HOW FORESTS STORE CARBON

In the summer of 2024, I worked with environmental reporter Lynda Mapes to produce a novel, conceptual illustration of evergreen photosynthesis—from trees to cells to chloroplasts. Mature and old-growth forests play a crucial role in combating climate change by acting as significant carbon sinks, absorbing carbon dioxide and storing more carbon per unit area than young trees. The Seattle Times published this illustrated infographic in the main story, “Forest Feud,” on Sunday, Oct. 13,  2024, and on the following Monday in a science sidebar. Alternate formats were created for print, online, and mobile.

“Forest Feud” is a Topical Reporting: Climate Change winner in the 2025 Online Journalism Awards. The illustration was also awarded 2nd Place Graphic in the 2024 SPJ NW Excellence in Journalism Contest, and accepted into the juried 2025 GNSI Annual Exhibit.

Process

Initial discussions with the reporter and editor revolved around representing competing interests—e.g., the timber industry, activists, and the plant and animal species that depend on mature forests.

Here’s some of my early drafts—including a whiteboard brainstorming session! I rendered the final art in Procreate and Photoshop, and added labeling in Illustrator.

Eventually we decided that the infographic should support a science sidebar to the main story. It explains why big trees are so valuable in offsetting climate change. Not only do they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen year-round, they also sequester carbon in their mass. And they continue to do so, silently and efficiently, for hundreds of years. A century-old Douglas fir is just getting started and could live 500 years or more.

Very few illustrations of conifer or evergreen photosynthesis diagrams exist in the wild (at least that I could find!), so this project felt like uncharted territory. I chose to represent Douglas firs as these are some of the most common trees in the Pacific Northwest. After some research, I confirmed that the structure of conifer needle cells and chloroplasts are similar to those found in deciduous leaves. There are some differences in the needle cross section, however—electron microscope images reveal a pair of resin ducts and a waxy cuticle, hinting at possible protection mechanisms.

Scientists are still studying how evergreens are able to protect their photosynthetic mechanisms in extreme cold and low light, while most plants go dormant in winter. I sense there are abundant opportunities here for further investigation and follow-up illustrations. Preserving mature and old growth forests may be the simplest, most economical way we could offset greenhouse gasses.

The style and layout of this graphic is designed to entertain and delight—inviting readers of all backgrounds to explore. In the desktop and print versions, I arranged the background illustrations and inset panels in a circle with tapered arrows, breaking out of the typical grid layouts. The chloroplast cutaway is inspired by my internship with Electronic Publishing Services in New York—a company that once produced top-of-the-line illustrations for McGraw Hill biology and Earth science textbooks.