Joel Sartore Joel Sartore

National Geographic Photographer and Speaker

Keyword: national geographic

Photo: Photographer Joel Sartore learns that thriving insect populations mean a healthy ecosystem in Madidi National Park.

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Photographer Joel Sartore learns that thriving insect populations mean a healthy ecosystem in Madidi National Park.

Photo: The endangered El Segundo blue butterfly clings to survival at the foot of a runway at LAX.

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The endangered El Segundo blue butterfly clings to survival at the foot of a runway at LAX.

Photo: An endangered American burying beetle crawls over a dead mourning dove.

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An endangered American burying beetle crawls over a dead mourning dove. (Hwy 47, near Gothenburg, NE.)

Photo: Salt Creek tiger beetles mating in northern Lancaster County, Nebraska.

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Salt Creek tiger beetles mating in northern Lancaster County, Nebraska. The insect only exists in this rare inland saline marsh, and is threatened by development.

Photo: A blue morpho butterfly clings to a walking palm tree in Madidi National Park, Bolivia.

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A blue morpho butterfly clings to a walking palm tree in Madidi National Park, Bolivia.

Photo: Pierid butterflies drawn into the salt and minerals on a beach along the Tuichi River in Madidi National Park, Bolivia.

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Pierid butterflies drawn into the salt and minerals on a beach along the Tuichi River in Madidi National Park, Bolivia.

Photo: A natural gas plant next to a cemetery in Bloomfield, NM.

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A natural gas plant next to a cemetery in Bloomfield, NM.

Photo: A methane fire burns under a rancher's land near Decker, MT. The underground water that once kept the flame in check has been drained off during coal bed methane development, so the fire now shows at the surface.

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A methane fire burns under a rancher’s land near Decker, MT. The underground water that once kept the flame in check has been drained off during coal bed methane development, so the fire now shows at the surface.

Photo: The crew of a coal bed methane drilling rig in Wyoming.

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The crew of a coal bed methane drilling rig in Wyoming. While harmful to the environment, gas drilling provides jobs to the locals — at least, while the gas lasts.

Photo: A flare erupts at a natural gas well near Pinedale, Wyoming.

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A flare erupts at a natural gas well near Pinedale, Wyoming.

Photo: The BLM office in Buffalo, WY approved 3000 natural gas drilling permits in 2004, generating a small mountain of paperwork.

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The BLM office in Buffalo, WY approved 3000 natural gas drilling permits in 2004, generating a small mountain of paperwork.

Photo: Misters send the water drained off during coal bed methane drilling airborne on a development near Gillette, WY.

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Misters send the water drained off during coal bed methane drilling airborne on a development near Gillette, WY.

Photo: Lightning illuminates the sky over Adobe Town in Wyoming's Red Desert area.

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Lightning illuminates the sky over Adobe Town in Wyoming’s Red Desert area. Once proposed for a wilderness designation, the area is now slated for coal bed methane development.

Photo: Hunters with their day's take, a mule deer, near Choteau, MT. Outdoorsmen have joined forces with environmentalists on the Rocky Mountain front to protect the region from coal bed methane drilling.

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Hunters with their day’s take, a mule deer, near Choteau, MT. Outdoorsmen have joined forces with environmentalists on the Rocky Mountain front to protect the region from coal bed methane drilling.

Photo: "Flying fish" (minnows) over the Powder River in Wyoming, an ecosystem threatened by coal bed methane development.

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“Flying fish” (minnows) over the Powder River in Wyoming, an ecosystem threatened by coal bed methane development.

Photo: A homeowner in the powder river basin holds up a glass of water from a now unusable well.

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A homeowner in the powder river basin holds up a glass of water from a now unusable well. The well’s contents turned into a methane slurry after coal bed methane development began nearby.

Photo: Aerial of the Jonah Field natural gas drilling area near Pinedale, Wyoming.

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Aerial of the Jonah Field natural gas drilling area near Pinedale, Wyoming.

Photo: Coal bed methane drilling near this house near Rifle, CO scared off the local elk herd and destroyed the property value.

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Coal bed methane drilling near this house near Rifle, CO scared off the local elk herd and destroyed the property value.

