Joseph R. Tomelleri graduated with an M.S. in Biology and pursued research in botany before becoming a full-time artist in 1986. Since then, he has traveled extensively around North America collecting specimens and photographing native fishes to create his illustrations. His work has appeared in dozens of magazines, journals, and many books including Cutthroat: Native Trout of the West (UCA Press, 2008),About Trout(Lyons Press, 2007), Fishes of Alabama (Smithsonian, 2004), and  Trout and Salmon of North America (Free Press, 2002). His work is featured in the Trout of North America Eighteen Card Set (Scott & Nix, Inc., 2007) and the Trout of North America Poster (Scott & Nix, Inc., 2007). Forthcoming works include Freshwater Gamefish of North America Eighteen Card Set,Freshwater Gamefish of North America Poster, andFishes of Puget Sound for the University of Washington Press. He lives in Leawood, Kansas.