Competition
WPY 54 Jury
Wildlife Photographer of the Year's reputation is reinforced by the expertise of our jury and the vigour of our judging process. Meet this year's international panel.
Rosamund 'Roz' Kidman Cox (UK), Chair of the jury, writer and editor
Alexander Badyaev (USA/Russia), biologist and wildlife photographer
Clay Bolt (USA), natural history and conservation photographer
Ruth Eichhorn (Germany), photo editor and curator
Angel Fitor (Spain), naturalist and underwater photographer
Sandesh Kadur (India), wildlife photojournalist and documentary filmmaker
Ian Owens (UK), Director of Science at the Natural History Museum
Rosamund 'Roz' Kidman Cox
Roz is an editor and writer specialising in wildlife and environmental issues, with a particular interest in photography. Editor of BBC Wildlife Magazine for more than 20 years, she now project-manages photography-led books. Titles include the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Portfolio books and, for BBC Books, Light on the Earth, Planet Earth, Frozen Planet, The Hunt and Planet Earth II. She was also the producer of Wildscreen's annual WildPhotos festival.
Roz is author of The Masters of Nature Photography books and 50 Years of Wildlife Photographer of the Year for the Natural History Museum. She has judged the competition for many years.
Alexander Badyaev
Alex Badyaev is a professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona, USA, where he studies the origin of adaptations. His scientific work, nature photography and popular science writing have earned him major international awards and fellowships. Most recently he was made both a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences and a Kavli Fellow of the US National Academy of Sciences, and was a three-time category winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
Clay Bolt
Clay Bolt is a natural history and conservation photographer specialising in the world's smaller creatures. He regularly partners with organisations such as the National Geographic Society, National Wildlife Federation and Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.
He is an Associate Fellow in the International League of Conservation Photographers, Past President of the North American Nature Photography Association, and co-founder (2009) of the international nature and biodiversity photography project, Meet Your Neighbours. His current major focus is on North America's native bees and the important roles they play in our lives.
Clay lives in Bozeman, Montana (USA) where he is the communications lead for the World Wildlife Fund's Northern Great Plains programme. He was a leading voice in the fight for the rusty-patched bumble bee to become a federally protected species under the Endangered Species Act - the species became North America's first federally protected native bee in 2017.
Ruth Eichhorn
Ruth Eichhorn is a freelance photo editor and curator. She recently edited photo books, including one with underwater photographer Christoph Gerigk. She also curated an exhibition on conceptual photography in Europe, which opened in Bejing in October 2016 and is now touring China.
From 1988 to 1994, Ruth was Bureau Chief for German GEO as their Bureau Chief - before that she worked for a number of different German magazines as a photo editor. She was Director of Photography of the GEO magazines from 1994 to 2015, then became their Editor-at-Large. She oversaw a department that shaped the photographic direction of the different magazines and most of the foreign editions, working directly with contributing photographers from around the globe.
Ruth has been a member of the UNICEF Photo of the Year jury from the start, and was a member of the 2004, 2006 and 2010 World Press Photo juries. She was also member of juries such as Pictures of the Year, the Chinese International Press Photo Contest, the World Photography Award, Visual Lead Award in Germany and many others.
Angel Fitor
Angel Fitor is a professional photographer, writer and naturalist who since the late 80s has mainly focused on natural marine and freshwater environments. Before becoming a full-time photographer, he developed a solid background in marine science, guided by his childhood love of the underwater natural world.
In addition to his pursuit of visual aesthetics, Angel strives to provide context to his images in order to reach their ultimate meaning. His work has been internationally featured in a range of publications including books, online media, and magazines such as National Geographic.
His photographs have garnered several nature and wildlife photo awards such as Wildlife Photographer of the Year, GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year and the National Geographic Photo Contest. He has acted as photography and natural history advisor to leading scientific teams and broadcasting companies including the BBC Natural History Unit (UK), Silverback Films (UK), Netflix (US), and the Fish Evolutionary Lab of the University of Basel (Switzerland).
Sandesh Kadur
Sandesh Kadur, known most recently for his camerawork on BBC's Planet Earth II series, is an award-winning wildlife photojournalist, author and documentary filmmaker. He is a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers and a National Geographic Emerging Explorer.
Through still and video images, he exposes the need for conservation and encourages the protection of the planet's biodiversity. His photographs have been published widely in books and magazines, while his documentaries with subjects ranging from king cobras to clouded leopards have aired worldwide on the BBC, Discovery and National Geographic networks. Over the years, Sandesh's work has garnered many top awards and recognition worldwide. He is the founder of Felis Creations, a media and visual arts company based in India that focuses on creating content that inspires conservation.
Ian Owens
Ian Owens is Director of Science at the Natural History Museum, London. He is responsible for collections, research and science facilities at the institution. His personal research is based on a combination of experimental, phylogenetic and molecular approaches to studying the evolutionary ecology of vertebrates, particularly birds.
Current areas of particular interest include large-scale patterns of biodiversity, ecological impacts of climate change, genetics of wild populations, speciation and diversification, and phylogeny and ecology of extinction.