Joel Sartore is a photographer, speaker, author, teacher, conservationist, National Geographic fellow, explorer, and longtime contributor to National Geographic magazine. His hallmarks are a sense of humor and a midwestern work ethic.

Joel officially launched his magnum opus, the Photo Ark, 15 years ago, but he’s been building this photographic archive of global biodiversity for nearly 25 years.  His quest to document every living species in captivity has taken him to 60 countries and brought him face to face with more than 14,000 unique species. His simple goal? To wake us up to life vanishing before our eyes and to prompt us to act while there’s still time for some of them. As Joel often says, “We won’t save what we don’t love, and we won’t fall in love if we don’t connect.”

Sartore and his work have been the subject of numerous TV and radio broadcasts, including National Geographic and Nat Geo WILD, NBC Nightly News, NPR’s Weekend Edition, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, 60 Minutes, and PBS. He is also a regular contributor to the CBS Sunday Morning Show, and was named 2018 Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year.  He also contributes to Audubon, Life, The New York Times, and Sports Illustrated.  His numerous book projects include RARE: Portraits of America’s Endangered Species, Photographing Your Family, The Photo Ark, Animal Ark, and The Photo Ark Vanishing.

“It is folly to think that we can destroy one species and ecosystem after another and not affect humanity,” he says. “When we save species, we’re actually saving ourselves.” To learn more about bringing Joel’s unique mix of wit and wisdom to your audience, reach out to us.