Dr. Dante Fenolio is an extremely accomplished underwater photographer, PhD and educator. He is also the author of “Life in the Dark,” and runs the Department of Conservation & Research for the San Antonio Zoo.

The San Antonio Zoo has been a key partner in the DEEPEND Project examining the impact of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Dr. Fenolio is also responsible for a number of projects globally from the Amazon, to China to Japan. All at the same time!

The Zoo has several active conservation programs across the globe, much of which is directly related to underwater research heavily utilizing underwater photography. Dr. Fenolio will describe several of the zoo’s projects including: a collaboration with indigenous groups in Amazonian Peru; the re-establishment of species where they have disappeared; partnering with the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Chinese cavefishes in south China; partnering with Japanese biologists to keep Japanese Giant Salamanders in the wild; and performing bio-inventory work in subterranean habitats from the Ozarks to Texas to the Floridan Aquifer. The San Antonio Zoo works with state and federal wildlife authorities here in the US to perform bio-inventory work in subterranean habitats.