The professor and photographer, whose colorful images of the seasonal ponds—and the aquatic life that inhabit them—have earned him 2023 Wildlife Photographer of the Year honors and graced the cover of Nature Conservancy Magazine, has been named an associate fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP).��

was one of 16 accomplished photographers and filmmakers selected to join the iLCP’s associate fellow program for 2025, the nonprofit recently announced in a release.��“Each of them brings exceptional skill in visual storytelling, a deep engagement with conservation initiatives and a strong dedication to advancing environmental awareness through their work,” the .��

Established in 2005, iLCP supports environmental and cultural conservation through ethical photography and filmmaking. Its fellows are a group of professional wildlife, nature, and cultural visual storytellers who, “in addition to displaying remarkable photographic and filmmaking skills, have each demonstrated a deep commitment to conservation efforts around the globe,” according to its . These 120+ fellows, based in 26 countries and working in 190 countries, “shine a light on issues ranging from endangered flora and fauna to climate change to ocean health.”

For Johnson, conservation photography allows him to share the same sense of wonder he feels when encountering other creatures in the natural world. “Millions of animal and plant species coexist on Earth, but very few of these species enter our consciousness; that invisibility is a big problem when it comes to conservation,” he said. “Even in the midst of an extinction crisis, most of our news and political discourse is very human-centered. Using visual communication to advocate for the natural world is a way to challenge that narrative and look for ways to share the planet with the ‘more-than-human’ world.”

The EMU professor had been an affiliate for iLCP for a number of years where he served as a technical consultant and also connected EMU students to its photographers and staff. As a fellow, he will attend the organization’s signature event, , in mid-November, which brings together conservation photographers, filmmakers, scientists, advocates, and communicators from around the globe as they share powerful stories and solutions for a sustainable future.

“It’s definitely affirming to be a part of a fellowship of passionate and committed peers in the conservation photography world,” Johnson said.

Michael Horst, dean of Behavioral, Health and Natural Sciences at EMU, said Johnson’s work brings viewers face to face with the miraculous elements of the natural world that might otherwise be overlooked, creating an emotional connection that heightens the importance of protecting and conserving it.

“At EMU, we know the importance of deeply cultivating sustainable practices,” Horst said. “For those who need encouragement, Steve’s work can make a big difference.”

About the professor

Johnson came to EMU in 2005 and started one of the few full-semester conservation photography courses offered to undergraduates in the U.S.

He holds an MFA from Savannah College of Art and Design and serves on the advisory board of the Virginia Wildlife Committee and Girls Who Click. At ���ѱ�’s VACA department, he teaches digital media classes and a specialized course on conservation photography. When he’s not in his office, he can often be found crouched next to a vernal pool or kayaking the North Fork of the Shenandoah River.

His images of the natural world have appeared in Wildlife Photographer of the Year, National Wildlife Magazine, Nature Conservancy Magazine, Ranger Rick, Virginia Wildlife, bioGraphic, Orion, National Science Teaching Association Press books, and numerous conservation publications and journals. His long-term project exploring vernal pools was highlighted by the Southern Environmental Law Center in “The wonder of wetlands and 5 Southerners working to protect them” ().

Johnson said one of his favorite things about teaching is that EMU and VACA allow for so much innovative, interdisciplinary practice. For example, in his conservation photography class, he teaches a mix of photography, digital media, and science students. 

“In some places, the sciences and arts barely mix,” he said. “Here, I can talk to science students about making compelling images and teach visual arts students about vernal pools.”

Johnson will teach the class in conservation photography again during the fall 2026 semester.

View more of his photography at .

Heim’s work focuses on the ways human-influenced environmental change impacts wildlife. Her series of photographs capturing the struggle between two rival owl species earned her last fall. She was named a this year.

She will present at a Suter Science Seminar on Friday from 10:15-11:15 a.m. in Suter Science Center 106. Her presentation, “Wild Heart: Bringing Empathy and Grace to Environmental Storytelling,” will teach audience members how to tap into their curiosity and creative processes and unlock new ways of seeing the world.

Later that day, at 4 p.m., Heim will host an opening reception for an exhibition featuring her photography at the Margaret Martin Gehman Gallery. The exhibition will run through Friday, Oct. 4.

Both events are free to attend and open to the public. Please see the campus map for parking information.

Heim used infrared techniques to photograph at night and limit disturbing the nocturnal owls. Her evocative images capture the last-ditch efforts being made by conservationists to try to save the northern spotted owl from extinction. One of those efforts includes the , which are outcompeting the spotted owl for habitat and resources. 

“This story poses a question with no easy answer: When is it acceptable to kill one wild species to try to save another?” Heim asks in her portfolio, “An Owl for an Owl.”

This won’t be the first time that students in ���ѱ�’s Visual And Communication Arts (VACA) program have seen Heim’s photography.

VACA Professor Steven Johnson has known Heim for nearly a decade and frequently showcases her work as an example of powerful environmental storytelling.

“Morgan’s photography is authentic, compassionate and engaging,” Johnson said. “She’s really at the top of her game, and her work aligns perfectly with ���ѱ�’s commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainability.”

