Gil Quintanilla is a nature photographer and an avid butterfly enthusiast. A few years ago, Gil joined the Texas Master Naturalists, a group of volunteers that are dedicated to the study and preservation of natural resources in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Through this organization, he learned about the unique biodiversity of the Valley and why it is America's butterflying, birding, and dragonfly capital.  As part of his first year training, he participated in a NABA 4th of July butterfly count and was quickly introduced to several local butterfly hotspots… from the bluffs of Roma to the dunes of South Padre.

With the help of a couple of butterfly guide books and many good mentors, Gil has focused on promoting the public enjoyment and conservation of butterflies.  He particularly enjoys macro photography and gives presentations on butterfly identification, gardening with native plants, and raising caterpillars.

In the fall of 2004, Gil co-chaired the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) conference in Mission, Texas which was attended by over 200 guests.  That same year he coordinated and led the NABA butterfly counts in the Rio Grande Valley.  The following year, he led a Rio Grande Valley Butterfly Nature tour for Southern Living magazine.  A subsequent article about this tour published in the October 2006 issue and South Texas was hailed as "the Butterfly Capital of America.".  Gil has promoted butterflies in several “Con Mi Gente” television programs. In August 2006, Gil and other participants of a Rio Grande Valley butterfly count appeared on the NBC nightly news with Brian Williams.

Gil’s butterfly photography has been featured in the Valley Morning Star newspaper, American Butterflies magazine, RGV Nature Magazine, and the NABA.org website. Many of his butterfly pictures are on public display at the Bentsen World Birding Center in Mission, Texas. During the 2005 Texas Butterfly Festival, one of his butterfly photos was used on the cover of the Festival brochure.  As part of community service, he serves on the NABA International Butterfly Park Advisory Board, Valley Land Fund Advisory Board, and the Frontera Audubon Board of Directors.

With a vision to bring butterflies to a global audience, Gil administers the popular butterfly website, NABA South Texas, America's Butterfly Capital . Due to the universal appeal of butterflies and the advent of the internet, thousands of visitors from virtually everywhere in the United States and throughout the world now visit this website. The butterflies are "on course" to bring world-wide recognition to the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas and the NABA International Butterfly Park.

Some of Gil's photographs and article, "Raising Purple Caterpillars," were published in American Butterflies magazine.  In the Spring of 2007 he participated as a presenter for the McAllen Great Outdoors Nature Series.

Gilberto Quintanilla has been named ZipcodeZoo's Photographer of the Month for May, 2007.