Mariah Lundgren has been a professional conservation photographer and filmmaker for nearly a decade, focusing on stories in the Great Plains and the American West. She loves giving voice to the voiceless and working with scientists to tell stories that will help people better understand our natural world. She has a passion for grasslands and underappreciated ecosystems and species.

She is the project manager & producer for Platte Basin Timelapse–a conservation storytelling project using timelapse photography and multimedia to explore watersheds, and co-founded by iLCP Senior Fellow Michael Forsberg. In 2017, she co-produced a PBS national documentary, “Follow the Water”. Today, her award-winning short films have been featured on local PBS stations and in film festivals throughout North America.

Mariah is a graduate of the University of Nebraska’s School of Natural Resources, on faculty with Summit Workshops, and an Associate Fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers. In 2021, she co-created a class at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, “NRES 260: Introduction to Conservation Photography”. She is a drone pilot and has had her Part 107 pilot’s license since 2018.

Nebraska-born and raised, she now calls Colorado home and spends her free time snowboarding, prairie running, and backyard farming with her husband, two cats, and six chickens.

NOTABLES & UPDATES
2024 Faculty Instructor, Summit Nature and Conservation - Jackson, WY
2024 Contributing photographer for the book, “The Nebraska Sandhills”
2023 Accepted into the iLCP as an Associate Fellow
2023 Faculty Instructor, Summit Nature and Conservation - Jackson, WY
2023 Cover image and ten-page spread for “Wetlands of Nebraska” May 2023 NEBRASKAland magazine
2023 Contributing photographer for Sierra Magazine, “How To Think Like a Watershed” and “What About Bob?”
2023 Contributing Artist, Group Exhibition, UNK Walker Art Gallery - Kearney, NE
2022 Junior Instructor, Summit Nature and Conservation - Jackson, WY
2020 Awarded membership to the Her Wild Vision directory
2019 Workshop Grantee, Summit Nature and Conservation - Jackson, WY
2019 Contributing Artist, Group Exhibition, A River Runs Through It - Museum of Nebraska Art - Kearney, NE
2019 Contributing Editor and Advisor, Cherish Nebraska - University of Nebraska State Museum - Lincoln, NE
2018 Workshop Presenter, Montana Watershed Coordination Council Symposium - Whitefish, MT

One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast....a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. ― Edward Abbey