Thomas P. Peschak is an assignment photographer for National Geographic Magazine and a National Geographic Explorer. He has shot eight feature stories for National Geographic Magazine (Manta Rays, Pipeline through Paradise, Seas of Arabia, Tale of Two Atolls, Currents of Plenty, Return of the Seychelles, Galapagos: Life in the Balance and Stewards of the Sea). He is currently in the field on some of the word’s most remote islands photographing his 9th and 10^th NGM stories.

Originally trained as a marine biologist specializing in human–wildlife conflict, he became a wildlife photojournalist after realizing that he could have a greater conservation impact through photographs than statistics. His work now focuses on documenting some of the most critical marine and island conservation stories of our time.

He is a Founding/Associate director of the Manta Trust, the former Director of Conservation for the Save our Seas Foundation and a Senior Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers.

Thomas has written and photographed seven books and is a multiple winner in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year and World Press Photo Awards. He is a speaker for the National Geographic Live! Series and in 2015, gave his TED talk, Dive into an ocean photographer’s world.

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Thomas lives in the mountains outside of Cape Town, South Africa but spends most of the year in the field on assignments.