Ian Markham

Ian's childhood was spent in an odd assortment of places from Honduras to California, England, France, and Nigeria.  With his father he collected insects, bred aquarium fish, and tended a small menagerie of rescued creatures instilling a lifelong obsession with natural history. The urge to capture wild creatures as a child easily morphed into a love of photography and videography that Ian uses to convey messages of science and conservation. His photos and videos have appeared in scientific journals, news outlets, and been used by the conservation organizations and research facilities with whom he has worked to raise awareness of their efforts.

Ian received a bachelor of science in ecology and evolutionary biology from Stanford and a masters of environmental management from Duke University. During his education and beyond he conducted research on a wide variety of topics from Dung beetles and primates in Peru, kelp forest herbivores in California, coral-algae competition in the Indo-Pacific, to small mammals in Gabon.  When not with National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions, Ian generally works as a scientific diver or freelance multimedia specialist. Between contracts Ian returns either to California or to his father’s small cocoa farm in Vanua Levu, Fiji where they hope to soon produce their own artisanal chocolate.