National Geographic Live! Hidden Wild Secrets of the Everglades with Conservation Photographer Carlton Ward Jr.

Author, photographer, conservationist and National Geographic explorer Carlton Ward Jr. travels the world to find and document conservation stories that have not yet been told. He has lived deep in the Amazon, documented new species in the rainforests of Gabon and photographed endangered desert elephants in Mali. Then he discovered the biggest untold story of his career, hiding in his own back yard.

Ward is an eighth generation Floridian, and he uses his camera to tell the story of the little-known world surviving in the shadows of the beaches and theme parks that people associate with Florida. He has trekked more than 2,000 miles on two National Geographic-supported expeditions, to showcase a statewide vision to protect Florida’s wild places. Both expeditions produced award-winning books, PBS films and widespread outreach. Ward continues to fight to protect an endangered wildlife corridor needed to keep the Everglades connected to the rest of America. His current National Geographic project, “Path of the Panther,” is using sophisticated camera traps and intimate photojournalism to create an unprecedented glimpse into the life of one of America’s most endangered and elusive predators.

Carlton Ward is the author of four books and his photographs have been published widely in National Geographic, Audubon, Smithsonian and Nature Conservancy magazines. He has received the Conservation Leadership Award from the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida and the Rolex Artist-in-Exploration Awards from the Explorers Club.

National Geographic has been making explorers of all of us for more than a century through groundbreaking storytelling from the world’s best and brightest scientists, explorers, photographers and filmmakers. National Geographic Live! brings their stories to the stage and enables audiences to interact with the men and women who have gone where few have gone before.

You can join Carlton Ward Jr. at The Lyric as he follows the footsteps of bears, panthers and cowboys while discovering the wonders of a hidden world on the brink of being lost forever.