Author

Carlton Ward Jr.

Carlton Ward Jr. is an eighth-generation Floridian and National Geographic Explorer. He has trekked more than 2,000 miles through Florida’s wildest places to help put the Florida Wildlife Corridor on the map, and is currently focused on the endangered Florida panther to inspire the land protection needed to keep Florida wild. To see more of his work, visit carltonward.com or follow him on Instagram @carltonward.

Carlton Ward Jr.'s Latest Articles

Laurent Lollis looks out over a herd at Buck Island Ranch, with his father, Gene Lollis, in the background. Buck Island Ranch is owned by Archbold Biological Station and is a leading site for rangelands science, including biodiversity and carbon cycling research. Recent studies have shown that grazing of grasses in the humid soils increases the carbon sequestration by the roots.

Raising Nature on Florida Ranchlands

By Carlton Ward Jr. & Virginia Gewin

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Feature

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August 11, 2020

“Rancher vs Environmentalist” has been a longstanding trope. But in the Sunshine State, ranching just may be the last, best hope for ecological salvation.

Captured on July 5, 2018, this was the first photograph to document pollination of a ghost orchid bloom. Contrary to the expectations of many experts, who believed that the giant sphinx moth was likely the only pollinator of the ghost orchid, this moth is a fig sphinx. The yellow bundle on its head is a ghost orchid pollinium (pollen cluster). Photograph by Carlton Ward Jr.

Ghosts of the Everglades

By Carlton Ward Jr., Grizzly Creek Films, Mac Stone & Steven Bedard

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Immersive

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July 11, 2019

Clinging to survival in shrinking swamps, ghost orchids are so elusive that their pollinators have remained unknown—until now. One team’s findings may help to save both the flower and its threatened home.