Brean Duncan feels at home in wild and scenic landscapes. Born in Santa Barbara, CA, he grew up surfing and rock climbing, and at the age of 15 years old hiked the John Muir Trail. As he continued to climb different peaks throughout North America, he began to cultivate his passion for Geography and Ecology. This love for the outdoors led him to study and receive bachelors and masters degrees in Physical Geography from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Subsequently, he took an offer to join John F. Kennedy Space Center Ecology Program in Florida, where he has published over 50 peer reviewed manuscripts and received his Doctorate of Philosophy from University of Central Florida in Conservation Biology. He currently serves as the Ecological Program Manager and Chief Scientist.

If photography can be in a family’s DNA then Brean was meant to be a photographer. Brean’s grandfather Preston Duncan was a very successful movie industry and military photographer, who helped establish the photography department at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California. Preston was perhaps best known for his studio photography, which led him to photograph some of the most well known movie stars of all time. Preston’s skills have been transferred down to Brean through his father. When Brean isn’t working as a scientist, he can usually be found photographing beautiful landscapes near and far from his home in Merritt Island, Florida. Through his photography he hopes to impart the importance of conserving and protecting our few remaining wild landscapes and the organisms that inhabit them.

I am a Florida Nature Photographer that seeks to capture natural landscapes and wildlife that are disappearing under anthropogenic pressures. I am a career environmental scientist with the Kennedy Space Center Ecological Program and my understanding of natural ecosystems and impacts from human development drives me to capture unaltered landscapes and the wildlife within them to preserve and share. I am a Central Florida Photographer that has been documenting this beautiful landscape for nearly 30 years. My photography can bring a unique element to the Studios of Cocoa Beach that will enhance the perspective and diversity of art represented in the studio.