Heim, who lives in Astoria, Oregon, is the founder of , a storytelling and strategy platform for conservation. In 2020, she co-launched , which is aimed at raising the voices of diverse women in the craft of conservation visual storytelling. She is a Senior Fellow with the , and her work has appeared in National Geographic, Audubon, Smithsonian and The New York Times. She has been recognized in Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Siena International Photo Awards and the Big Picture Natural World Photo Competitions.

In early October, the conservation photographer traveled to London for an awards ceremony honoring him among The annual competition, hosted by the Natural History Museum, selected his photo “Pool of Wonder” and 99 others for inclusion in the exhibition. A jury of nature photography experts picked the 100 winning images out of 49,957 entries from photographers in 95 countries.

That means Johnson’s photo was part of only 0.2 percent of submissions to receive the coveted award. It’s not hard to see why the contest has been described as “one of the most prestigious in world photography” ().

Johnson networked with skilled photographers from around the world, including some up-and-coming talents in the youth category, at the ceremony. He and his wife, Anna Maria, explored the museum and admired the other winning photos.

When he returned home from the trip, he searched online to see which news outlets had covered the event. It was then he saw that among their 13 favorites from the competition. 

‘Something a little special’

“Pool of Wonder” captures a cluster of spotted salamander eggs nestled on a bed of sphagnum moss just under the surface of a vernal pool in Augusta County, Virginia. 

Vernal pools are temporary bodies of water that form from seasonal rains and snowmelt, Johnson writes on his . In late winter and early spring, the pools host breeding events for amphibians and macroinvertebrates. The pools are ideal nurseries for salamanders because they’re safe from predators such as fish.

“As a conservation photographer, I’m drawn to the intricate dance of underwater life in Appalachian Mountain forests and nearby lowlands,” he states on his website.

Johnson, professor and program director for the visual and communication arts (VaCA) department, created the photo in March 2020 during a sabbatical. Taking good pictures of vernal pools requires being there at the right time and a lot of searching, he said. The vernal pool featured in “Pool of Wonder” is on land owned by a friend who serves with him on the Virginia Wilderness Committee.

Johnson used a camera rig capable of being submerged underwater to capture the split between the sparse brush seen above the surface and the lush vegetation below. 

“The light was beautiful, and it’s really just a few inches of water, so I’m just kind of crouched by the side slowly lowering my camera in to try to not disturb the sediment around it,” he said, recalling the moment he took the photo. 

“Pool of Wonder” graced the cover of the summer 2021 issue of Nature Conservancy magazine. Johnson has previously likened the sunlight filtering through the eggs in the picture, and the delicate shades of blue and green, to “an aquatic Vermeer painting” (EMU News). 

He entered the wildlife photography contest for his first time this year after some encouragement from friends in the field.

“This one always felt like it had something a little special to it,” he said. “I think the sort of symmetry, the color, it all felt like something had come together in that image.”

Johnson, who authored an with featured essays by vernal pools expert Michael Hayslett, said part of his mission as a conservation photographer is to highlight the threat that development and climate change pose to the underwater worlds.

Less predictable spring rains are causing pools to dry up before the young salamanders can fully develop and live on land. 

“[Hayslett] has told me that living here for decades, there used to be one big night where you could predict all the spotted salamanders would come out and migrate, and now that’s become very fragmented to much smaller events,” he said. 

Where art meets science 

When he’s not crouching by the side of a vernal pool in his waders, Johnson is teaching the next generation of photographers and visual artists.

In addition to conservation photography, his courses include advanced Photoshop, web design and social media. Johnson said the VaCA program teaches students about different forms of storytelling, from web and video production to animation and photography, and even painted murals.

“Students really get that full scope,” he said. “I think that is what makes them so marketable. They know how to do a whole bunch of things and do them well.”

’19 is putting the skills he learned from those classes to good use as media producer at Gravity Group, a Harrisonburg-based brand and marketing consultancy. He said the class in conservation photography instilled in him a love for nature photography. It not only taught him technical skills, but also how to be more intentional with the stories he tells.

Swartzendruber described “Pool of Wonder” as visually stunning.

“It truly brings me to an entirely different world just looking at it,” he said.

“He’s doing something that I’ve genuinely never seen before with the knowledge he has.”

Johnson is now in his 19th year at EMU. He said one unique strength for the VaCA program is the wealth of places to photograph nature near campus, such as the 1.6 million acre . The cameras they use in their courses, even at the introductory level, are the same ones he uses professionally, he added.

He welcomes students approaching his visual and communication arts classes from a background in environmental science and biology.

“If they love the world of nature, the environment and also want to communicate about that, we have two dedicated courses right now they can develop those skills and find faculty who are passionate about that intersection,” Johnson said.

One new class he’ll be co-teaching in the spring with Professor Steve Cessna is Communication and the Environment. The class will teach students how scientists and advocacy nonprofits communicate about science and the environment, what kinds of strategies they use and will give students a chance to try it themselves.

Professor Tara Kishbaugh, dean of ���ѱ�’s School of Sciences, Engineering, Arts and Nursing, said Johnson exemplifies the value of a liberal arts education in reflecting the importance of communication skills and multidisciplinary work.

