Philosophy and Goals

Within my working life and beyond I endeavor to create connection and relationship—between humans and the rest of the world, within the human community, and between humans and our past and future on this planet.

I studied journalism at the University of Arizona, earning a Master’s Degree in 1997. Since then I have been creating narratives and photographs of diverse subjects — from desert tortoise, bison, prairie dogs, border walls, climate change, wildlife migration corridors, environmental justice and urban waterways — all connected with by the common thread of healing relationships and strengthening connection, one being to the next.

I gravitate to landscape level narratives where the impacts of government policy have longterm ramifications for wildlife, environmental health and human communities. My projects have included a 15-year documentary endeavor on the United States-Mexico borderlands; a 10+-year project on the Anacostia River watershed in Washington DC; and a newer 3-year project on the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

I have created three books:  Continental Divide: Wildlife, People and the Border Wall won the National Outdoor Book Award for 2013 and the “Best of the Best” designation from the American Library Association, as well as the Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography. In 2015, I published a memoir, Almost Anywhere: Road Trip Ruminations on Love, Nature, National Parks and Nonsense, and in 2018 I published River of Redemption: Almanac of Life on the Anacostia, winner of the 2019 National Outdoor Book Award.

In 2018, I wrote and directed the award-winning film Ay Mariposa, about the erosive implications of the US-Mexico border wall. And I regularly contribute stories and photography to magazines, books and websites, including National Wildlife, Ranger Rick, BBC, National Parks, Defenders, High Country News, Audubon, and The Nature Conservancy.

For more detailed information about my work, please visit my Projects page.