Tim Laman

Age: 35

Hometown: Grew up in Japan

Current address: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Education: Ph.D. in biology from Harvard University

Occupation: Field biologist/wildlife photographer. Studying the ecology of strangler fig trees in the rain forest.

Why I do what I do:

I like exploration, and I am fascinated by the natural world. I am doing research on the rain forest canopy because it is one of the last great biological frontiers and is full of little-known plants and animals. I hope that my research and photography can increase our understanding of rain forests and help to save them.

Most exciting moment in the field:

I was hiding in a blind over a hundred feet up in a big tree in the rain forest in Borneo, hoping to get some photographs of animals coming to feed on the wild fruits there. All of a sudden, after hours of sitting in the cramped blind, ten rhinoceros hornbills landed all around me in the tree, the air screaming through their wings as they came in. I doubt if anyone has ever been that close to wild hornbills in the canopy.

Tim Laman’s research on strangler fig trees will be featured in a future issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine. His work dovetails nicely with that of his wife, Cheryl Knott, who also does field work in Borneo.

Cheryl Knott

Age: 33

Hometown: San Diego, California

Current address: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Education: B.S. from University of California, Davis; M.A. from Harvard University; now Ph.D. candidate in anthropology at Harvard

Occupation: Biological Anthropologist. Studying the reproductive ecology of orangutans in the rain forest of Borneo.

Why I do what I do:

I have always been fascinated with human origins. Orangutans, as one of our closest relatives, provide many clues about early stages of human evolution. I am particularly interested in unique features of their reproduction, such as the eight-year intervals between their births.

Most exciting moment in the field:

After following a wild orangutan all day up on a mountain slope in Borneo, Tim and I descended in a torrential rain to find that the river we needed to cross was flooding its banks into the rain forest. The only way to get back to our camp was to make it to a rope bridge that was far down the river. It was pouring rain and pitch dark out as we made our way through the swamp. As we came to a creek we had jumped over earlier, I waded out and it kept getting deeper until soon it was up to my neck! Finally we made it back. Another adventure in Borneo.

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