This presentation will run approximately 70 minutes, with a Q & A directly afterward. If you have a question, ushers have cards to submit questions. Once complete, return card to an usher.

Brian Skerry will be in the lobby after the event to sign books.

Underwater Photographer

Brian Skerry is a photojournalist specializing in marine wildlife and underwater environments. Since 1998, he has been a contributing photographer for National Geographic Magazine, covering a wide range of subjects and stories. He was named a National Geographic Society Photography Fellow in 2014 and a National Geographic Society Storytelling Fellow in 2017. In 2017, he was also awarded the title of Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year.

For National Geographic magazine, Skerry has covered a wide range of stories, from the harp seal's struggle to survive in frozen waters to the alarming decrease in the world's fisheries to dolphin intelligence—all cover stories. A fourth cover story in February 2017 focused on protecting special underwater ecosystems in U.S. waters, and during this coverage Skerry produced the first images of a sitting U.S. President underwater.

Skerry has also worked on assignment for or had images featured in magazines such as Sports Illustrated, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Paris Match, Esquire, and Audubon. Skerry is the author of 12 books, including the acclaimed monographs Ocean Soul, SHARK, and the newly released Secrets of the Whales.

Skerry is an 11-time award winner in the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. He has also been recognized with awards from Pictures of the Year International, Nature's Best, Communication Arts, and is the only photographer to win the coveted Peter Benchley Award for Excellence in Media. In 2010, National Geographic Magazine named one of Skerry images among their 50 Greatest Photographs of All Time and in 2016, he was awarded the National Geographic Photographer's Photographer Award, an honor bestowed by his colleagues, other National Geographic photographers. The Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences awarded Skerry the 2019 NOGI Award for Arts, an award frequently referred to as the 'Underwater Oscar.'

He has had numerous solo photographer exhibits, including Portraits of Planet Ocean, a two-year exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Other exhibits of his work have been held in cities worldwide, including Geneva, Barcelona, Lisbon, Shanghai, and Perpignan, France.

Skerry frequently lectures on photography, exploration, and conservation issues, having presented at venues such as The United Nations General Assembly, The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, TED Talks, The National Press Club in Washington, DC, The Royal Geographical Society in London, and the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

Skerry is the Explorer-In-Residence and a Trustee at the New England Aquarium, a founding member of the International League of Conservation Photographers, Director of The New England Ocean Odyssey for The Conservation Law Foundation, and a Fellow National of The Explorers Club. He is also a Nikon Ambassador and a Marine Fellow with Conservation International and serves on the World Wildlife Fund's National Council and Marine Leadership Council.

After reporting and anchoring as a “Yooper” in the Upper Peninsula for two years, Nicole is excited to be back in the Lower Peninsula as the Executive Producer and host of Studio 10. She previously was the weekend anchor and reporter for the news department at WILX

From Kalamazoo, Michigan, Nicole has always had a passion for storytelling. At an early age, Nicole used theater to share stories, until she was introduced to the world of broadcasting.

She began her time as a news reporter for WLUC TV6 in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in April 2017. Since then, Nicole has covered events all over Michigan and followed 79 veterans on the Honor Flight to Washington D.C. Her work at TV6 won her the 2017 Michigan’s Association of Broadcasters News Reporter Merit Award. Since 2019, Nicole has told stories across Mid-Michigan for WILX and their lifestyle show, Studio 10. She's also been able to follow and cover the Michigan State Men's Basketball team when they played on the historic U.S.S Abraham Lincoln for the Armed Forces Classic.

Before starting her broadcasting career, Nicole was a full-time student at Grand Valley State University where she interned at Grand Rapids’ WOOD TV8, WGVU and Kalamazoo’s 103.3 WKFR.

Nicole has a passion for all forms of broadcasting while wearing a smile both in front of and behind the camera.