Vaughn Wallace

I am a pilot and environmental journalist based in Washington, DC.

I've worn many hats in the last decade. As Senior Photo Editor at National Geographic, I oversaw the magazine's environment + climate change coverage, including this iconic cover package about plastic pollution around the world. I also founded and hosted Overheard, NatGeo's award-winning podcast, and spent a year as the Director of the @NatGeo Instagram account. Before that, I was the Deputy Photo Editor at Al Jazeera America. I started my journalism career on staff at TIME Magazine, where I produced the LightBox photography blog, a daily showcase of projects by the world's leading photographers. I enjoy speaking to college classes about photojournalism and offer 1:1 portfolio reviews throughout the year. I've often served on photo juries including the World Press Photo contest, PDN Photo Annual, CPOY, Photolucida Critical Mass and other competitions. Some of my writing clips are collected on MuckRack.

As a commercially licensed pilot, I love exploring our beautiful planet. In particular, I've spent time exploring the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem by air. I'm fascinated by fire aviation and the complex challenge that modern wildfires pose for the Western United States.

When not traversing the American West by airplane or mountain bike, I enjoy digging through archives and finding modern relevance for primary documentation of the past. I've produced two books (Pittsburgh 1950 + Found, Not Lost) with acclaimed photographer Elliott Erwitt, and am working on two others centered on American photographers in the 1930s.

My email address is vaughn@vaughnwallace.com. Follow me on LinkedIn or Instagram.