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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.

As the 2019 Climate Art Fellow, Dr. Nigella Hillgarth spent the summer with the NSF Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment (CAICE) for their SeaSCAPE Experiment. Dr. Hillgarth worked with CAICE researchers to explore the role of atmospheric chemistry and movement of microbes to tell the story of a changing climate and its impact on the earth and its inhabitants. ​ The art created from this partnership is being utilized to help us better engage with local communities on climate impacts and solutions that can lead to informed decisions that enhance our resilience to climate change impacts. The Product: Through the Lens of SeaSCAPE Art inspired by the SeaSCAPE experiment by CAICE The NSF Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment (CAICE) focuses on improving our understanding of how aerosol particles impact the environment, air quality, and climate. SeaSCAPE (Sea Spray Chemistry And Particle Evolution) brought together over 90 NSF CAICE researchers from 12 institutions. Interdisciplinary teams including chemists, microbiologists, and oceanographers spent their summer working in partnership to understand complex ocean-climate-chemistry interactions which will help us understand how ocean microbes and humans are affecting climate. These images are designed to symbolize the energy and passion of many dedicated scientists as well as the societal importance of the chemistry research. Artist Statement: "The natural world is in turmoil. Climate change and pollution is shattering our world. After a career in science and outreach I now use photography and art to visualize climate change in ways that seize the attention of the public and urge them to learn more. Although the science behind our understanding of climate change is well understood, details of our climate system are still being unraveled. The NSF CAICE SeaSCAPE experiments are designed to understand the complex physical-chemical-biological connections between ocean and atmospheric on our warming and polluted planet. ​ "Following a career as a biologist - first as an academic and then as an administrator - I have now combined my passion for science and the environment with photography and public speaking. I am particularly interested in expressing the environmental issues that face us through images that capture the beauty of our planet but remind us of the enormous problems we have to tackle today. ​ The images in this exhibition are designed to showcase the wonder and achievement of creating breaking waves under controlled conditions in order to understand the biological, physical, and chemical reactions that happen when waves break and relating that back to the open ocean." ​ ​