"Earth's Vanishing Species" is an exhibition that ran August 18 through November 6 on the campus of Davidson County Community College (DCCC) in Thomasville, North Carolina.  The exhibition featured 36 framed prints of my wildlife photography from around the World. All of the animals depicted in this exhibition were photographed in their wild, natural habitat or on a preservation designed to rescue, breed, protect and introduce them back into the wild.  They were photographed during journeys to their natural environments in threatened regions around the World.  From the Arctic to Africa, Asia, Australia, the Americas and Antarctica, these animals are facing great challenges for their survival.  The message is the same around the globe…these animals and their habitats are threatened by human activity.  This is either through climate change, poaching, urban development or other intrusions into their environments.  

 

Provided next to each print was a brief summary of the obstacles to survival for the species shown.  This included the current threat rating from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List.  The IUCN is the World’s largest global environmental network, consisting of a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and over 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries, that are supported by a staff of more than 1,000 professionals in 160 countries. The organization publishes the IUCN Red List of threatened species, which assesses the conservation status of over 70,000 species, including plant, marine, arid, semi-arid and the most threatened of all, freshwater species.  For more descriptive information on the IUCN, please visit http://georgegrubb.com/iucn

 

The idea of offering all of the prints in this exhibition in a silent auction at the closing reception is an idea that grew from my parents' support for the DCCC.  My parents were strong believers in helping challenged youth to meet the obstacles of today through education. It is in recognizing their past contributions that inspired me to offer my work to the foundation.  Now, the complete set of those images at the exhibition are available in a book, accompanied with the summaries of their obstacles to survival depicted at the show. For each book sold, Blurb will remit a check for $10 to the DCCC Foundation.  This is a great way to support education in Davidson County, North Carolina, and take away a lasting memory of the exhibition.  It also makes for a great holiday gift. It is my hope the viewer will take away from this exhibit, the breathtaking beauty of these majestic creatures, be invigorated with renewed enthusiasm to learn more about conservation, and feel more inspired to help protect our planet’s natural resources. On November 6, all of the limited edition prints were offered to the public in a sold out silent auction in which all of the proceeds went to benefit the DCCC Foundation.