Urmas Tartes is an Estonian biologist and nature photographer.

Tartes ended his studies in Nõo Secondary school in 1982 with a gold medal and graduated from University of Tartu in 1989 with cum laude as biologist-zoologist.

He became Doctor of Philosophy in 1995 with a thesis "Respiration Rhythms in Insects".

He was the recipient of the Fourth Class of Order of the White Star in 2001.

[2] In 2009 he won Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year in the category "Animals in their Environment" with a photo of a springtail on a snowflake.