Photo: Managers at the Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR must use controlled fire to kill invasive woody species and keep the prairie healthy.

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Managers at the Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR must use controlled fire to kill invasive woody species and keep the prairie healthy.

Photo: DC3 planes blanket housing developments in marsh areas with a mixture of diesel fuel and malathion to kill off mosquitoes.

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DC3 planes blanket housing developments in marsh areas with a mixture of diesel fuel and malathion to kill off mosquitoes.

Photo: A wrong turn on the narrow raised roads of Louisiana's bayou country can prove diastrous -- the Camaro's owner watches as it sinks into the marsh.

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A wrong turn on the narrow raised roads of Louisiana’s bayou country can prove diastrous — the Camaro’s owner watches as it sinks into the marsh.

Photo: The Houston ship channel flows through what used to be native coastal prairie.

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The Houston ship channel flows through what used to be native coastal prairie. Industrial development and sprawl from the city have greatly reduced the range of the Attwater’s prairie-chicken and other wildlife to small pockets of grassland habitat.

Photo: Flamingos puff up their feathers against the cold as they roost at Laguna Colorada, Bolivia.

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Flamingos puff up their feathers against the cold as they roost at Laguna Colorada, Bolivia. The variation in temperature between day and night is so extreme that their legs are frozen in a thin layer of ice during the night, which is melted by the sun.

Photo: Black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) shown from above at Teshekpuk Lake, Alaska.

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Black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) shown from above at Teshekpuk Lake, Alaska.

Photo: A jabiru stork brings soft grasses to line its nest, oblivious to the destruction brought to the rest of the forest by bulldozers.

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A jabiru stork brings soft grasses to line its nest, oblivious to the destruction brought to the rest of the forest by bulldozers. Land is being cleared in the Brazilian Pantanal for development and agriculture at an alarming rate, threatening this wetland ecosystem.

Photo: American wood storks (endangered) in the Florida Panther NWR.

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American wood storks (endangered) in the Florida Panther NWR.

Photo: A Cooper's hawk feeds on a male Attwater's prairie-chicken it killed on a lek near Texas City, TX. Birds of prey are avital part of a healthy ecosystem, but since APC's habitat has shrunk to a few small patches of prairie, hawks pose a substantial risk to the endangered bird.

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A Cooper’s hawk feeds on a male Attwater’s prairie-chicken it killed on a lek near Texas City, TX. Birds of prey are avital part of a healthy ecosystem, but since APC’s habitat has shrunk to a few small patches of prairie, hawks pose a substantial risk to the endangered bird.

Photo: A male Gunnison's sage grouse struts and displays his inflated neck sac, trying to attract a mate.

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A male Gunnison’s sage grouse struts and displays his inflated neck sac, trying to attract a mate. (Near Gunnison, CO.)

Photo: Two peregrine falcon chicks huddle in their cliff nest along the Colville River, the Slope's largest.

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Two peregrine falcon chicks huddle in their cliff nest along the Colville River, the Slope’s largest. The bluffs along this river support one of the highest densities of nesting raptors in North America.

Juvenile California condors, (Gymnogyps californianus) critically endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered, recently released into the wild, feed on a calf that was left for them by biologists. (Los Padres Nat'l Forest)

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Juvenile California condors, (Gymnogyps californianus) critically endangered (IUCN) and federally endangered, recently released into the wild, feed on a calf that was left for them by biologists. (Los Padres Nat’l Forest)

Photo: Macaw feathers being smuggled out of Bolivia as part of a souvenir head dress.

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Macaw feathers being smuggled out of Bolivia as part of a souvenir head dress.

Photo: Red-and-green macaws in flight over Madidi National Park, Bolivia.

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Red-and-green macaws in flight over Madidi National Park, Bolivia.

A juvenile whooping crane, (Grus americana), endangered; dead of avian cholera at Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico.

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A juvenile whooping crane, (Grus americana), endangered; dead of avian cholera at Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico.

Photo: Julie Jensen Director of Marketing | WVC O: 866.800.7326 | D: 702.443.9249 | E: j.jensen@wvc.org

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