“Steven’s focus on communication of conservation needs aligns well with our science programs, particularly those in environmental science, and is one of many reasons why I am happy to have the arts within my school,” Kishbaugh said. “EMU students, both within and outside the arts programs, can benefit from Steven’s expertise and his thoughtful way of living out his values in his teaching and his art.”

Johnson devoted his most recent sabbatical to advance his multi-year project of photographing the ephemeral ecosystems of vernal pools, and the salamanders, copepods, and other critters that inhabit them. His work has already been featured in for the North American Nature Photography Association, the new published by the Department of Wildlife Resources, , and

The Nature Conservancy magazine is the print and online publication published by the world’s leading conservation organization. It seeks to celebrate nature and document conservation efforts around the world, and boasts a print circulation of 600,000 and a website with over 1.2 million page views per month, on average.

PetaPixel, which has been sponsored by such big names in the photography world as Canon, Zeiss, and Adobe, garners 7 million page views and 4.3 million unique visitors per month.

Professor Steven Johnson is pushing the frontier of conservation photography – by entering “toad time.” He explains: a toad could sit on a rock for six or seven hours, seemingly doing nothing the entire time. If you blink for a split second, you might miss its tongue darting out, snagging a wayward fly before going still again.

That level of patience and focus is how Johnson photographs the fantastical, intricate world of vernal pools. Johnson, who teaches photography at ��ݮ����, devoted his recent sabbatical to advance his multi-year project – inventing new ways of using equipment to immortalize ethereal salamander egg masses and alienesque macroinvertebrates.

“When sunlight filters through Spotted Salamander eggs, it illuminates them in delicate shades of blue and green like an aquatic Vermeer painting,” Johnson says.

Vernal pools are unique ecosystems that fill up with rainwater or snowmelt in the spring. They dry up and disappear at some point in the year, which prevents fish from inhabiting them. That allows for other species to flourish, such as salamanders that use the pools as a breeding ground, and tiny critters like copepods and fairy shrimp.

Johnson mostly finds the pools in Rockingham and Augusta counties, either by word of mouth or exploration. He’s taken a few trips farther afield, including one out to the Virginia coast to track down the rare Mabee’s salamander.

Currently, Johnson is putting together an e-book for the North American Nature Photography Association on techniques people can use to document vernal pools in their own “neck of the woods.” In the last year, he’s also contributed to the new published by the Department of Wildlife Resources, written about his work for , been the featured guest on ” and had his photos featured in articles about the and .

One project Johnson is especially excited about is a collaboration with friend Alex Wiles: a highlight video of footage from this year’s “pool season” titled Ephemeral, available for viewing .

Johnson says “the Ephemeral video depicts the intricate world of biodiversity that exists just below the surface of the vernal pools that form in our forests.”

Besides the unique biodiversity of these elusive aquatic environs, Johnson is drawn to the technical challenge of capturing these images. This requires freshwater ultra macro photography – immersing equipment underwater that greatly magnifies the subject. It’s challenging, and Johnson is a pioneer of the field, which is why his work looks unlike most any other nature photographs you’ve seen before. He’s done extensive research to this end to set up his own underwater rigs, and corresponded with companies to see just how far he can push the limits of their equipment.

“Imagine trying to get a sharp photograph of a single tiny bird in a fast-moving flock during twilight,” Johnson says. “That’s similar to the kind of challenge I have when photographing a miniscule copepod swimming through a vernal pool. It takes a lot of experimentation and patience to get it right.” 

The life of vernal pools is cyclical – filling, harboring life, and then disappearing each year. Rather than becoming repetitive, though, Johnson said this ongoing work is more like a “spiral,” as he goes deeper and documents new creatures, behaviors, and moments each year.

“Each year, the life cycle of vernal pool creatures repeats, but I also observe and learn more each year, so it’s kind of an upwards spiral of learning,” says Johnson.

What will a post-pandemic world look like? How is COVID-19 affecting each of us differently, and what are our responsibilities to one another in the face of those disparities? What do we know about the biology of the virus? And are there things that are changing for the better because of this crisis?

A free seven-week online course offered at ��ݮ���� this summer will delve into those questions and more. Community members are welcome. Students can opt for a pass/fail grade and will have online access to readings, videos, and other materials before each class. 

The course meets each Tuesday evening, beginning June 30, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. for seven weeks, with a different pair or trio of faculty and staff from different academic fields leading each class.

The lectures and Q and A will be recorded and available for viewing later.

The course is co-led by language and literature professor Kevin Seidel and chemistry professor Laurie Yoder.

“What pulled me in at first was the possibility of teaching with faculty from all three schools – sciences, social sciences, and humanities – talking together and learning from one another about the virus,” Seidel said. When the pandemic hit, he started fervently gathering information and perspective: from scientists, from fictive literature, and from poetry, trying to make sense of “this strange new world.” 

Week 1 | June 30, Tuesday, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Treating COVID-19

What do we know about the biology of COVID-19? What’s next in vaccine development? What public health measures are working to slow the spread of COVID-19?

Kristopher Schmidt, Associate Professor of Biology

Kate Clark, Assistant Professor of Nursing

Week 2 | July 7, Tuesday, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Pandemic History and Data

What can we learn from past pandemics about life after this one? What can we learn from visual presentations of data about the pandemic? 

