TRISTAN'S BIO

INTRODUCTIONTristan Howard

I’m a geographer/part-time natural history filmmaker. I possess an expansive knowledge of biogeography, ecology, and wildlife biology thanks to university courses, books, scientific papers, government documents, magazine articles, nature documentaries, and scores of other educational videos. However, much of my knowledge is based on field observation.

I've been videotaping North American wildlife and photographing Western landscapes since 2001. I’ve also recorded production-quality natural sounds since 2005. 

EARLY YEARS

I performed the majority of my work within a four-mile radius of my childhood home. I was fortunate to have been born and raised in remote northeastern California’s Little Hot Springs Valley. There, I found freedom, escapism, and inspiration through outdoor photography and videography. Growing up, I often enjoyed (except when I was lost or really thirsty) the meadows, forests, ponds, lava beds, and mountains that could be found nearby. Town was far away and boring. As a youth, if I wanted to have fun, I’d grab my cameras and head for the woods.

Little Hot Springs ValleyTRAVELS

I’ve explored California’s North Coast, the Cascade and Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Great Basin, the American Southwest, the Rocky Mountains, and the Dakota Badlands. I have digital media from a variety of landscapes, and I’ve been instilled with admiration and appreciation for the North American West’s natural regions.

Grand Teton National ParkACCOMPLISHMENTS

I built a vast library of digital media after gradually gaining access to professional equipment. I’ve collected hundreds of hours of video, over 100 hours of sound, and over 60,000 photographs. This site allows me to share what I’ve kept to myself for years.

I’ve completed three professional-quality documentaries: The Wildlife of Little Hot Springs Valley (2007), Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park: A Biophysical Overview (2009), and Conditions of Western Wildlife (2010). All my wildlife documentaries aired multiple times on local PBS stations. In 2009, Wildlife won an “Honorable Mention for Animal Behavior” from the prestigious International Wildlife Film Festival at Missoula, Montana. During the same year, Prairie Creek got nominated for the campus-wide Best Undergraduate Research Project Award at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. Both documentaries screened publicly multiple times.

The Wildlife of Little Hot Springs Valley promo posterEDUCATION

In May 2009, at age 21, I graduated from Humboldt State University in northwestern California. I acquired a Bachelor of Arts in Geography with an English Writing Minor. My geographic training has given me a good general idea (at least academically) of how the world works, both environmentally and culturally.

Tristan Howard's diplomaCURRENT SITUATION

I'm now in Missoula, Montana in the Northern Rockies. I’m finally close to some of my favorite subjects I never saw in my home region: bighorns, mountain goats, moose, grizzlies, bison, etc. Some of the nearby scenery is also extremely fantastic. As much as I’d like to run through the mountains shooting everything (with cameras, of course), I’m here for graduate school at The University of Montana. I’m pursuing a Master of Science in Geography with an Option in Community and Environmental Planning. Thus, academics are my primary focus. Nonetheless, my natural history media acquisition will continue.

Tristan Howard reflecting