Federico Pardo

Federico Pardo is a biologist, photographer and documentary filmmaker from Bogotá, Colombia. He earned a B.S. in biology from Universidad de Los Andes in Bogotá and an MFA in science and natural history filmmaking from Montana State University. Since 2019, Federico has been a National Geographic Explorer and received support from the Society for his project “Salvando Primates,” an immersive multimedia experience that follows the story of Colombia’s most endangered primates and bolsters tangible forest restoration efforts in key ecosystems. Federico’s filmmaking and cinematography work specializes in environmental and human stories. He has received three Emmy Awards: one for Best Cinematography with National Geographic’s “Untamed Americas,” one for Outstanding Feature Story in Spanish with “La Amazonía: Un Paraíso a la Venta,” and one for Outstanding Documentary Series with “Super League: The War for Football.” His other works include “Ice Age Amazonians” for Nova/PBS, “Hostile Planet” for National Geographic, “The Birders” for ProColombia, and “Nossa Chape,” a feature documentary that premiered at the SXSW Film Festival.

 

As a photographer, Pardo has documented scientific expeditions in Colombia, Peru, Mozambique and Antarctica, and his photo projects have been exhibited in galleries in Latin America, the U.S. and Europe. He’s led numerous photography and filmmaking workshops for National Geographic, including Photo Camps, Student Expeditions, and adult trips in Iceland, Namibia, Galápagos, Brazil, Botswana, Tanzania, Costa Rica, India and more. Federico also managed “20 Fotógrafos,” an itinerant photo workshop in Latin America and, as a speaker, Pardo participated in TEDx Bogotá (2013) and TEDx Amazonía (2023). He is fluent in Spanish, English, French and Portuguese.