Meet Gulf of Mexico based photographer and sea turtle beach patrol volunteer Ron Wooten!

Ron is one of the featured photographer’s in Photography for a Change’s incredible online show. As a quick recap for those of you who haven’t already heard, Photography for a Change, provides exquisite photographs of our natural environs.  This show features four photographers who have generously donated their images and prints to support Turtle Island Restoration Network.

As a field biologist in the marshes and offshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Ron Wooten started taking photos in the field to show his family the beauty he was seeing so that they could share in his adventures.  He later felt a calling to share these images with others, especially in seeing the degradation human activities were causing in the marine and estuarine environments, even in deep offshore waters and the most remote locations.  Ron also started writing for a local magazine serving the Upper Texas Coast, has had his work in a gallery in Galveston, Texas.  He received national recognition for aerial images of dolphins swimming through oil during the BP oil spill, and has received awards for his photos and writing from the Texas Outdoor Writers Association .  Ron’s photos of offshore platform removals have been featured on the National Geographic TV website and the cover of the National Geographic DVD, “Diver Down.”

“I’ve learned that through the lens I’m able to give a voice to the voiceless, and will continue to do everything I can to help shed light on the plight of coastal creatures and their habitats as they continually face the onslaught of human activities.”

Ron’s worked as a Fishery Biologist, a high school teacher, he’s owned his own landscape and irrigation company, and currently works as a Natural Resource Specialist with a governmental agency.  With a Bachelors in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from Texas A&M University and a Masters in Marine Resources Management from Texas A&M University at Galveston, Ron continues to share adventures with his wife Trisha and their two grown daughters, Allison and Emily from their home in Jamaica Beach, Texas.