DENVER — Award-winning nature photographer Wendy Shattil recently donated over 100,000 nature images to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS) from her and her late partner Bob Rozinski's vast collection of imagery. 

Shattil recently gave a talk at the DMNS. Titled "A Journey of Conservation Wildlife Imagery," she told stories about and displayed photos from her collection, including her three largest conservation projects: peregrine falcon recovery in Denver, water in the San Luis Valley, and transforming Rocky Mountain Arsenal into a national wildlife refuge.  

Shattil told the Valley Courier that Rozinski had worked as a photographer for the Associated Press, and she had worked as a scientific illustrator before they partnered. 

"Our enjoyment and satisfaction in photographing had to do with things that had significance. When we met, we decided to concentrate on subjects that were generally not covered. We worked on subjects that could benefit from visibility and could hopefully generate interest. The San Luis Valley was the first place that caught our eye in 1983 to do something that had not been done. It was like a new frontier," she said. 

Working together since 1981, Shattil and Rozinski shared a love for nature, conservation, photography, and each other. 

"One of the first places we went was the San Luis Valley,” she said. “It is captivating to everybody, especially if you go to the dunes, which most people do. We knew there was much more to the Valley than just the dunes. When we would go to an area we wanted to photograph, we would research it, become acquainted with people who live there, get a feel for what was there, and go exploring." 

The two traveled the world together and photographed wildlife and landscapes. They worked with numerous conservation groups. Their work contributed to the establishment of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, one of the largest urban wildlife refuges in the U.S. 

Shattil and Rozinski published "The Valley of the Cranes: Exploring Colorado's San Luis Valley" and, along with Audrey DeLetta Benedict, "Valley of the Dunes: Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve." Both are in print and available. 

The duo extensively photographed the Medano and Zapata Ranches when they were privately owned, contributing to their becoming part of the national park. 

According to the park service, "Much of the Medano Ranch is now within the boundaries of Great Sand Dunes National Park, helping to conserve and protect the dunes' entire geological and hydrological system. Bison roam here again as they did for thousands of years."  

In 2022, when the Nature Conservancy issued a press release celebrating its completion of land transfers to the national park, Shattil and Rozinski's photo was included. The two worked extensively with the Conservancy. 

As they partnered with numerous other organizations on conservation projects throughout the West, Shattil and Rozinski, who passed in 2016, were instrumental in permanently protecting wildlife and natural resources' habitats.  

Shattil's global photography has included the effects the U.S./Mexico border wall has had on wildlife and the environment and the environmental consequences a proposed oil pipeline would have on the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia. 

In addition to their conservation work, Shattil and Rozinski have won numerous awards for their photography and projects. Just a few of their accomplishments include winning the Philip Hyde Grant for environmental photography and the Texas Valley Land Fund $100,000 photo contest. Both are founders and Fellows of the International League of Conservation Photography and served as Research Associates for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. 

Beyond their joint accolades, Shattil has also been awarded the Grand Prize in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest – the first woman awarded this prestigious honor, which is considered the equivalent of an Academy Award in the world of wildlife photography – from the Natural History Museum in London, and the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) presented her the Lifetime Achievement in Nature Photography Award last year. 

Said Shattil, "The Sand Dunes are great, and you can spend a lifetime photographing them and there would still be pictures that hadn't been taken."