Heather Physioc Wins Six Honors in OWAA’s 2025 Excellence in Craft Contest

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Kansas City–based conservation photojournalist and writer Heather Physioc has earned six awards in the Outdoor Writers Association of America’s (OWAA) 2025 Excellence in Craft Contest, which celebrates outstanding outdoor media across writing, photography, and other creative disciplines.

The contest, sponsored by Friesens, ASA, and Pew, drew entries from across the country. Winners were announced during the Excellence in Craft Awards Ceremony at OWAA’s annual conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee, August 17 -21. Heather’s recognized work spans wildlife, landscapes, flora and outdoor adventure.

Award-Winning Photographs

First Place in Photography, Fauna
“Critically Endangered Bali Starling Pair”

Two striking white Bali starlings cling to opposite sides of a slim, thorn-studded tree trunk. Their bright cobalt-blue facial skin encircles piercing black eyes, and fine black accents edge their wings and tails. Sunlight catches the sleek white feathers against a lush, blurred green backdrop of tropical foliage, underscoring their rarity and fragility in the wild.

First Place in Photography, Outdoor Adventure
“Dune Buggies in the Samalayuca Dunes”

All-terrain dune buggies rumble across a vast desert of rolling golden sand, their deep tire tracks carving fresh lines through the rippled dunes. The lead buggy in vivid red dominates the foreground, while others trail behind under a warm amber sky. In the distance, a rugged mountain range rises against the horizon, contrasting with the sweeping, endless expanse of sand. The image captures both exhilaration and immensity.

Second Place in Photography, Flora
“Mighty Roots of the Klapok Tree”

A towering tree dominates the forest scene, anchored by enormous buttress roots that twist and snake across a bed of gray-green boulders. The bark rises in ridges and grooves, giving the trunk a muscular appearance. Low, dappled light highlights the roots’ strength as they grip the forest floor, creating a sense of endurance and resilience in the tropical jungle.

Third Place in Photography, Flora
“Hidden Banyan in a Bali Forest”

A dense stand of slender, moss-flecked trees fills the frame, their trunks stretching tall and straight into a soft green canopy. In the distance, half-hidden among the vertical lines, the massive flared base of a banyan tree spreads like wooden skirts, its roots forming a dramatic dark arch at ground level. The damp forest floor is scattered with leaf litter, glowing with filtered light.

Third Place in Photography, Action
“Opportunistic Heron”

A great blue heron grips a small silver fish in its sharp yellow beak, droplets of water spraying midair from its sudden strike. The bird’s golden eye is wide and alert, feathers bristling as it twists its long neck in triumph. Around it, tall reeds frame the moment, while the dark water behind adds contrast that makes the captured prey gleam.

Third Place in Photography, Scenic
“Echoes of the Inca at Pinkuylluna Ruins”

Terraced stone ruins cling to the steep mountainside of Peru’s Sacred Valley, their weathered golden walls catching the sun beneath a broad sky of fast-moving white clouds. Jagged green peaks rise behind the ruins, while the foreground cliff bristles with hardy plants—spiky agave and silver-gray moss—that root themselves in the rock. The scene radiates both grandeur and endurance, echoing the legacy of the Inca.

OWAA Conference Keynote Speaker and Training Facilitator

At the conference, Physioc also delivered a day-one keynote, “Discoverability for Outdoor Communicators,” where she broke down the fast-changing search and digital landscape and showed how outdoor storytellers can make their work visible beyond Google, including across social, multimedia and emerging AI-driven platforms.

She also led the hands-on workshop, “Discoverability Crash Course for Outdoor Communicators,” a practical training that guided participants through search , multimedia strategies and AI-readiness, giving outdoor writers, DMOs and other outdoor content creators actionable tools to ensure their work is findable in the shifting search landscape.

About the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA)

Founded in 1927, OWAA is the nation’s premier organization for outdoor communicators, connecting writers, photographers, filmmakers, broadcasters, and educators who share stories of the natural world. Its annual Excellence in Craft Contest highlights the best outdoor media produced each year. More information is available at OWAA.org.

About Heather Physioc

Heather Physioc is an award-winning independent conservation journalist, writer and photographer based in Kansas City. Through words and images, she tells stories of wildlife, landscapes and communities around the globe, with a mission to inspire conservation action and connection to the natural world.

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