CCF Founder Laurie Marker Receives the Explorers Club's Lowell Thomas Award
© Craig Chesek. 2010.
(New York, NY, and Otjiwarongo, Namibia, 3 November 2010) – Dr. Laurie Marker, Founder and Executive Director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), received the Lowell Thomas Award at the Explorers Club annual awards dinner, held in New York City, USA on 23 October. The award honours outstanding achievements in the field of exploration and this year centred on the theme “Exploring Extinction. Is It Forever?” Marker was recognised for her work of over three decades to stabilize cheetah numbers in the wild through research, education and building partnerships. Wildlife expert Jim Fowler nominated Marker for the award based on her efforts to unite a nation, a continent, and the world in the effort to save the cheetah. “As past chair of the Conservancy Association of Namibia for six years, Laurie used education and collaboration with local farmers and landowners to form conservancies to provide thousands of contiguous acres of land where cheetahs can roam more safely,” said Fowler. “She learned that with improved livestock and wildlife management techniques, cheetah, people and livestock can peacefully co-exist. “
The Explorers Club’s award is named in honour of Lowell Thomas, whose ambition was “to know more about this globe than anyone else ever has”, travelled to remote sites around the world in the early 1900s and led the way for modern explorers and scientists.
“I am honoured to be a recipient of this important award, which to me represents respect for the solid and objective way in which I have conducted my cheetah research and conservation work. I have had the great opportunity to live my life working for the cheetah’s survival, and this has taken me into many remote cheetah habitats in Africa and Asia. Following this path, I have been able to help develop plans for the cheetah’s survival.” Marker said. “I hope that just as many people who followed Lowell Thomas’ travels in the early 1900s will help CCF secure a future for the cheetah.“
Marker founded the non-profit Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in 1990 and based its international centre in Namibia, the country with the largest remaining wild cheetah population. The world population of wild cheetahs is approximately 10,000 individuals and is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. For more information on CCF, visit www.cheetah.org.
This year’s other Lowell Thomas Award winners are: Peter C. Keller; Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher; Curt and Micheline-Nicole Jenner; John Hare; Linda Elkins-Tanton; Ian Mackenzie and Nancy Sullivan.
Photograph Left to right: Constance Difede, Vice President for Flag and Honors of The Explorers Club; Peter Nicholson, Director of Communications, Rolex Watch, USA, Inc.; Laurie Marker; and Lorie Karnath, President of The Explorers Club. In the background, Chicago journalist and producer Bill Kurtis, the Master of Ceremonies for the evening.
The Explorers Club’s award is named in honour of Lowell Thomas, whose ambition was “to know more about this globe than anyone else ever has”, travelled to remote sites around the world in the early 1900s and led the way for modern explorers and scientists.
“I am honoured to be a recipient of this important award, which to me represents respect for the solid and objective way in which I have conducted my cheetah research and conservation work. I have had the great opportunity to live my life working for the cheetah’s survival, and this has taken me into many remote cheetah habitats in Africa and Asia. Following this path, I have been able to help develop plans for the cheetah’s survival.” Marker said. “I hope that just as many people who followed Lowell Thomas’ travels in the early 1900s will help CCF secure a future for the cheetah.“
Marker founded the non-profit Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in 1990 and based its international centre in Namibia, the country with the largest remaining wild cheetah population. The world population of wild cheetahs is approximately 10,000 individuals and is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. For more information on CCF, visit www.cheetah.org.
This year’s other Lowell Thomas Award winners are: Peter C. Keller; Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher; Curt and Micheline-Nicole Jenner; John Hare; Linda Elkins-Tanton; Ian Mackenzie and Nancy Sullivan.
Photograph Left to right: Constance Difede, Vice President for Flag and Honors of The Explorers Club; Peter Nicholson, Director of Communications, Rolex Watch, USA, Inc.; Laurie Marker; and Lorie Karnath, President of The Explorers Club. In the background, Chicago journalist and producer Bill Kurtis, the Master of Ceremonies for the evening.
EDITOR'S NOTES:
About the Cheetah Conservation Fund
Cheetah Conservation Fund PO Box 1755, Otjiwarongo - Namibia
Tel : (067) 306225 Fax: (067) 306247 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.cheetah.org
About the Explorers Club and The Lowell Thomas Awards
About the Cheetah Conservation Fund
- The Cheetah Conservation Fund is a Namibian non-profit trust dedicated to the long-term survival of the cheetah and its ecosystems.
- Since 1990, the organisation has developed education and conservation programmes based on its bio-medical cheetah research studies, published scientific research papers and has presented educational programmes to over 250 000 outreach school learners and over 1500 farmers. In addition, CCF has donated over 350 Anatolian Shepherd livestock guarding dogs to commercial and communal farmers as part of their innovative non-lethal livestock management programme.
- Research into cheetah biology and ecology has greatly increased our understanding of the fastest land animal, and education programmes for schools and the farming community help change public attitudes to allow predator and humans to co-exist. However, despite the many successes of CCF programmes, the cheetah is still Africa's most endangered big cat.
Cheetah Conservation Fund PO Box 1755, Otjiwarongo - Namibia
Tel : (067) 306225 Fax: (067) 306247 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.cheetah.org
About the Explorers Club and The Lowell Thomas Awards
- The Explorers Club is an international multidisciplinary professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research and the ideal that it is vital to preserve the instinct to explore. Since its inception in 1904, the club has served as a meeting point and unifying force for explorers and scientists worldwide. Its headquarters are located at 46 East 70th Street in New York City.
- The Lowell Thomas Award was awarded for the first time on the occasion of the club’s 75th anniversary, October 17, 1980, by club president Charles F. Brush. On special occasions this award is presented by the president of The Explorers Club to groups of outstanding explorers. The achievements of each individual recipient contribute special distinction to the other recipients.