AWARDS, PUBLICATIONS & EXHIBITIONS

Conservation photographer and filmmaker Tom Vierus speaking at a public event.

Over the past decade, Tom’s photography and films have been published internationally, screened at film festivals and recognised in major nature and underwater photography competitions. His editorial work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Oceanographic and World Wildlife.

With a background in marine biology, he also remains actively involved in research and has co-authored scientific publications on sharks, rays and Pacific birdlife.

Selected recognition

2016 — German Prize for Science Photography

First place in the reportage category for a photographic series documenting shark research.

2022 — World Nature Photography Awards

First place in the Animal Portraits category.

2024 — Festival Sublimage

Tortue d’Or for Manta Conservation at Wakaya Island.

2025 — Ocean Art

Second place in the Underwater Conservation category

AWARDS & FILM FESTIVAL SCREENINGS

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

2025 — Vierus, T. Signs of hybridisation? A red shining-parrot (Prosopeia tabuensis) with mixed traits in a masked shining-parrot (P. personata) flock on Viti Levu, Fiji. Notornis 72(4): 224–226. DOI

2025 — Vierus, T. Photographically confirmed sighting of the New Britain Goshawk Tachyspiza princeps. Australian Field Ornithology 42: 14–16.

2024 — Glaus, K., Vierus, T., & Macfarlane, R. Observational data on the reproductive condition of female Oceania fantail rays, Taeniura lessoni, from Drawaqa Island, Fiji. Frontiers in Marine Science 11: 1401258.

2024 — Glaus, K., Gordon, L., Vierus, T., Marosi, N. D., & Sykes, H. Rays in the Shadows: Batoid Diversity, Occurrence, and Conservation Status in Fiji. Biology 13(2): 73.

2022 — Gordon, L., & Vierus, T. First photographic evidence of oceanic manta rays (Mobula birostris) at two locations in the Fiji Islands. PeerJ 10: e13883.

2018 — Vierus, T., Gehrig, S., Brunnschweiler, J. M., Glaus, K., Zimmer, M., Marie, A. D., & Rico, C. Discovery of a multispecies shark aggregation and parturition area in the Ba Estuary, Fiji Islands. Ecology and Evolution 8(14): 7079–7093.

Scientific Reports & Assessments

2024 — Ba Estuary Important Shark and Ray Area (ISRA) Factsheet. IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group. Scientific contributions by Tom Vierus, Kerstin Glaus, Luke Gordon & Christoph A. Rohner.

2019 — Paris, A., Vierus, T., & Gehrig, S. Vanua o Votua Shark and Ray Survey Report: Activity 1.1.1.2, Fiji Ridge to Reef Project. University of the South Pacific, Institute of Applied Sciences.

Selected Publications & Features

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

  • 2021 — Closeness, Alliance Française de Suva, Fiji

  • 2020 — Being Alive — The Pacific Environment Above and Below the Water Surface, Alliance Française de Suva, Fiji

  • 2018 — Threatened Oasis — Tropical Coral Reefs, Palaeontological Museum, Munich, Germany

  • 2017 — Fascination Sharks: Hunters or Hunted?, House of Science, Bremen, Germany

Selected Group Exhibitions

  • 2022 — Dancers in the Sky, Caring for Nature, China Cultural Centre, Suva, Fiji

  • 2021 — Fiji Arts Council — Display of Local Artists’ Work, Fiji

  • 2018 — Images of the South Pacific, IUCN Oceania Regional Conservation Forum, Fiji

  • 2018 — 20th International Fürstenfeld Nature Photography Days, Germany

  • 2016 — Fiji and New Caledonia Underwater, Alliance Française de Suva, Fiji