Rapper C.A.U.T.I.O.N. engages kids from Washington State as they explore the forest environment during an educational outreach program, called "Sound Science," developed by professors at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.

Credit: Nalini M. Nadkarni

Rapper C.A.U.T.I.O.N. performing Ecology from the CD Sound Scientists: Gear Up With Music. The song is featured on researcher Nalini M. Nadkarni's Web site. Sound Scientists is a program of Science Ambassadors.

Credit: Funded, in part, by: The National Science Foundation, The National Geographic Society and The Evergreen State College GEAR UP Program. Music produced and engineered by: Giles O'Dell and Terrance Turner. Lyrics inspired by The Scientific Research Ambassadors: Dr. Nalini Nadkarni, Dr. Jack Longino and Dr. Gerardo Chin-leo.

Arboreal researcher Nalini Nadkarni of Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., helps rapper C.A.U.T.I.O.N. prepare to climb six stories into the forest canopy. Upon his return, C.A.U.T.I.O.N. was able to greet the awaiting students with a rhyme that put his experience into context, one that helped the students truly grasp the ecology lesson they had been learning.

Credit: Nalini M. Nadkarni

Nalini Nadkarni hangs from her canopy access gear, 150 feet above the forest floor in a 650-year-old stand of trees located just downwind of Mt. St. Helens, in Washington State. She is studying organisms and processes that occur in the upper canopy of these forests.

Credit: John Huey, The Evergreen State College