Amanda Hinton

When I graduated from college, the family joke was that I was now well versed in how to talk and take pictures, since I majored in Communications and Art. While extremely reductive, it was not entirely incorrect. What was missing was the reason for talking or taking pictures; I hadnt found a truly grand motivation for doing either. Instead, I dabbled in Marketing and Advertising, ultimately ending up in retail while waiting for my future to start; the future full of meaning and adventure, one where I would see the world and discover all it had to offer. That future started when I took the leap and joined Project Dragonfly. Yes, getting a masters in Biology seemed a bit absurd at first, mostly because I didnt even take any Bio in undergrad, but the promise of travel lured me in and it soon became so much more. Immediately following my first trip out of the country I knew I wanted to do a lot more with a lot less, it would become my motto and mantra, but it would take a bit for me to find my footing in that. Soon, I turned my attention to where my passions lie, communication and photography, but now I added in conservation and nature. And just like that, my undergraduate work now had meaning and purpose. My focus became about connecting all of my passions together, about linking art with conservation and how to use that to communicate and advocate for the protection of our natural resources. It all finally made sense, I could use my skills at talking and taking pictures to create meaning where it once was not, to connect everyone not only to something bigger, but to themselves and their own lives and each other through their actions while on Earth.