Posted by: Bridget Dunn, Communications “Is that a metal detector?” “Does that thing track sound waves? “Are you with Google Earth?” Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. These are all questions that have been aimed at Michael Bradshaw in the last few months. So what is he doing wandering Woodland Park Zoo grounds with a GPS and 7’ pole? You’ll probably never guess: He’s mapping trees! Bradshaw, a forest science grad student at the University of Washington, is part of a project the zoo is very excited to finally tackle: creating a full inventory of the trees around our campus. This project will assess the health of our large urban forest through the evaluation of every tree on our grounds. Bradshaw is mapping trees and taking notes on their health, which is the first of three stages of this project. He does this work with special GPS mapping equipment which is accurate within 4-12”. This information is overlaid with other information about the zoo ...