Tara N. Keir is a creative storyteller, conservationist, and National Geographic Explorer dedicated to exploring the human dimensions of wildlife crises around the world. Her investigative storytelling work seeks to inspire thoughtful and nuanced conversations about wildlife crime, conservation, and coexistence.

By combining illustration, writing, investigative journalism, and mapping in a creative storytelling approach, Tara invites audiences to engage with conservation stories through the perspectives of local communities while challenging reductive and often harmful mainstream narratives. By stripping away projected morals and assumptions, she encourages the public to turn the lens inward—examining the roles we all play in shaping conservation outcomes, both in our own communities and across the globe.

Tara’s work has been funded, featured, and commissioned by the National Geographic Society and National Geographic Partners, and her investigative reporting has appeared in National Geographic and The Fletcher Security Review. Her conservation-focused artwork has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, and her visual storytelling is supported through a fellowship from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

She continues to investigate illegal wildlife trade, working on projects examining the role of the United States, and exploring the relationship between humans, wildlife, and trauma in the context of poaching.