Welcome to the Field Notes Journal
Field Notes Journal is a long-term record of observation, enquiry and understanding.
It begins with simple acts of noticing: a bird seen on a morning walk, a fossil in a museum, a landscape encountered while travelling, a passage in a book that raises an unexpected question. Some observations remain just that. Others become investigations that unfold over weeks, months or even years.
Everything here begins with observation, and builds over time.
A Practice of Curiosity
Field Notes is less a collection of finished work than an ongoing practice.
Observations are recorded, revisited and reflected upon. Patterns emerge. Questions lead to further observations, reading and research. Some investigations remain descriptive; others develop into computational models or longer pieces of writing. Reflection often suggests new questions, and the cycle begins again.
The aim is not simply to collect information, but to develop understanding through careful, incremental enquiry.
Modern tools make much of this work possible, but the underlying approach is an old one: observe carefully, record faithfully, think critically, and return often.
What You’ll Find Here
The journal brings together several connected strands of work.
- Wildlife observations and natural history recording
- Seasonal ecology and long-term environmental monitoring
- Travel journals and place-based writing
- Photography and microscopy as observational tools
- Computational modelling inspired by natural history
- Essays, notebooks and reflections on the process of enquiry
Some projects are brief notes; others become substantial studies supported by datasets, software, visualisations and downloadable publications. Each can be explored independently, but together they document an evolving way of engaging with the natural world.
Observation to Understanding
Many projects follow a similar path.
- An observation becomes a question
- A question leads to reading, recording or experimentation
- Those records become analyses, models or written accounts
Publication marks not the end of a project, but another stage in an ongoing conversation with the subject.
The emphasis throughout is on understanding rather than simply producing results. The models, reports and visualisations are valuable because they help answer questions, not because they are ends in themselves.
If you are visiting for the first time, the Start Here page provides a guided introduction to the main sections of the site.
Project
Molecular Clock Simulator
Exploring molecular evolution and phylogenetic inference through computational models
The simulations and visualisations presented throughout these investigations are generated using a collection of computational models that explore how DNA sequences evolve over time and how evolutionary relationships can be reconstructed from genetic data.
Rather than treating molecular clock methods as a black box, the project builds each component step by step. Beginning with simple sequence evolution, it progresses through distance matrices, substitution models, molecular clock simulations, and tree reconstruction, with each stage designed to illuminate the ideas behind the algorithms.
Alongside command-line tools, the project includes interactive explorers that make it possible to experiment with evolutionary parameters, observe their effects, and develop an intuitive understanding of the processes underlying phylogenetic inference.
The complete source code, documentation, example datasets, and instructions for running the simulator are available in the GitHub repository.
Explore the the project · Download the booklet · Download the eBook · Try the Molecular Clock Explorer · View on GitHub
New project
Stromatolite Growth Modelling
A computational natural history of Earth's earliest ecosystems
A stromatolite is not simply a fossil, but the accumulated record of countless interactions between microbial life and its environment.
This project explores how microbial growth, photosynthesis, sediment deposition, burial and changing environmental conditions can be represented by simple mathematical models, allowing characteristic layered structures to emerge through simulation.
Beginning with a one-dimensional proof of concept, the work investigates how biologically interpretable processes can reproduce many of the features preserved in the fossil record, while laying the foundations for progressively richer models of stromatolite development.
Explore the stromatolite studies · Download the booklet · Download the eBook
New project
Computational Shell Morphology
A computational natural history of form
A shell is not simply an object, but a process written in geometry.
This project explores how spirals, ribs, chambers, and apertures emerge from simple mathematical rules, producing forms reminiscent of ammonites, nautiloids, ramshorns, and other shells found in nature.
Part natural history, part mathematical experiment, it is an exploration of shell morphospace through code, structure, and variation.
Explore the shell studies · Download the booklet · Download the eBook · Try the Morphology Explorer
New booklet
Wildlife Seasonal Modelling
Exploring seasonal ecological structure through interpretable models
This booklet explores how simple seasonal models can reproduce the large-scale patterns seen in long-term wildlife observations.
Beginning with species-level seasonal curves and extending through similarity analysis, ecological neighbourhoods, and seasonal calendars, it examines how broader ecological structure can emerge from repeated observations collected over time.
Explore the modelling work · Download the booklet · Download the eBook
New booklet
Tanzanian Safari, 2022
Field notes from a long-awaited journey
This journal follows a journey through northern Tanzania — Tarangire, Lake Eyasi, Ngorongoro, and the Serengeti — recorded day by day from notes written at the time.
Presented largely as originally written, it is a record of movement, landscape, and wildlife shaped by the immediacy of experience rather than hindsight.
Read the journal · Download the booklet · Download the eBook