FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER
Wildlife photographer Rick Baetsen
A master at blending creativity with science, Rick Baetsen has spent his life promoting environmental causes through words, photographs, videos, and research. Years of experience working in the northwoods, including Alaska and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, have led him to become an award-winning biologist and photographer. What the Michigan native brings to his work is the depth of understanding gained while working as a natural resource biologist and researcher.
Rick studied fisheries, wildlife and botany in college. He received a B.A. in biology in 1975, from Lake Superior State University, where he spent his days walking along the hemlock-lined Tahquamenon River, the shores of Lake Superior, and the deep woods of the Hiawatha National Forest. There he met Bonnie Heuvelhorst, his future spouse. Today they live with their three children, Justin, Ryan, and Amy, near Walloon Lake, in northern lower Michigan.
Rick has worked for the U.S. Forest Service, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. His duties have involved research on the wildlife refuges in northern Alaska, fisheries survey work on the state and national forests of Michigan, and as a management biologist at a federal fish hatchery.
In 1977, Rick began mixing his interest in the natural world with his photography skills. His success at publishing his images led him to start Rick Baetsen Nature and Wildlife Photography, in 1993. His favorite subjects include wildlife, birds, butterflies and landscapes. His images have been published extensively in books, magazines, calendars, newspapers, as well as on public and commercial television, a number of Internet websites, and on CD-ROM.
His photography has also earned him numerous awards, including a Best of Show in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Photography Contest, and First Place in the Lake Superior Magazine Photo Contest. Rick also earned the distinction of being named the Featured Wildlife Photographer of the 1998 Kirtland’s Warbler Festival.
Though busy with his photography and research, Rick still finds time to volunteer. He has donated his images to many conservation and governmental agencies for use in newsletters, brochures, and slide presentations. He also volunteers as an educator, speaker, and wildlife researcher. These activities earned him the “Outstanding Contribution Award” from the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as honors from Michigan’s governor and the U.S. Secretary of the Interior for his work with wildlife enhancement projects and youth environmental education programs.
His images can be found on his website at www.rickbaetsen.com and he can be contacted at info@rickbaetsen.com.
© 2008 Kirtland's Warbler Festival