Mary Sprunger, Professor of History

Daniel Showalter, Associate Professor of Mathematics

Week 3 | July 14, Tuesday, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Politics and Collective Trauma

Why has the U.S. response to COVID-19 been so contentious and uneven? What is collective trauma and what might it have to do with that response?

Mark Metzler Sawin, Professor of History

Ryan Thompson, Assistant Professor of Psychology

Trina Trotter Nussbaum, Associate Director, Center for Interfaith Engagement

Week 4 | July 21, Tuesday, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Zoonotic Viruses, Wet Markets, and the Economics of COVID-19

Where do coronaviruses come from? What are the links between environmental degradation and pandemics? What does COVID-19 have to teach us about how our economy is connected to the natural world? What are the economic impacts from a pandemic?

Jim Yoder, Professor of Biology

Jim Leaman, Associate Professor of Business and Leadership

Week 5 | July 28, Tuesday, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Our Life with Animals, Our Life with God

Why are so many people taking refuge in nature during the pandemic? Why is that refuge harder to come by for some people? What do the scriptures say about how our life with God is related to our life with animals? 

Steven Johnson, Professor of Visual and Communication Arts 

Andrea Saner, Associate Professor of Old Testament

Week 6 | August 4, Tuesday, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Systemic Racism in the U.S. before and after COVID-19

Why has COVID-19 hit African-Americans harder than other groups? Why does rural Navajo Nation have the highest infection rates in the country?

Jenni Holsinger, Associate Professor of Sociology 

Matt Tibbles, Teaching Fellow, Applied Social Sciences

Jim Yoder, Professor of Biology

Week 7 | August 11, Tuesday, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Resilience, Repair, and Transformation after COVID-19

How do we carry forward what we’ve learned about COVID-19, trauma, and restorative justice? 

Johonna Turner, Assistant Professor of Restorative Justice and Peacebuilding

Katie Mansfield, Lead Trainer, Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR)

A typical day for freelance art director Rachel Wyse ’10 starts with a subway ride to the office in Lower Manhattan, New York City. After grabbing breakfast from the c����é and checking e-mails, she jumps into the daily blend of meetings and design projects.

Wyse works in , one of nearly 13,000 employees contributing to the social media world of 1.5 billion users worldwide. With its innovative collaborative atmosphere that shuns offices and encourages co-workers to bond over ping-pong, lattes and impromptu music sessions, Facebook is widely known as one of to work for in the tech industry.

Wyse’s new job is a result of an education, she says, from Hesston College to ��ݮ���� and then graduate school at Virginia Commonwealth University’s prestigious BrandCenter that nurtured creative talents and encouraged her to learn, experiment and most importantly, fail. A series of different jobs as she discerned her career path helped her hone in on what kind of work she preferred, and the atmosphere in which she would thrive.

Creativity nurtured by family

Raised in Indiana by parents who made tandem bikes and wall-hangings, Wyse discovered her creative side early. “The idea that I could create or design or build something unique stuck with me, and art classes seemed to be the place where I could experiment with that the most,” said Wyse.

Like many first-year students, Wyse had no set career path when she enrolled at Hesston. She knew only that her future job would engage her creatively in some way. At EMU, as a , she learned photography, Photoshop, videography and animation —all skills she has used since and in her current position.

After graduation, Wyse spent a few years in various jobs, including as an admissions counselor at Hesston College. She then married and moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, where she worked in a gift shop and did small freelancing jobs for a local magazine and a custom stationery artist. Eventually she became a full-time graphic designer for a company that made online business simulations. Wyse created promotional pamphlets, mailers and printed pieces.

“Those years were pivotal for me, as I was figuring out what I liked and didn’t like in my work,” said Wyse. “Even after graduating and having a few jobs in graphic design, I struggled with what my path would be. Eventually I realized I wanted to work on larger scale projects that had a lot of brains behind them.”

Thinking anew

Her career path became more focused when she was accepted to VCU’s Brandcenter.

Wyse says it’s nearly impossible to be completely prepared for the rigorous program, in which students are challenged to think in a completely different way. “The program is designed to break down and rebuild the way you think and problem solve, so you get really used to failing and messing up,” said Wyse. She added that the constructive feedback she received was what educated her most.

At the BrandCenter, she created , including Benihana, Rubik’s Cube and MegaMillions. The campaigns, created in collaboration with other students, are often quirky and funny and run the gamut of media, including print ads, social media engagement, interactive videos, t-shirts and other consumer items.

It was shortly after graduating that she began working with Facebook.

Department chair says he wasn’t surprised to learn of Wyse’s success. “As a student, Rachel exemplified the kind of cross-disciplinary thinking we encourage in the at EMU. In conversation with her other coursework, her media images displayed not only technical accomplishment but psychological depth. It’s not surprising that her integrative skills have been recognized in grad school and beyond.”

‘Push the boundaries of knowledge’

Wyse says undergraduates, whether VaCA majors or in some other program, should push the boundaries of knowledge and do so without fear of failure.

“Don’t be afraid to fail, make mistakes, and try new things,” she says. “If you’re really strong in photography, take a painting class. If you’re feeling risky, take a business class.”

