155: Clay Bolt - Using Photography as a Tool for Communication
Clay Bolt is a Natural History and Conservation Photographer specializing in the world’s smaller creatures who regularly partners with organizations such as the National Geographic Society and the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. His current major focus is on North America’s native bees and the important roles that they play in our lives. He was a leading voice in the fight to protect the rusty-patched bumble bee under the Endangered Species Act, which became North America’s first federally protected native bee in 2017. In 2019, Bolt became the first photographer to document a living Wallace’s Giant Bee—the world’s largest bee—as a part of a four person exploration team to rediscover the species in the Indonesian islands known as the North Moluccas. In his current role as Communications Lead for World Wildlife Fund’s Northern Great Plains Program he is developing strategies to fight insect and grasslands biodiversity loss by gaining a greater understanding of the effects that Neonicotinoid pesticides have on wildlife. Clay is a Fellow in the Linnean Society of London, Associate Fellow in the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP), and past president of the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA).