National Wildlife Magazine Fall 2023 Contributors
Meet some of the talented writers and photographers who contributed to our Fall 2023 issue
- By Laura Tangley and Jennifer Wehunt
- Contributors
- Sep 27, 2023
Clockwise from top left: Jeanne Eder Rhodes (photo courtesy of Jeanne Eder Rhodes), Isaac Eger (photo by Manny Rangel), Brianna Randall (photo courtesy of Brianna Randall), Carlton Ward Jr. (photo by Veronica Runge), Devon Matthews (photo by Danielle Matthews)
We are honored to introduce a handful of the contributors who helped make our Fall 2023 issue of National Wildlife® magazine an insightful, inspiring read.
JEANNE EDER RHODES, a retired associate professor of American and public history at the University of Alaska Anchorage, first learned about Oak Flat (“Copper Mine or Sacred Land”) from her friend Deb Krol, a reporter for the Arizona Republic. “Every week we meet to produce traditional Native American beadwork and discuss the latest problems in Indian country,” says Rhodes, an enrolled member of the Sioux and Assiniboine nations who lives in Chandler, Arizona. “We discuss all sides of creating a copper mine.”
ISAAC EGER was born in Florida, but “I spent most of my young adult life trying to escape it,” he says, moving first to Portland, Oregon, then to New York City (“Connecting the Florida Wildlife Corridor”). A decade ago, however, Florida’s rich natural history called him back, and now the Sarasota-based writer is “making up for lost time by writing about the disappearing and imperiled parts of my home state.”
BRIANNA RANDALL was in high school when she “earned the nickname ‘Nature Girl’ because I was always outside or spouting off random facts about plants and animals” (“The Endangered Species Act at 50”). She still spends as much time as possible outside—especially “visiting new wild places”—but as a Montana-based science writer and communications specialist, the facts she shares are far from random. Read more at briannarandall.com.
DEVON MATTHEWS already had an interest in spiders prior to “Colorado Tarantula Festival Celebrates Mating Season.” “I came across a jumping spider, and I sat and observed it,” says the Minneapolis photographer. “Jumping spiders don’t wait for insects to land on their webs. They have very good vision, and they use it to hunt. If you’re within, say, 3 feet of a jumping spider, it will observe you back.” See more on Instagram @dev_shoots.
CARLTON WARD JR. began his photography career working in Gabon with the Smithsonian Institution. In 2005, he pivoted, moving to his native Florida to document the state’s landscapes and biodiversity—and inspire their protection (“Connecting the Florida Wildlife Corridor”). “Each time I flew home, I’d see more of Florida paved over,” he says. “I decided my work could have a bigger impact here in my home state.” See more on Instagram @CarltonWard.
