James is the founder and director of the Extreme Ice Survey, a monumental and stunning look at the impact of climate change on the world’s glaciers. Shocked by the changes he saw while shooting the June 2007 National Geographic cover story on melting glaciers, Balog, who has a graduate degree in geomorphology, initiated the most wide-ranging glacier study ever conducted, using innovative time-lapse, video, and conventional photography at sites around the globe. For nearly 30 years, James has broken new ground in the art of photographing nature. His work has earned him the Leica Medal of Excellence, the Rowell Award for the Art of Adventure, the Aspen Institute’s Visual Arts & Design Award, the first-ever International League of Conservation Photographers League Award, and the North American Nature Photography Association’s “Outstanding Photographer of the Year” prize. James is the author of Extreme Ice Now: Vanishing Glaciers and Changing Climate: A Progress Report, along with more than half a dozen other books. His photography and multimedia presentations have been featured on Capitol Hill and at the “COP-15” United Nations Climate Change Conference, TED Global, the International Scientific Congress, an E.U. Environmental Ministers meeting, the U.S. Embassy in Finland, the Explorers Club, the Aspen Institute’s Environment Forum, and National Geographic symposia.