Joel Sartore is a photographer, speaker, author, teacher, and a regular contributor to National Geographic magazine. His hallmarks are a sense of humor and a Midwestern work ethic.

Joel's assignments have taken him to some of the world's most beautiful and challenging environments, from the Arctic to the Antarctic, and he has photographed everything from the remote Amazon to beer-drinking, mountain-racing firefighters in the United Kingdom.  

His most recent focus is documenting wildlife, endangered species and landscapes in order to show a world worth saving. His interest in nature 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 he's since traveled to all  50 states and all seven continents photographing everything from snails to bears to giraffes. 

Joel has written several books including RARE: Portraits of America's Endangered Species, Photographing Your Family, and Nebraska: Under a Big Red Sky.  His most recent book, Let's Be Reasonable is now available wherever books are sold.

In addition to the work he has done for National Geographic, Joel has contributed to Audubon Magazine, Time, Life, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and numerous book projects. Joel and his work are the subjects of several national broadcasts including National Geographic's Explorer, the NBC Nightly News, NPR's Weekend Edition and an hour-long PBS documentary, At Close Range. 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.