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RECENT WORK WILDLIFE REGIONS ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE CONSERVATION LANDSCAPES More load more...

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Nigella Hillgarth, PhD Biologist, environmental advocate, and photographer. With a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology from Oxford University and a PhD in Evolutionary Biology, Nigella has conducted research on behavioral ecology and evolution on birds in many parts of the world including the United States, Britain, India, Thailand, the Arctic and South America. Now she has combined her passions for science and the environment with photography and public speaking — expressing the environmental issues that face us through images that capture the beauty of our planet, while reminding us of the enormous problems we have to tackle today. EXHIBITS, APPEARANCES, AND TOURS CURRENT & UPCOMING HISTORIC 2024 January 19 – February 7, 2024 Voyage to Antarctica, South Georgia & The Falklands I am delighted to be one of three scientists on this expedition, joined by Dr. Dee Boersma and Dr. Sue Moore, from The Center for Ecosystem Sentinels. Our lectures and presentations will provide depth and meaning to our exploration aboard the new expedition cruise ship, VEGA. More information here . ​ July 27-August 10, 2024 From Svalbard to through the Greenland Sea to Iceland Aboard VEGA, Swan Hellenic’s 152-guest ship, the voyage is a fourteen-night cruise from Svalbard to Iceland October 15-27, 2024 Natural Wonders of the Seychelles and East Africa, Including Aldabra Islands Aboard Diana, Swan Hellenic’s 192-guest ship

We are in the Southern Masai Mara and my tent is surrounded by Acacia trees with the savanna stretching away into the distance. When I wake in the morning the tent canvas flaps gently in the morning breeze and the birds begin to call. First light appears as I drink a cup of coffee and pack my cameras for the day. At 6m we set off to find lions or leopards and other wonderful animals that live in the African bush. Early morning is my favorite part of the day before it gets too hot, and many animals are out and the light for photography is good. I am on a photographic safari in Kenya and it is wonderful. I have been to East Africa a twice times before but this is my first visit to Kenya. This morning we saw lions and then we had a wonderful leopard sighting. It is rare to see leopards out in the open for long, but this female was very relaxed. Elephants and giraffes grazed nearby, and beautiful birds were everywhere. We came back to camp in the heat of the day and will go out again in the evening for a few more hours. This is a trip I have planned for a long time. For a biologist like myself African animals are fascinating. There are still so many large wild animals living free in their natural habitat and living and interacting in the same ways they have for thousands if not millions of years. As a photographer it is a great place to go to get wonderful shots and the light can be amazing.

"La Jolla biologist connects people to nature through photography and travel" (click image for complete article)

In March this year I was lucky enough to be invited to take part in the wonderful art exhibition held in LA in little Tokyo at the Artcore Centre. I was one of several environmental artists and photographers who are concerned about climate change whose work was displayed in this show. The curator was the wonderful Lucinda luuvas who has done so much work showcasing climate change through the visual arts. I had three pieces in the show all from Svalbard in the High Arctic. They symbolize the rapidly melting ice in the area and the receding glaciers. These images show water cascading down into the ocean from these tall tongues of ice that are still attached to the land and in many cases can be hundreds of kilometers long. They are melting from the top and the bottom as the ocean warms as well as the atmosphere. Although ice has always melted to some extent in the summer in this region it has accelerated dramatically in recent years and these images symbolize the dramatic changes.