Josh Selm

Photographer/ Technology Liaison

Josh is a life-long Northern Kentucky resident who grew up on a small suburban family farm, only about 25 minutes from downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. His youth was filled with outdoor activities, including countless camping trips with his family and with the local Boy Scout Troop, where he earned the highest youth rank, Eagle Scout. This strong background in the outdoors led Josh to change his college course focus from medical sciences to plant sciences. He graduated from Thomas More College (now Thomas More University) with a degree in Biology. Soon after, he landed an internship at the Boone County Arboretum, where he is now Curator of the plant collections at the 121-acre facility. His days are filled with advising horticulture staff on the care of the Arboretum’s more than 3,600 accessioned trees and shrubs, maintaining records and maps of those plants, providing essential contributions to various administrative tasks, organizational development, environmental education outreach, and technology integration.

Josh has always enjoyed photographing the events, people and locations he visits. At an early age, he developed an eye for composing interesting shots and technical knowledge for controlling the lighting and focus captured by the camera. The pictures he created drew the attention of family and friends, who encouraged him to cultivate the skills even further. Whether hiking through far off places or wandering across his own backyard, Josh loves capturing the beauty he sees in nature – God’s ever-changing canvas. Drawing on his formal education in the biological and environmental sciences, his immersive photos often include subtle details of the subject or scene that viewers might otherwise not get to see. In addition to photography, Josh also helps coordinate development of this website.