Cole Sartore
National Geographic Photo Ark curator, field producer, and photo editor Cole Sartore is a photographer, speaker, author, curator, and conservationist. Started by his father, Joel, the Photo Ark has become the world’s largest collection of species portraiture. Since it’s inception in 2006, the Photo Ark has documented over 16,000 species in more than 70 countries worldwide. The goal is to create a visual archive of global biodiversity, and move the public to care about extinction. The Photo Ark shares imagery of the most vulnerable animals on this planet through numerous magazine publications, books, television, public projections, and two new National Geographic books: The Photo Ark and Photo Ark Wonders. Images from the collection also were shown on 10 different covers of National Geographic Magazine in April of 2016. Sartore has served as co-editor of National Geographic YourShot, videographer, producer, and Photo Ark editor, guest curator of the Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art, and principal of the Nebraska based fine art gallery, the Lincoln Art Company. Through the work of Joel, Cole, and many others, Photo Ark images and video continue to inspire and awe viewers through incredibly intricate, elegantly composed portraits of animals throughout the world. The Photo Ark has been the subject of several national broadcasts, including 60 Minutes, National Geographic Explorer, NBC Nightly News, NPR’s Weekend Edition, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, CBS Sunday Morning, and the PBS documentary series, Rare: Portraits of the Photo Ark. Sartore graduated from the University of Nebraska with a degree in anthropology. He currently lives in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Interested in booking a speaker for an event?
Contact Us
It was our pleasure to host Cole Sartore as a featured speaker for the Tennessee Aquarium’s opening of the Photo Ark Exhibit. His delivery style was the perfect blend of humorous anecdotes mixed with the heartfelt urgency of conservation action needed to save species from extinction. Our audience hung on Cole’s presentation with rapt attention. [...] [E]veryone had the highest praise for Cole.
Thom Benson, Tennessee Aquarium
It was a pleasure to work with Cole Sartore during his visit to Thailand as a featured speaker for the National Geographic Photo Ark exhibition. From our early virtual planning to the in-person events, Cole brought professionalism, kindness, and flexibility to every aspect of the collaboration. Cole’s engaging storytelling—full of heart, insight, and humor—resonated deeply with the audience and brought the mission of the Photo Ark vividly to life.
Jacqueline Mourot, Cultural and Education Attaché, U.S. Embassy Bangkok, Thailand
With insight and humor beyond his years, Cole shared the challenges, foibles, and transcendental beauty one can only experience chasing an absurd dream, such as capturing nature’s complexity in a makeshift portrait studio populated by every type of wild thing whose only thought is to escape, inflict harm, or inconveniently bolt at the perfect time to ruin hours of painstaking preparation.
Tim Obritschkewitsch, Alaska Bird Conference