad irrigation practices, United States of America

November 12, 2008 Mt Shasta CA, Big Springs ranch Carson Jeffres (rt) Staff Research Associate for UC Davis Center for watershed Sciences, and Andrew Nichols, Jr Specialist (UC Davis Center for watershed Sciences,) conducting research in the Shasta River where it runs through Big Springs Ranch about 20 miles north of the town of Mt Shasta. The ranch, which is contributing to degraded habitat conditions that warm water temps by upwards of 10 degrees as the river passes through the ranch and then spills into the Klameth, is currently under contract for purchase by TNC, therefor TNC and partner organizations have been allowed to research this stretch of river for the first time. They have discovered that is it a very fertile juvenile rearing area and that there are a surprising number of returning salmon in spite of habitat degrated by grazing cattle (often in the river) and irrigation practices. If this purchase is sucessful, TNC has the chance to improve a large stretch of habitiat and qucikly improve conditions that will effect numbers of returning fish and habitiat in the Shasta and Klameth Rivers. The Shasta River and its tributaries create one of the most important spawning nurseries for Chinook salmon in the entire Klamath Basin, United States of America

A researcher holds a Barn Owl (Tyto alba) after it was captured from Vancouver International Airport. The bird will be relocated to an area 100km away from the airport in hopes that it will not return, Langley, British Columbia, Canada

Tara Oceans Expeditions - May 2011. Tara with deployed plancton nets. On "station", the boat is drifting without engine or sails. Tara Oceans, a unique expedition: Tara Oceans is the very first attempt to make a global study of marine plankton, a form of sea life that includes organisms as small as viruses and bacterias, and as big as medusas. Our goal is to better understand planktonic ecosystems by exploring the countless species, learning about interactions among them and with their environment. Marine plankton is the only ecosystem that is almost continuous over the surface of the Earth. Studying plankton is like taking the pulse of our planet. Recently, scientists have discovered the great importance of plankton for the climate: populations of plankton are affected very rapidly by variations in climate. But in turn they can influence the climate by modifying the absorption of carbon. In a context of rapid physico-chemical changes, for example the acidification observed today in the world's oceans, it is urgent to understand and predict the evolution of these particular ecosystems. Finally, plankton is an astonishing way of going back in time ? a prime source of fossils. Over the eons, plankton has created several hundred meters of sediment on the ocean floors. This allows us to go back in time, to the first oceans on Earth, and better understand the history of our biosphere. More than 12 fields of research are involved in the project, which will bring together an international team of oceanographers, ecologists, biologists, geneticists, and physicists from prestigious laboratories headed by Eric Karsenti of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. Galapagos

Vernadsky research base, Ukrainian Antarctic station at Marina Point on Galindez Island in the Argentine Islands, Antarctica.

Vernadsky research base, Ukrainian Antarctic station at Marina Point on Galindez Island in the Argentine Islands, Antarctica.

Vernadsky research base, the Ukrainian Antarctic station at Marina Point on Galindez Island in the Argentine Islands, Antarctica.

Vernadsky research base, Ukrainian Antarctic station at Marina Point on Galindez Island in the Argentine Islands, Antarctica.

Earth diluted with water in order to extract the PH from the soil as part of a study on nitrogen exchanges between bacteria and the roots of legumes in the tropical forest of the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo from Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Fringe-lipped Bat (Trachops cirrhosus) in the hand of a scientist as part of a pollination study, tropical forest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Researcher setting up a net to capture hummingbirds as part of a pollination study, rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Research assistant working on nitrogen exchanges between bacteria and the roots of legumes in the tropical forest of the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Researcher catching Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia Tzacatl) in a net set up for pollination study, rainforest at "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Researchers picking up pollen with a brush from the beak of a Rufous-tailed hummingbird as part of a pollination study, rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui , Costa Rica

27-year-old researcher working on nitrogen exchange between bacteria and the roots of legumes in the rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Sowell's short-tailed bat (Carollia sowelli) caught as part of a pollination study, rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Vernadsky research base, the Ukrainian Antarctic station at Marina Point on Galindez Island in the Argentine Islands, Antarctica.

Instrument for measuring soil humidity at research station ?La Selva? in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Researchers applying tape to the hairs of a bat to test methods to capture the pollen it carries as part of a pollination study, rainforest at the 'La Selva' research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Researcher unhooking a bat caught in a net as part of a pollination study, rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Researcher measuring a 2.6 gram Stripe-throated Hermit hummingbird wing as part of a pollination study, rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Researcher photographing a 2.6 gram Stripe-throated Hermit hummingbird as part of a pollination study, rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Researchers walking through the rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

27-year-old researcher working in a lab on nitrogen exchange between bacteria and the roots of legumes in the rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Installation of a sign on a hiking trail indicating the presence of nets to capture bats as part of a pollination study, rainforest of the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Ricardo

Net for catching bats as part of a pollination study, rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Researchers applying a mascara brush to the hairs of a Sowell's short-tailed bat (Carollia sowelli) to test methods to capture pollen that bats may carry as part of a pollination study, rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl) in a net set up by a researcher as part of a pollination study, rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Researcher measuring the beak of a Rufous-tailed hummingbird as part of a pollination study, rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Research assistant working on nitrogen exchanges between bacteria and the roots of legumes in the tropical forest of the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Earth diluted with water in order to extract the PH from the soil as part of a study on nitrogen exchanges between bacteria and the roots of legumes in the tropical forest of the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo from Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

27-year-old researcher and her team working on nitrogen exchange between bacteria and the roots of legumes in the rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

27-year-old researcher working on nitrogen exchange between bacteria and the roots of legumes in the rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

27-year-old researcher working on nitrogen exchange between bacteria and the roots of legumes in the rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

27-year-old researcher and her team working on nitrogen exchange between bacteria and the roots of legumes in the rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

27-year-old female researcher working on nitrogen exchange between bacteria and the roots of legumes showing an example of a nodule of bacteria attached to the roots in the rainforest of the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Researchers applying a mascara brush to the hairs of a Sowell's short-tailed bat (Carollia sowelli) to test methods to capture pollen that bats may carry as part of a pollination study, rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Researchers picking up pollen with a brush from the beak of a hummingbird Stripe-throated Hermit as part of a pollination study, rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

27-year-old researcher working on nitrogen exchange between bacteria and the roots of legumes in the rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

27-year-old researcher in front of the Pracaxi legume (Pentaclethra macroloba) at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Sowell's short-tailed bat (Carollia sowelli) caught as part of a pollination study, rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

29-year-old assistant researcher working on nitrogen exchange between bacteria and the roots of legumes in the rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

27-year-old researcher working on nitrogen exchange between bacteria and the roots of legumes in the rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Researchers picking up pollen using tape on the beak of a Rufous-tailed hummingbird as part of a pollination study, rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Bat caught in a net as part of a pollination study, rainforest at the "La Selva" research station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

Seals in the water