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About

As early as I can remember, I have been driven to observe and explore.    

I am a geologist by training, yet my career has meandered from curating a meteorite collection at the Smithsonian to my current role as a science communicator at Rice University. My career path is an outgrowth of a child’s passion for collecting minerals, a quest that began with my Uncle’s life-long pursuit of mining Herkimer quartz ‘diamonds’. I remember every time one of those sparkling gems first came to light under his patient hands.

Today, I share my love for our planetary home by making geoscience research accessible to a variety of curious audiences. I am fortunate that exploration is an integral part of my job; photography, as a means of sharing ideas and explorations, is the primary language I employ for communicating the unique places and events that I experience.

Photography not only provides a foundation for communicating my observations, it allows me to blend science and art.

I take pictures to not only record what I’m seeing, but to also convey an appreciation for the science behind the camera. I love experimenting with settings, techniques and post-processing that not only enhance the true character of the subject, but achieve a compelling work of art that I hope will inspire the viewer.

The images herein capture what I see of the world around me, from the microcosm of my backyard to the most inhospitable continent on Earth, and then on to worlds beyond only observable at night. Each collection in this body of work may include context which I hope conveys the magic of the natural world I have tried to capture. 

May my images help you better understand our world and inspire you to explore and see the world in your own way.

 

Linda Welzenbach (lwf2@rice.edu) is a geologist, curator, and science communicator in Houston, Texas.