She explains that looking into other branches of art, or even entirely different fields of study, expands creativity and puts students outside their comfort zones. “That’s the beauty of a liberal arts school,” she says. “You have so many opportunities to try different things: take advantage of it.”

As for finding your life’s work, her best advice is to be patient and follow your instincts.

“Finding a good-fitting job is such a personal thing,” she says. “I think the best piece of advice, as cheesy as it sounds, is be true to yourself. As you meet with people and talk about your work or experiences, you’ll know when an opportunity feels right. If it doesn’t feel interesting or there aren’t good vibes, don’t pursue it.”

That’s why ���ѱ�’s Intellectual Life Committee selected , by Emmi Itäranta, as the selection for 2016-2017. Students, faculty and others are encouraged to engage with the text throughout the year.

“Water is a versatile theme,” says chemistry professor , who heads the 12-member committee of faculty, administrators, staff and students. “A number of ���ѱ�’s work on water quality-related projects. Some of with folks from the social sciences and the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding.

“Regionally, the issues of the impairment of the Chesapeake Bay watershed as well as proposed and implemented natural gas extraction are relevant to our community. The Flint (Michigan) water crisis and drought in California have been prominent in news cycles. Potable water is a valuable commodity, and one that’s likely to continue to cause conflict.”

Itäranta’s work is fiction, imagining a future world of rising seas, widespread drought and military control of the remaining freshwater supplies. The debut novel, which she wrote simultaneously in English and her native Finnish, was published in 2012 and won the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize for young authors and the Young Alexis Kivi Prize the following year.

It has received praise in the United States, as well. Nancy Hightower of Washington Post Book World said, “Itäranta’s lyrical style makes this dystopian tale a beautiful exploration of environmental ethics and the power of ritual,” while Publishers Weekly deemed it “a deceptively tranquil examination of a world of dust and ashes where the tenacious weed of hope still survives.”

This is the first true fiction novel in the Common Read  series, now in its fourth year. Previous selections have included : The Quest for Home and the African Diaspora, a memoir about race by Emily Raboteau; : What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, by Nicholas Carr, a non-fiction work; and a first-person fictionalized memoir, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie.

“People often ask what criteria are used for picking the book,” Kishbaugh says. “While many books would be good choices, we consider book length, approachability for a variety of persons, and fit with ���ѱ�’s goals, mission and current ethos. This year we chose a theme and style (fiction) before developing the short list.”

The book was given to all first-year students and used as a prompt in writing courses. Some other courses at both the Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, campuses will include the reading in their syllabi.

Kishbaugh says that common reading provides another “connector” for people at EMU and a different angle for having conversations.

“Specifically, I think this book is a good catalyst for talking about the way that people view secrets and act on that knowledge or implied knowledge,” she says. “It also provides a catalyst for talking about climate instability and envisioning a potential future if we don’t make systematic changes to our resource consumption. It is in some ways a coming-of-age story.”

Itäranta will visit the Harrisonburg campus to speak April 2017. Other related events include a faculty-staff luncheon in September with opportunities to respond to the text; sharing from Professor at the Nov. 2 “TGIW” discussion event; and two Suter Science Seminars with Professor on Sept. 14 about stream restoration work in Bergton, Virginia, and Dr. Yanna Lambrinidou on the Flint water crisis Sept. 28.

“My students and I were very involved in the public awareness campaign about the Cow Knob Salamander,” said photography professor , who chairs the Department of Visual and Communication Arts at EMU. “This campaign was spearheaded by a constellation of dedicated conservation nonprofits and advocacy groups in the region.”

Partners who worked most closely with Johnson’s classes included , , and the .

The salamander photos emerged from a class in conservation photography launched by Johnson several years ago. He sought to encourage students to “think about broader ecosystems, the environment, human culture and how they relate to the natural world, as well as about helping to protect nature.”

Johnson’s own has also received attention. [To see more photos and learn more about Johnson, visit his .]

Proposed pipeline to cross wild regions

In the fall of 2014 and 2015, Johnson’s class took photos of the George Washington National Forest and nearby areas. The images were utilized to support a half-dozen citizens’ groups opposed to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a proposal backed by four large utility companies. In a new pipeline more than 500 miles long, the natural gas would traverse the George Washington National Forest and Monongahela National Forest, in addition to other public and private properties in mostly rural areas of Virginia and West Virginia.

“The proposed pipeline will cross the central Allegheny Highlands, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the adjacent valleys. It will cut through 30 miles of national forest and cross numerous rivers, streams, and wetlands,” says the of Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition, for which senior Jonathan Bush did aerial photographic surveying. “This area represents the heart of the remaining wild landscape in the eastern United States, and it is a major biodiversity refugium that can only increase in rarity and importance.”

By the coalition’s description, “the proposed pipeline will be 42 inches in diameter, requiring excavation of an 8- to 12-foot-deep trench and the bulldozing of a 125-foot-wide construction corridor straight up and down multiple steep-sided forested mountains.

“It will require construction of heavy-duty transport roads and staging areas for large earth-moving equipment and pipeline assembly. It will require blasting through bedrock, and excavation through streams and wetlands. It will require construction across unstable and hydrologically sensitive karst terrain.

