August 2026 – David Kotz

What a year!

A year of personal and professional exploration.

One year ago, today, I headed out the door for a year-long sabbatical. The professional core of that sabbatical was my Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellowship at Imperial College London, but I also enjoyed meeting colleagues at University College London, during visits to universities across the UK in England, Scotland, and Wales, and at conferences in France, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. The year was academically very productive! And the year also presented incredible opportunities for travel, much of it described in this blog. Here’s a quick summary, with one photo per month. Each month’s heading is a link to the blog posts for that month, and the bullets link to a few travel highlights.

Familiar terrain

Back to my home stomping grounds.

My calves strained as I hiked up the steep, forested hillside, following a familiar route that has no trail and rarely feels the pressure of human soles. Except mine. For this weekend’s hike I decided to stay close to home and visit a patch of forest that I know very, very well. I have traversed this hillside dozens, nay, hundreds of times, following my whim instead of any formal trails. My senses perk up as I move slowly through the underbrush, looking and listening and sometimes even feeling for animal sign, trying to read the land and determine where I might place my motion-sensor cameras to capture interesting videos of the local wildlife.

Spruce Mountain, VT

hiking 46th weekend in a row

A beautiful summer day calls for a hike to a beautiful summit peak. Today I decided to climb Spruce Mountain in Plainfield, Vermont. From the guidebook description it looked like it was achievable in the coolness of the morning – perhaps one hour to drive and one hour to hike, each way. The hike follows a pretty trail, beginning with an easy mile along an old forest road, then turning increasingly steep as it winds its way to the summit. There, an old fire tower offers 360º views of central Vermont.

Return to Mount Cube

My go-to peak when a hike is needed.

Now that I’m back home, I’m looking forward to hiking some of my favorite places. Today I chose Mount Cube, a small peak along the Appalachian Trail north of here. It’s only a 45-minute drive, a 2-mile hike, and leads to some pretty nice views. It’s my go-to hike when I need a short morning outing. When I set out, early this morning, I was driving through dense fog and (seemingly) cloudy skies, but I knew Mount Cube would rise above all that. It did not fail to deliver.