Fancy yourself a first-rate nature photographer? Now's your chance to show your talent.

The California Academy of Sciences has partnered with Calumet Photographic to launch their inaugural international conservation photo contest, Big Picture: Natural World Photography Competition. Whether you've got a degree in fine-art photography or just have superior skills with a digital SLR, they want to see what on earth you've photographed. Chaired by the award-winning Suzi Eszterhas (a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers), the goal of this contest is to showcase the boundless beauty and all-too-real fragility of our natural world. The panel of esteemed judges—including Kathy Morgan (Senior Editor of Natural History and National Geographic Magazine), Ian Shive (recipient of the Sierra Club's 2011 Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography), and SF's very own David Liittschwager (winner of the Endangered Species Coalition Champion Award for Education and Outreach)—further validates the contest's cred. Not to mention the $20,000+ in cash prizes and equipment. Entry costs a mere $25, and submissions will be accepted until March 31. An awards ceremony at Cal Academy is currently slated for May 29. More details here. You better get shooting now.

Cal Academy's Big Picture: Natural World Photography Competition runs through March 31.