Biography

Wildlife Advocacy + Education

SEOT200 In October 2022, I was certified with Community Active Wildlife Stewards (CAWS) — a recognition program for businesses and others demonstrating wildlife stewardship, and designed to encourage responsible wildlife viewing guidelines.

• May 2024 to present: Volunteer Naturalist – Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary/NOAA – Public education on MBNMS and Monterey Bay/Pacific coast wildlife

• 2022 to present: Certified Active Community Wildlife Steward for Sea Otter Savvy (see above)

• 2016 to 2020: Ethics Committee for the North American Nature Photography Association – promoting standards of ethical practice in the field of wildlife photography.

• 2014: Co-founder Wildlife Conservation Pass Project— a grassroots project to implement a new revenue pass for our National Wildlife Refuge system.

• 2009: 24-hour Hazwoper certification for oil spill response

• 2009: Wildlife rescue field response training (Wildlife Emergency Services)

• 2005 to 2010: Lindsay Wildlife Hospital volunteer

• 2004: Volunteer for Emergency Animal Rescue disaster response

• Other volunteer work: Palomacy Pigeon and Dove rescue, SF SPCA

• I regularly donate my time and work to benefit conservation and nature advocacy organizations

Photo Credits

Sea Otter Tool Use

My work appears in publications, exhibits, and installations, and includes cover photos for:

Science
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Magazine
Colorado Review
Functional Ecology Magazine
Penguin Publishing’s Morning Glory Novel
Puget Sound Partnership’s State of the Sound

Organizational + Publications including:

Defenders of Wildlife
Coastal California: The Wildlife (w/Jeff Corwin)
Bay Nature
Ocean Conservancy
California Council for Wildlife Rehabilitators
Elakha Alliance

[A more complete list of credits is here: Published Images]

Published Credits

In addition to my photography, I’m a freelance writer and an independent book researcher (15 years). My work is credited in more than 25 James Patterson/Maxine Paetro books, including Women’s Murder Club, Private, and Confessions series.

In the years prior, I wrote and edited the San Francisco travel website for About.com, worked as a freelance writer, and wrote a regular column for a national health magazine. My previous background was in administration, working in various fields including entertainment.

Artist’s Statement

One of my consistent themes is photographing wildlife adapting to human-altered environments. So many species are now at risk globally, with large-scale habitat loss and bird populations in significant decline. To, me this is the ecological story of our times: the immense peril we’ve inflicted on the natural world along with the resilience of wild animals who survive where nature and urban/industrial settings converge.

My wildlife photography has always been driven by a sense of advocacy and conservation. My environmental science classes at UC Berkeley were foundational in that regard.

I’m also drawn to the quieter worlds coexisting alongside the more charismatic species — the city pigeons or chorus frogs or beach hoppers. My photos reflect this eclecticism of spirit along with my deep appreciation for all species with whom we share this rare and spectacular planet.

My guiding principle is putting the animal’s welfare above the photo, an ethical framework strengthened through my mentorship at a Bay Area wildlife hospital.

Ingrid Zommers

My background is a cultural mix. I was born in the States to Latvian parents who came to this country as war refugees. My family history and heritage is connected to the sea, the animals, and the biodiversity of the Baltics. I grew up with that nature-oriented ethos.

I spent formative years in Europe as an expat kid, attending International Schools before repatriating to the States with my family. Two of my favorite object memories — an Instamatic camera and my mother’s Royal typewriter — led to a lifelong love for both visual and written arts.