“Pipeline construction on this scale, across this type of steep, well-watered, forested mountain landscape, is unprecedented,” concludes the coalition on its website.

Photographing wildlife and landscapes

Johnson and his students did not limit themselves to documenting the rare Cow Knob Salamanders, which live in the path of the proposed pipeline on and near Shenandoah Mountain. They also photographed pristine streams, verdant farmland, and breathtaking views that would be lost with pipeline construction and maintenance.

Their salamander photos, however, were the ones that seemed to have the most impact, given that they were published widely by the news media and on civic action websites across Virginia. The potential negative impact on these salamanders and the Cheat Mountain Salamanders, plus on West Virginia northern flying squirrels and ecosystem restoration areas, was cited in the Jan. 19 letter from U.S. Forest Service administrators to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC.

The commission is deliberating whether to approve proposals to construct several pipelines for moving Marcellus shale gas from western West Virginia to Virginia and the southeast. These pipelines would be the largest ever built in this region, and all routes proposed thus far would impinge on national forest land.

The Forest Service letter referred to natural resources of “irreplaceable character” on Shenandoah Mountain, Cheat Mountain and Back Allegheny Mountain that would need to be circumvented by any pipelines.

Students contributed to publicity efforts

“I’m very proud of the student involvement in this work – surveying, hiking, mapmaking, land and aerial photographing, and writing,” said Johnson. “It’s impossible to know exactly how much the public campaign played in the final Forest Service decision, but I have to believe the amount of publicity surrounding this little amphibian helped provide political support for this move.”

Lynn Cameron, vice president of the Virginia Wilderness Committee and past president of the Virginia Wilderness Committee, has been with the latter group since it began 10 years ago. Cameron calls the partnership between her group and Johnson’s class “mutually beneficial.” Johnson serves with Cameron on the board of the Virginia Wilderness Committee.

“Being able to show the beauty and biodiversity of the area, along with its water and recreational resources, through the images provided by ���ѱ�’s students really helps our efforts,” she says.

The George Washington-Jefferson National Forest receives more than 2 million visits annually, most often for hiking, fishing and picnicking, by Forest Service estimates. Access to this forest is as close as 10 miles (20 minutes by car) west of ���ѱ�’s campus.

All nine students in the fall 2014 Conservation Photography took class field trips that involved photographing landscapes and biodiversity along the proposed pipeline route: Jonathan Bush, Malika Davis, Londen Wheeler, Emma King, Ryan Keiner, Chris Lehman, Meghan Good, Amber Davis and Jonathan Drescher-Lehman. These students also divided into three small groups, two of which worked specifically on the pipeline (their images can be seen here: ).

Cameron recalls that Wheeler was the first to see and photograph the Cow Knob Salamander. Then Bush, Davis and King returned to the area and found some of these salamanders on their own. “I was with them and remember being amazed that they could actually find rare salamanders on a field trip in mid-October, which is at the end of their active season,” said Cameron. “Normally, these salamanders can be found on warm, damp nights. The students found them at mid-day during a dry spell. It was just unbelievable.”

Collectively, the students emerged with some remarkable images which have been used in by and the , among others.

In the fall 2015 Conservation Photo class, four students focused on the pipeline project, but their photos centered on farmland and private property: Curtis Handy, Rachel Schrock, Azariah Cox, and Macson McGuigan. McGuigan also worked on a with his GIS class to make maps related to threatened species in the pipeline route area.

takes photographs — then puts them to work.

Johnson practices conservation photography, creating images with an aim of affecting environmental change.

“It’s combining, or marrying, nature photography with environmental advocacy,” said Johnson, 42, of Broadway in the Shenandoah Valley.

Johnson has provided pictures for people trying to save rare salami-sized salamanders, called hellbenders, to people trying to gain extra protections for parts of mountainous western Virginia, and to people opposing a natural gas pipeline that would run through National Forest land in Augusta County.

And, oh, what pictures (view his ). In underwater closeups, salamander eggs look like planets wrapped in gauzy halos. A tree’s roots look like octopus tentacles. Amorous newts look as if their cold blood runs hot. A Shenandoah River beaver looks as if it has slicked back its hair for a date. It just goes on.

“I can say, without question, that Steve is one of the emerging talents in nature and conservation photography,” said Clay Bolt, a Bozeman, Mo., conservation photographer and president-elect of the North American Nature Photography Association. He has known Johnson for several years.

“Conservation photography” is a relatively new term in environmentalism, but the practice goes back decades. Think of Ansel Adams, who photographed the American West while fighting for wilderness protection during a 60-year career in the 20th century.

“However, a photo of a wild place alone – as beautiful as it may be – without any action is simply a beautiful photo of a beautiful place,” Bolt said.

Johnson said a conservation photographer has to have “a mission to preserve the natural world.”

Johnson teaches what he preaches. At ��ݮ���� in Harrisonburg, where he is an associate professor of , Johnson founded a one-semester course in conservation photography in 2013.

Johnson grew up in rural Houghton, N.Y. Probably like a lot of conservation photographers, he said, he developed a love of the outdoors as a child.

