Renowned conservation photographer Melissa Groo will touch on her journey into photography, sharing favorite photos from her magazine assignments and personal work over her decade-long career as a professional photographer. She’ll discuss how photos can aid in conservation, how to best gain an audience with birds and other sensitive animals, and how noticing the natural world around us can greatly enrich and enlarge our lives. Hosted by Long Beach Island Foundation, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, Little Egg Foundation, and Osprey Foundation.

Melissa Groo is a wildlife photographer, writer, and conservationist. She’s passionate about conveying the marvels of the natural world to diverse audiences. She believes that photography can be both fine art and a powerful vehicle for storytelling, and considers herself a “wildlife biographer” as much as a wildlife photographer. By capturing and sharing stories about individual wild animals, she hopes to raise awareness and change minds about not only the extrinsic beauty of animals, but also their intrinsic worth. Melissa’s photographs and articles have been published in numerous magazines including Smithsonian,  Audubon, Outdoor Photographer, National Wildlife, National Geographic (online), Living Bird, and Natural History.