About

Born and raised in California, Torie Hilley is an animal behaviorist, behavioral ecologist, wildlife conservationist, artist, and photographer.

Ever since she was little, she was fascinated by science and nature. But she also loved art. She was constantly playing outside with her family dogs and always drew her own thing (she never colored within the lines). Her parents enrolled her in every nature and art class for as long as she can remember. She even volunteered at local wildlife rehabilitation centers starting in high school and through college and began painting when she was 10. 

At 12, she fell in love with horses and learned natural horsemanship from a local trainer who had Arabians. She was amazed how she could better understand and communicate with horses through this technique - all with body language. This was the beginning of her fascination with animal behavior. She learned to ride Western and found her true joy on the trail and trained for endurance races. She then developed a deep appreciation for foal rearing, horse training, and colt starting during her bachelor’s at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

However, during her studies at Cal Poly, she developed a strong interest in African wildlife and interned at a private game reserve in Zimbabwe in 2012. Here, she fell in love with the African bush and went back to Zimbabwe to conduct her senior project at the same reserve in 2013. Since high school, her interest was in animal welfare and enrichment for captive animals. But when she experienced wildlife research in Zimbabwe, she knew she wanted to observe natural animal behaviors to better understand how we can better protect vulnerable wildlife.

She continued all these passions throughout her life and received a degree in Animal Science and Minors in Biology, Equine Science, and Studio Art from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in California in 2013.

After her degree, she became a wildlife researcher for small nonprofits studying the behavior of predators throughout Southern Africa (Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, and Botswana), before she switched to visual arts. First studying the behavior of lions, she then got her master’s degree in animal behavior and behavioral ecology specializing in the second most endangered carnivore in Africa, the African Wild / Painted Dog.

 

During her studies and research work, the unthinkable happened when National Geographic purchased one of her images ("Lions in Lines") in 2018 and published it in a book, called Spectacle. This was just the beginning of her epiphany.

 

It was during her master’s research when she realized the power of imagery when her friends and family didn’t know what an African wild dog was and thought that they were feral dogs. Her epiphany began.

 

As she continued her research, Torie began to realize that her passion for the African bush was due to capturing the behavior of predators and other wildlife through her lens. She felt that she could spread more awareness and send a message about endangered species more effectively through imagery, whether that was through her photography or oil paintings. She then made the decision to dedicate her work to wildlife conservation. 

Since 2021, she learned from some of the best wildlife photographers so that she could improve her photography to evoke more emotion from her viewers. She has now traveled to Alaska to photograph the brown bears, Kenya to photograph the beautiful African wildlife in Amboseli and Masai Mara, Patagonia to photograph the pumas, and back to Zimbabwe to photograph the painted dogs in Mana Pools, and Mongolia to photograph the Manul / Pallas’s Cat. 

 

But it wasn’t until then that her work started getting seriously recognized, all thanks to her wonderful mentors, Tin Man Lee, and Federico Veronesi. Her photography has now been published in Remembering African Wild Dogs and 10 Years of Remembering Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy, BBC Wildlife, The Guardian, The Times, Photo Vogue, Forbes, Vital Impacts, and counting.

Her photography has also won several awards, including Category Winner in the Siena International Photo Awards (SIPA) and National Wildlife Federation Photo Contest, Runner Up Photographer of the Year in Explorer’s Against Extinction’s Focus for Survival, Finalist in Big Picture Photo Awards in 2023, Honorable Mention in The Nature Conservancy Photo Awards, Highly Commended in Nature Photographer of the Year Awards, and other awards in NANPA, Share the View, and Comedy Photo Awards.

She was also a part of Ami Vitale’s Vital Impacts Annual Prints Sale 2024-2025 and was exhibited in the Photo Vogue Festival in Milan, Italy.

 

As for her artwork, Torie has been focused on painting since she was 12 and began oil painting when she was 18. She has a Minor in Studio Art and is a realistic wildlife artist where she uses her own photography for her references. She likes to think that she does her own “photoshop” where her “non-photos” turn into her paintings. She has been awarded locally and internationally as well, including Best of Show in the Ventura County Professional Art Show in 2022. She has now participated twice as a judge for Wild Heart Gallery.

 

She has several paintings and fine art photography prints in private collections and public galleries around the world. She donates 10% of her sales to various smaller wildlife conservation organizations because she believes in supporting the “little guys” on the ground protecting wildlife. 

She is currently exploring the world of wildlife conservation photojournalism to bridge the gap of the visual arts and the sciences. She plans to use her background in behavioral ecology and research to bring more awareness of small conservation organizations, endangered species, their unique behavior, and our human-wildlife connectedness through her photography and oil paintings. 

She hopes that you join her mission to help wildlife through the visual arts.

Follow Torie on Instagram: @torie_hilley_fineart, or on Facebook: Torie Hilley Fine Art