Gary Braasch: A Strong, Colorful Voice for Environmental Journalism

"We lost a strong, colorful voice for environmental journalism this week. Photographer Gary Braasch, who spent his life chronicling the beauty and injustices of our changing planet, died while snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef Sunday. He was 70 years old.

I met Gary through the Society of Environmental Journalists and had the honor of working with him on several projects while I was editor of The Daily Climate. He was a man of 1,000 ideas, constantly on the move.

We commissioned four photo essays from him, looking mostly at energy and environmental change in the West. Deadlines and storylines remained in flux, shifting and shaping in response to his travels and the latest news.

He'd send an email saying he was close to getting a piece done, then reappear months later with a gripping, completely unrelated report from some far-off locale: The first look at an unusual walrus haul-out at Point Lay, Alaska. Forest stress in Peru's upper Amazon basin. Coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef."

Douglas Fischer reports for The Daily Climate March 8, 2016.

SEE ALSO:

"Too Soon Gone – Gary Braasch, Visual Chronicler of Climate Change" (Dot Earth/New York Times)

"Photojournalist Gary Braasch Dies On Great Barrier Reef" (Brisbane Times)

"World-Renowned American Environmental Nature Photographer Dies snorkelling at Lizard Island" (Australian Museum)

"Climate Photographer Dies While Documenting Coral Bleaching In Australia" (Mashable)