I’ve been in love with photography since I owned my first camera in 2007. Several cameras and many lenses later I’ve gained much technical knowledge and sharpened my compositional skills but haven’t lost my awe for the art. I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, got my B.S. in Environmental Science with a Sustainability Studies minor in south-central Pennsylvania, and am currently working as a field tech in New Mexico with hopes to work and photograph across the country.

I think I’m a photographer for two main reasons; because it’s fun and because it’s important. It’s fun on so many levels: being rewarded for hours of hiking or waiting or stalking with that image you’ve had in your head for days or years is so fulfilling. It takes you to beautiful places and introduces you to remarkable people. It allows for both immense creativity and unmatched realism. But it’s also extremely important. It has scientific value for documenting species and ecological processes (including how we’re affecting both). Most importantly for me, however, is the medium it gives me to share what I’ve been learning and witnessing. I love science and conservation but writing about them can sometimes be limited in its ability to move people. Attaching an image and a story about what that image means to me can let my message have a very different effect.

 When I started undergrad I considered myself an outdoorsy person who cared about the earth. I quickly realized the ecological problems we face today, and our role in them, is far greater than I had imagined. Through school, through work, and through my curiosity I’ve learned about topics and species, such as Ocean Acidification and the endangered American Burying Beetle, that not too many people know about. While I don’t have images of either, I have had the opportunity to photograph many species and places which might not be here in a generation or two if we aren’t intentional about protecting them. I always aim to convey the beauty and importance of the species in my images, whether a ubiquitous Yellow-rumped Warbler or an endangered Proboscis Monkey.

If a photograph is worth a thousand words, then my purpose is threefold; to write prolifically, to write ethically, and to write with purpose. I want both to objectively document and passionately showcase the beauty of places and species that surround us whether in Panama, along Appalachian Trail, or just minutes from Chicago. I want to photograph the places and species I do while giving them proper respect. And I want my work to tell a story that can both bring people joy and move them to action.