By Dan McCarthy
Mail

Nature became Jackie Marlowe's church after the deaths of her sister and father five years ago.

And photography, she said, helped give her peace.

One of her photographs and the other winning images are published in Arizona Wildlife Views’ full-size 2026 wildlife calendar.

“Born and raised in the cold tundra known as Wisconsin, I sought refuge in the desert heat some 20 years ago. When I first came to Arizona, I worked as an archaeologist, which afforded me the opportunity to travel the state and search every nook and crevice of the Southwest,” Marlowe said.

“I fell in love with the environment and the wildlife.”

Always an outdoor enthusiast, she said, it was another, more tragic life-changing event that set her on the trail of becoming a wildlife photographer.

“In the winter of 2020, my sister unexpectedly fell ill and transitioned from this life at the young age of 42 years old. Days later, my father also died unexpectedly,” she said.

That summer, she said she set out into the desert landscape almost daily, trying to make sense of the events and grieve.

“Nature became my church, and the lakes and rivers became a place for me to find respite from the pain of grief.

“And the wild animals, to say they became my therapists is not giving them enough credit,” Marlowe said.

“The animals saved my life, saved my heart from grief and provided me with the wildlife friends that I began to photograph.”

The featured coatimundi on the 2026 calendar is just one of the numbers of “beautiful souls” she said she has encountered.

“Five years into photography, and I have even more passion for the outdoors and wildlife than ever. I have had the good fortune to travel to many amazing places around the world to photograph animals such as manatees, horses and jaguars,” Marlowe said.

“What I look for in the wild is connection. Whether it's to the place, the trees and waters, or the wild animals individually. When I feel connected to the moment it is easy to create beautiful images that heal my heart.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one in a three-part series focusing on East Valley photographers whose work appears in the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s 2026 calendar.

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Dan McCarthy
Web content

dmccarthy@iniusa.org

Meet Dan
Dan McCarthy joined Independent Newsmedia as web content editor after a 40-plus year career as a reporter and editor in New Jersey and Arizona. During his time in Arizona, he has been an editor of daily and weekly papers in Tempe, Scottsdale, Chandler, Ahwatukee, Sun City, Sun City West, Surprise, Peoria and Glendale. Prior to moving to Arizona in 1984, when he was hired to be assistant city editor at the Tempe Daily News, he covered regional police/fire news, municipal, county and state governments in New Jersey, the latter as bureau chief at the state Capitol.

Community: He has served on several boards over the years, including the Tempe Community Action Agency and the Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital Board of Governors. He is a graduate of the Tempe Leadership and Scottsdale Leadership programs, serving as media adviser for subsequent classes of Tempe Leadership.

Education: Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism. 

Random Fact: Set winter/summer track records in the 60-, 100- and 220-yard dashes at his high school in New Jersey. 

Hobbies: Tai chi, cooking, dining at his must-eat-once places around the U.S. and the Cincinnati Reds, his favorite team since 1961.