As a climate change biologist, Scott Hotaling PhD studies the effects of this anthropogenic, human-induced climate change, with a primary focus on high-altitudes and latitudes where changes are occurring most rapidly. Specifically, he uses ecological and genomic tools to understand how biodiversity has been impacted on recent timescales and how the same diversity may be affected going forward. In 2017, Dr. Hotaling received a PhD in Biology from the University of Kentucky and he is now a postdoctoral scholar at Washington State University. His research spans the globe – ranging from glacially-tied insects in alpine streams of the Pacific Northwest to iceworms living within glacial ice from Washington to Alaska, and all the way to extremophile fish inhabiting the icy Southern Ocean of Antarctic. Beyond scientific research, he has worked extensively as a nature photographer and writer, using photographs, storytelling, and his research background to communicate the challenges facing our planet’s biodiversity. Samples of his photographic work can be found at www.lightofthewild.com.
