Major: Earth Systems
Year: Coterminal Senior

Mattias Lanas is an Earth Systems major with interests in nature illustration and detail-oriented fine art. This botanical series is part of a project to document some of the common flora found at Stanford Sierra Camp, where Mattias spent this past summer working as the art instructor. He hopes to one day launch his passions for natural science and fine art into a career.

Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja miniata)
This genus is known for its hemiparasiticism: it often taps into the roots of grasses. The red parts are actually not petals, but sepals (modified leaves). The true flower is yellow and tube-like, protruding out of some of the sepal clusters.

Crimson Columbine (Aquilegia formosa)
A perennial native to the Western United States, it has a history of multiple uses by Native Americans as medicine, decoration, and food. Aquilegia comes from the Latin aquil, meaning eagle, and formosa means beautiful.

Sierra Bog Orchid (Platanthera dilatata)
As its name suggests, this orchid grows in boggy meadows and generally moist areas in the Sierras. The small white flowers on its stalk produce a fragrant, sweet perfume that can be smelled from a fair distanceaway. The plant’s range extends north all the way to Alaska, and it is especially common in the mountainous regions of the Pacific Northwest.

When taking photographs of a bull elephant at sunset, you are reminded that you are small. Armed only with a camera, you feel exhilaratingly vulnerable. The swish of his leathery skin and his nearly silent footfalls belie his bulk. But, as he looks down on you en route to the waterhole, you see the familiar glow of consciousness. The shutter clicks and he moves on as you let out the breath you’ve been holding for the past thirty seconds.

Experiences like this continue to fuel my passion for wildlife photography. As a passionate wildlife conservationist, I feel that I can help to preserve and protect animals by telling their stories to others, inspiring them to recognize the universalities that stretch across species.

“In the Company of Giants:” Never had I known the kind of peace that I experienced at the feet of these animals at dusk.

“Realities of the Bush:” A giraffe skull rests in the water hole at Kameel Doring in Etosha National Park, Namibia

“King of the Trough:” Etosha, Bull #100, enjoys a drink at dusk

“The Gentle Giant:” Brendan has some of the largest tusks in the population that we studied. His gentle nature and his penchant for avoiding conflict with other bulls allows him to avoid breaking his tusks.

Santa Cruz native Ethan Estess, a master’s candidate in Earth Systems, spent the early part of 2011 tinkering away on his majestic “Dumpster Diver”, a 12 by 20 foot kinetic sculpture constructed from reclaimed materials. Flowing in a sine wave motion, the piece tells the story of the California Brown Pelican’s rebound from near extinction. The work is equally impressive a work of art is she is a work of engineering. Behold the mad genius of Ethan Estess. Please watch in full screen.

Dumpster Diver from Ian Montgomery on Vimeo.

For more on Ethan, e-mail him directly at eeestess@stanford.edu.

Year: Sophomore

Lauren is an illustrator with aspirations to write graphic novels and do tattoo art, and she likes to draw creepy monsters. The monster series is a calendar in-the-making in which each monster corresponds with a month.

Ink and acrylic.

"March"

"August"

"April"

"November"

"January"

Charcoal and sumi ink