Catherine Cunningham

 

Professional CV

Mountaineering Resume

Research in Ecology

 

Catherine Cunningham earned her PhD studying climate impacts on high mountain environments at The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland (2006). During her career in academia she chaired two science conferences, published papers, co-chaired a symposium for the World Wilderness Congress, directed research teams, and presented in Europe and North America. Prior to research, she taught biology and environmental science (e.g. Denver Metro State College) while working as the wildfire ecologist for the municipal government in Boulder County, Colorado. Catherine has designed curricula, trained educators, and led field excursions for The Thorne Institute, Wilderness Ventures, and Mountain Travel-Sobek. She holds a BA in Cultural Anthropology and International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame (UND) and an MS from Utah State University in ecology with an emphasis on forest ecosystems. While at UND she received a Kellogg Grant to study the Tamil Indian culture and lived in India for a year. Since, she has traveled widely in Asia, Europe, and Latin America, more recently to photograph people and places in the midst of global change.

In 2004, she launched Nature’s Reflection and her photographic work has been sponsored by Canon-Europe. During her PhD, Catherine exhibited Man in the Shadow of the Mountain (funded by Valser, Coca-Cola) in Switzerland (2004-2005). She was a prized photographer with the Infinity Foundation at the North American Nature Photographer’s Conference and awarded the prestigious Banff Mountain Grant for a global communication project. Her work was featured at the Exhibit Hall in Perth, Scotland and the World Wilderness Congress in Anchorage, Alaska (2005). She has prepared visual presentations for events, such as the Alliance for Global Sustainability’s Symposium (USA, 2005) and the Earth Systems Science Partnership’s Open Science Conference (China, 2006). She is a regular photographer for His Holiness, The Dalai Lama (2005+) and now focuses her visual talent to empower local communities with imagery which assists them in building dialogue and consensus for action on local global issues.

She has participated in global policy forums and conferences, such as COP 11/MOP1 (Canada), the Global Biodiversity Conference (France), Clinton Global (USA), WEF’s Climate Action Task Force (Iceland), AGU (USA), and AAAS (USA). Catherine is a member of IUCN’s World Conservation Union commission for education and communication, the International Polar Year’s Education and Outreach Team, Focus on Planet Earth, the Ecological Society of America (Plant Sciences), the International Association of Hydrological Science (Cryosphere), the American Geophysical Union, the Mountain Forum, the North American Nature Photography Association, and the American Society of Media Photographers. Including her native English language, she speaks Italian (fluent), German (conversational), and Spanish (learning). Catherine is also an avid ski mountaineer and alpine enthusiast.

 

 

Through the art of photography Catherine generously shares her vision of nature’s reflection on how we value, communicate, and interact with others in our world. Inspired by naturalists and artists (e.g. John Muir, Georgia O’Keefe, Ansel Adams, Elliot Porter, Brad Washburn, and Galen Rowell), she is committed to working with great joy to awaken a respect and humility once embraced for natural landscapes. Catherine’s vision is to become a voice in the urban environment that, like a siren, calls us back to our roots where we become again one with the earth in Nature’s Reflection.

Barbara Cunningham (mother)