Rick Wood is an award-winning former journalist and wildlife photographer from Washington State. His debut novel, "Nature Aware (Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, 2012)," reached the Amazon Kindle Best Seller list in Conservation and Ecology numerous times. In Rough Cut: Lessons from Endangered Species (Homeostasis Press, 2017), Wood showcased efforts to save marine mammals and sea turtles and his experiences from filming nature documentaries.
Wood volunteers his time working with students worldwide, and he is also a marine mammal rescue responder. Meniere's disease caused profound hearing impairment since 2004, and Wood is functionally deaf today. Additionally, he wrestles with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder effects due to his time in combat. Still, Wood credits his challenges for inspiring him to live life to the fullest.
Wood currently resides in Southeast Asia, where he lives with his wife and children. As a hobbyist, he has studied long-tailed macaques living in urban areas for more than three years. Wood's time watching monkeys led to the inspiration for his first children's book, Little Mango.