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Home > Programs and Policy > Wildlife Conservation > Imperiled Species > Wolves > Conferences and Events > 2009 Carnivore Conference

Keynote Speaker: Joel Sartore

Joel Sartore brings a sense of humor and a mid-western work ethic to all of his National Geographic Magazine assignments. After more than 15 years and 26 stories with the National Geographic Society, Joel has covered everything from the remote Amazon rain forest to beer-drinking, mountain-racing firefighters in the United Kingdom.

Joel's work focuses on endangered species, natural history and land use issues. His interest in wildlife started in childhood, when he learned about the very last passenger pigeon from one of his mother's Time-Life picture books. His first National Geographic assignments introduced him to nature photography, and also allowed him to see human impact on the environment first-hand. In his words, "It is folly to think that we can destroy one species and ecosystem after another and not affect humanity. When we save species, we're actually saving ourselves." 

He has authored several books including Photographing Your Family, Face to Face with Grizzlies, and Nebraska: Under a Big Red Sky.

Besides the work he has done for National Geographic, Joel has completed assignments for Audubon Magazine, Time, Life, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and contributed to numerous book projects. Joel and his work have been the subject of several national broadcasts including National Geographic's Explorer, the NBC Nightly News, NPR's Weekend Edition and an hour-long PBS documentary. He is also a regular contributor on the CBS Sunday Morning Show with Charles Osgood. 

Joel is always happy to return to home base from his travels around the world. He lives in Lincoln, Nebraska with his wife Kathy and their three children.