About Amy
Photo by Ian ShiveAmy Marquis is an editor on the award-winning National Parks magazine, a quarterly non-profit publication that reaches more than 340,000 members of the National Park Conservation Association and thousands of visitors to national parks. She has traveled all over the country to cover some of the most pressing park stories of our time—from international conservation efforts in Big Bend, to global warming’s effects in Yellowstone, to a kayaking program for injured war veterans in Great Falls, Maryland. As one of just two editors on the magazine, she is trained to sift through volumes of park news and find the most compelling stories that not only educate but inspire the American public, Congress, and decision-makers within the National Park Service.
The scope of Amy’s experience, however, is not just nationally based. She spent a significant amount of her childhood in Southeast Asia, where she fell in love with the region’s gentle culture and natural landscapes, but also grew familiar with the constant struggle between conservation and the need to survive. She returned to those roots as an adult when, in the summer of 2000, she received a grant to study and write about the endangered green sea turtles in Malaysia. There, she spent a month with local conservationists on a tiny beach, working each night to document female turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs. The following mornings, Amy would share breakfast with local fishermen who came to collect eggs to sell in the market, a business that earned them just enough income to feed their children.
Photo by Stirling ElmendorfThat’s when she realized that educating the public about environmental issues requires more than eloquence and pretty pictures—it requires a serious look at the people and cultures behind those stories. As an editor, she strives to include the human element not only in the written story, but through photography, too—a push that helped inspire a visual rebranding of National Parks magazine and the National Parks Conservation Association as a whole.
Prior to her job at National Parks, Amy spent four years as a photo editor on National Wildlife magazine, where she helped boost the presence of magazine photography online through an innovative website called PhotoZone. And with the help and immense talent of photographer Ian Shive, a frequent contributor to National Parks, she has continued to push cutting-edge multi-media projects by expanding magazine articles and NPCA campaigns into inspiring web presentations.
Amy also serves as a lead affiliate with the International League of Conservation Photographers, where the world’s most talented and accomplished nature photographers, scientists, and magazine editors are using images to bring awareness to conservation issues. As an affiliate with both writing, editing, and photo editing skills, she hopes to couple the power of photography with well-written prose that encourages better stewardship of the land and its resources.
Last fall, Amy spent four weeks traveling through America's greatest landscapes with her husband, dog, camera, and mountain bike. She and her family reside in Boulder, Colorado.