Meet the Artist
Matt Poole
Photography
Matt Poole is an ornithologist, wildlife photographer, and environmental advocate. An Oregon native, Matt grew up in the small southern Oregon town of Klamath Falls, where he developed a passion for wildlife, especially birds. At age 12, he received his first camera and spent countless hours photographing wildlife at local refuges and wild places throughout the Klamath Basin.
In 2020, at 17 years old, Matt volunteered on a Burrowing Owl conservation and research project in northeastern Oregon. The experience transformed his perspective and sparked a deep commitment to wildlife science and conservation. Since then, he has led three field seasons of the same Burrowing Owl project, worked with conservation organizations including HawkWatch International, collaborated with film crews from National Geographic, BBC Earth, and Silverback Productions, and had his photography featured in Jennifer Ackerman's bestselling book What an Owl Knows.
Matt is currently completing his degree in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences at Oregon State University. During the spring and summer, he conducts his own research on Great Gray Owls in southern Oregon and works in southeastern Arizona with HawkWatch International's Following Forest Owls research program. Through his research and photography, Matt aims to inspire inclusivity, curiosity, conservation, and appreciation for the natural world.
Materials and tools used include mirrorless and DSLR cameras; thousands of hours of fieldwork spent locating and ethically photographing wildlife; Adobe Lightroom used for minor post-processing to best portray the actual scene; printing through Whitewall, a world-renowned printing service that provides museum-quality work.