“For me, it was wandering out in the hills and streams of western New York. I also fell in love with photography. … So this seemed like a natural way of giving back to places that nurture me, which are wilderness, the outdoors, the streams and rivers of the Northeast and now Virginia.”

Johnson and his wife, Anna Maria, chose their Rockingham County home largely because it’s near the North Fork of the Shenandoah River, a frequent photography subject. The couple has two daughters, Eliza, 14, and Magdalena, 12.

Johnson, who holds a master’s degree in fine arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design, is chair of Eastern Mennonite’s Visual and Communication Arts and Theater Department.

Johnson and his family are Mennonites, a Christian faith that espouses nonviolence, service to others and care for God’s creation. Although it has many non-Mennonite students, Eastern Mennonite teaches from a Mennonite perspective.

“I operate from a tradition that sees stewardship of the Earth and its resources as important,” Johnson said.

The term “creation” is often used by people, called creationists, who reject evolution. Johnson made clear that he accepts that long-established tenet of science.

“The relationship between evolution and biodiversity is one of the things I find most fascinating about the natural world, and collaborating with biologists is one of my favorite conservation photo activities.”

Lynn Cameron, a Rockingham environmentalist and co-chair of a group working to get extra protections for a Shenandoah Mountain tract in western Virginia, said photos by Johnson and his students have helped the cause.

“His pictures are just so compelling, and they really help people appreciate the beauty, and especially the biodiversity, of Shenandoah Mountain,” Cameron said.

Chris Bolgiano, a Rockingham nature writer, is president of the Virginia Wilderness Committee, a conservation group. Johnson is a board member and has provided photos to the group.

Whether Johnson is photographing rare salamanders or national forest land that might be affected by the proposed Atlantic Coast pipeline in Augusta, Bolgiano said, “He has a bigger vision than just a pretty nature photo.”

Jim Norvelle, a spokesman for Dominion Transmission Inc., which is leading the pipeline effort, said he didn’t know Johnson and declined to comment on his work. But Norvelle said the pipeline, if approved, would be buried and “practically invisible.”

“The objective is to find the best route with the least impact on the environment, historical and cultural resources,” Norvelle said.

Although Johnson is an advocate for the environment, he said he doesn’t manipulate his images beyond normal adjustments, such as cropping and controlling contrast.

“If there is a telephone wire in the middle of my picture, there is a telephone wire in the middle of my picture,” he said.

Johnson said his advocacy is reflected more by what he chooses to shoot, whether it’s a mountain landscape or a fish kill in a river.

“I don’t think it’s all about showing beauty,” Johnson said.

What it’s about is moving the public to care for the creation that’s so dear to Johnson’s work and life.

Reprinted with permission from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Sept. 19, 2015

But for ��ݮ����’s conservation photography class, there is still work to be done.

The class, taught by professor Steven Johnson, is in its second year at EMU, and partners students with area nonprofits that focus on environmental issues.

Conservation photography seeks to “think about broader ecosystems, the environment, human culture and how they relate to the natural world,” Johnson, who helped bring the class to EMU, said, “but it’s also about protection.”

The International League of Conservation Photographers helped coin the term when the group started in October 2005.

Each fall semester, the class works with an environmental nonprofit that helps orient students to the region’s natural habitats threatened by development.

Students take photos of the study area, highlighting its ecological relevance and wilderness, for the nonprofit to use for advocacy purposes and advance the cause of conservation.

For the past two semesters, the class has collaborated with the group Friends of Shenandoah Mountain, a coalition of local residents working to protect the “wild heritage of Shenandoah Mountain for future generations,” according to its website.

The main project this semester – and one of the nonprofit’s major goals – aims to shed light on Dominion Resource’s proposed 550-mile pipeline and its potential impact on the region.

“I’m very clear with my students, this is an advocacy class, not a science class,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to contribute to the objectives of these nonprofits we’re working with.”

Lynn Cameron, vice president of the Virginia Wilderness Committee and co-chair of Friends of Shenandoah Mountain, has helped facilitate the students’ field trips to areas near the mountain, such as Braley Pond and the Hankey Mountain area, which would be directly affected by the pipeline, according to the group’s website.

Last year, the class worked with several organizations, such as the Virginia Wilderness Committee, to “establish and advocate for more sections of wilderness” in the George Washington National Forest, Johnson said.

While he admitted that project was “less confrontational” than this year’s, it was difficult to work with multiple nonprofits while managing transportation and logistics. So, this year he focused solely on Friends of Shenandoah Mountain this year because the group was “really invested in our students … and gave them feedback about their imagery.”

Cameron, who’s been active with Friends of Shenandoah Mountain since it formed 10 years ago, appreciates the partnership between the advocacy group and the class, calling it “mutually beneficial.”

“It really helps our efforts to have these images … and being able to show the beauty of the area, the water resources and the recreational resources,” she said.

Students addressed one of the group’s concerns with regard to habitat endangerment when they found and photographed a cow knob salamander on one of their trips, which lives nowhere else in the world, according to Cameron. She was impressed at the engagement students had with the project.

“I was amazed at the way students were so hands-on, looking for life that was there,” she said.

Students also communicated with private landowners whose homes are located close to the proposed pipeline.

