Julia Whitty was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and emigrated as a child to the United States with her Tasmanian father and Anglo-Indian mother. She holds dual American and Australian citizenships.

Her latest book DEEP BLUE HOME: AN INTIMATE ECOLOGY OF OUR WILD OCEAN was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in July 2010.

Her award-winning short story collection A TORTOISE FOR THE QUEEN OF TONGA was published by Houghton Mifflin in 2002.

Whitty is environmental correspondent at Mother Jones and a blogger at The Blue Marble and Deep Blue Home.

A former filmmaker, her more than 70 nature documentaries aired on PBS, Nature, The Discovery Channel, National Geographic, Outdoor Life Channel, Arts & Entertainment, and with many other broadcasters worldwide. She's on the Board of Advisors of BlueVoice.