“Sometimes, landowners call us and say, `I want people to know this is land that could be taken by the pipeline, and if those images will be helpful in raising awareness and getting people fired up, then I want students to document this area,'” Johnson said.

Courtesy of the Daily News Record, Nov. 22, 2014

Past visiting artists at EMU have included New York City-based filmmaker and cinematographer Jun Oshima, documentary filmmaker Lisa Madison, Student Academy Award winner Tal Shamir, and photojournalists Susan Sterner and Tyrone Turner.

“All of these artists have an interest in culture and the way that media affects us,” said associate professor of media arts and peacebuilding , who also serves as art galleries director. “Being able to host visiting artists is rewarding both for our campus community and the wider community, but also for the artists themselves who are working on these issues of social justice.”

Thirteen pieces of art for sale were donated by EMU professors , , , and ; current student Katherine Burling; alumnus Frank Ameka; and other artists who are appreciative of ���ѱ�’s vision, including Winslow McCagg, Eric Kniss, Floyd Merrell Savage, Thomas Zummer, and Leslie Thornton.

Sterner and Turner have also donated two images from a February 2014 exhibit at EMU titled “Sonhos e Saudades.” The couple spent two years documenting issues in northeastern Brazil, including land rights, literacy, public health and women’s lives. Many of those photos are now being compiled into a book.

Turner says their donation is one way of supporting ���ѱ�’s message of initiating positive societal change.��

“When we had our opening photo exhibition last February, it was such an amazing experience and such a wonderful community that is attuned to issues of social justice,” Turner said. “Bringing working artists to interact and exchange ideas with students, and to exhibit art with important social justice themes is really important. I love that we can be part of and support that kind of work at EMU.”

Bidding began Nov. 7, at the Darrin-McHone Gallery, owned by the , at 311 South Main St. in Harrisonburg. The exhibition is part of the First Fridays Downtown event.

Photos of artwork with artist biographies is available online at

The auction culminates with a reception and final bids at the Darrin-McHone Gallery Saturday, Nov. 22, from 2-5 p.m.

“The Arts Council of the Valley is happy to collaborate with ��ݮ���� in order to provide gallery space for the artists,” said Lindsay Denny, marketing manager. “As part of its mission, the Arts Council of the Valley provides memorable arts experiences for individuals in the City of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County through our visual, literary, and performing arts programs. The partnership with ��ݮ���� affords us another opportunity to support art and artists in our community.”

The main goal of the two-year grant is to improve water quality along 17 miles of the German River and Crab Run, two tributaries of the Shenandoah River and the Chesapeake Bay. The streams drain a 38,000-acre watershed around Bergton, Virginia. About 10 percent of the land is agricultural (the land-use that contributes the most nutrient and sediment pollution to local streams), and Crab Run has been added to the federal “impaired waters” list because of high levels of E. coli bacteria.

Science professors and were the primary grant writers, and will guide teams of environmental sustainability students working on water quality monitoring and stream restoration. These will include working with landowners to adopt “best management practices,” like fencing cattle out of streams, to minimize pollution runoff, and conducting surveys of aquatic insects that indicate the relative cleanliness of a stream.

Hands-on lessons for students

Students will also have opportunity for real-world practice using GIS mapping software and get hands-on lessons in hydrology and restoration design under the supervision of Ecosystem Services, a stream restoration company that will be working in the watershed as part of the grant.

“These are very marketable skills [and] that’s a huge benefit for students,” said Yoder.

The grant will build on water monitoring work that Yoder and Graber Neufeld have been doing with students in that area for the past three years.

“It’s been a lot of fun to go out for an afternoon and a day, instead of sitting in class, and being able to actually walk the stream and use the techniques we’ve been learning about,” said Bryce Yoder (no relation to Jim), a senior environmental sustainability major.

“It’s exciting to know that this is a project that has funding, and our research will actually matter, and eventually will contribute to restoring sections of [these rivers].”

Jesse Parker, another senior environmental sustainability major, has begun doing some GIS mapping of the streams, which he called “a really good skill to have with any environmental-related job.”

“This is a really cool opportunity for current and future students,” he added.

Another distinguishing aspect of the grant will be the involvement of digital media students, who will document the stream, the community that surrounds it and efforts to improve its water quality. These will include students in professor ’s “Conservation Photography” class, and video students working on a documentary with professor .

CJP studying social dynamics

���ѱ�’s will also play a role in studying the social aspect of stream restoration, with special focus on the reasons why some landowners do and don’t take steps to protect water quality.

“There’s a cultural and relational component to small communities, [and often] there’s not a lot of attempt to understand those dynamics,” said , CJP program director and professor. “There’s also not a lot of attempt to figure out what are the complex social reasons that people might not adopt technical practices.”

Through interviews and group discussions with members of the Bergton community, CJP graduate students will study these questions, and create a guidance document based on their findings to inform watershed improvement efforts in other places.

“Hopefully we will have some outcomes that can be applied elsewhere, both from the restoration perspective and [understanding] the community dynamics,” said Graber Neufeld, who hopes that the recently awarded grant is just the beginning of a longer-term EMU involvement in Bergton. “The other thing that I would hope is that we can see some improvements in watershed health in a way that is congruent with people’s livelihoods out there.”