| The Cougar Fund Board of Directors
The mission of The Cougar Fund has captured the attention of some
of the most notable conservationists, activists, authors, business
professionals, journalists, photographers, filmmakers, and biologists
in the world.
We are proud and grateful to include the following on our Board
of Directors:
Tom Mangelsen
| Cara Blessley Lowe | John E. Swallow | Dr.
Marc Bekoff
| Webb Blessley | Howard W. Buffett
| Patricio Robles Gil | Dr. Jane
Goodall | Dr. Rick Hopkins
| Corinne E. Rutledge, ESQ | Bob
Smith
Tom Mangelsen : Co-Founder, Director
Tom Mangelsen is one the most widely recognized natural history
photographers in the world and his work is frequently seen in major
publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian, Time Magazine,
GEO, and Life.
Tom’s extensive film and photographic record of a family
of mountain lions during their unprecedented 42-day reprieve on
the National Elk Refuge in Jackson, Wyoming culminated into the
book Spirit of the Rockies: The Mountain Lions of Jackson Hole,
the first and only publication of its kind to depict the behaviors
of mountain lions in the wild. Currently in its second printing,
this book served as the timely inspiration for what has become The
Cougar Fund.
Mr. Mangelsen’s photographs are represented through his Images
of Nature galleries in sixteen locations across North America, and
his books include the bestselling Images of Nature: The Photographs
of Thomas D. Mangelsen (1988); Polar Dance: Born of the North Wind
(1996), which won the BEA Award for Best of Small Press of 1997
and was featured on Good Morning America and The Today Show. Tom
is the recipient of the BBC Nature Photographer of the Year and
NANPA Photographer of the Year and is the co-founder of The Cougar
Fund and also sits on the boards of The Jackson Hole Conservation
Alliance, Stewards of the Platte, Polar Bears Alive!, and Vital
Ground.
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Cara Blessley Lowe : Co-Founder, Director
Cara Blessley Lowe is a writer and photographer based in Los Angeles,
California. An avid lover of the outdoors and wild places, she has
traveled to India, East Africa, the Canadian Arctic, South America
and Japan, observing and documenting wildlife around the world.
After reviewing more than 10,000 of Tom Mangelsen’s photographs
of wild cougars taken in the winter of 1999, she conceived and wrote
Spirit of the Rockies: The Mountain Lions of Jackson Hole. One year
later she began production on the companion documentary, writing
and producing Spirit of the Rockies: The Film, incorporating personal
interviews, extensive hunt footage, and 16mm sequences of the mountain
lion family filmed by Mr. Mangelsen. It is through the book and
film that the plight of cougars has been exposed to an ever-widening
audience, bringing attention to the cause and leading to the creation
of The Cougar Fund.
In addition to being the staff writer for Images of Nature, Cara’s
nonfiction work has been published through the University Press
of Colorado in the book entitled Listening to Cougar along with
Marc Bekoff ,as well as on the Environmental News Network and in
the anthology, The Gift of Rivers. She also works as script supervisor
in television and film in Los Angeles, including spots for McDonald’s,
MCI, Chevy, Kellogg’s, and the Fox Network.
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John E. Swallow: Director
John Swallow developed a love and respect for nature from his earliest
days on family camping and fishing trips. In 1972 he worked with
the American Cetacean Society to educate people on the plight
of the California Gray Whale. Later he trained and handled big
cats, primates and elephants for Marine World, Africa, U.S.A.
in Redwood City, California. John collaborated on production
of The Ocean Symphony, a series of PSA’s for the Ocean
Conservancy and various partner conservation groups. John also
sits on the board of Vital Ground, an organization working with
both private and public concerns to protect and preserve North
American grizzly bear populations and habitat.
John has also pursued artistic expression since receiving his degree
in Design and Photography from California State University, Long
Beach. A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Visual Effects Branch, John has been a pioneer in cutting-edge
visual effects from his early career as Vice President of Production
at Apogee Productions, Executive Producer at Pacific Data Images,
and in his current position as Executive Vice President of Production
Technology at Universal Pictures. John lives with his wife Lori
in Los Angeles, California.
Dr. Marc Bekoff
: Director
Marc Bekoff (literati.net/Bekoff) is Professor of Biology
at the
University of Colorado, Boulder, and is a Fellow of the Animal
Behavior
Society and a former Guggenheim Fellow. In 2000 he was awarded
the
Exemplar Award from the Animal Behavior Society for major long-term
contributions to the field of animal behavior. He and Jane Goodall
co-founded the organization Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment
of
Animals in 2000 (www.ethologicalethics.org). Marc has published
more than
200 papers and 18 books including Minding animals: Awareness, emotions,
and heart and The ten trusts: What we must do to care for the animals
we
love (with Jane Goodall).He has edited a three volume Encyclopedia
of
Animal Behavior (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004), and a collection
of
his essays title Animal Passions and Beastly Virtues: Reflections
of
Redecorating Nature was published by Temple University Press (2006).
He
is currently writing a book on the evolution of cooperation and
morality
in animals titled Wild Justice and Fair Play: Cooperation, Forgiveness,
and Morality in Animals (for the University of Chicago Press) and
a book
titled The Emotional Lives of Animals for New World Library. Marc
is also
editing a four-volume encyclopedia on human-animal relationships
for
Greenwood Publishing Group.
Webb Blessley : Founding Director
Webb Blessley has over twenty-three years of experience in the corporate,
venture capital, and real estate fields. An architectural engineer
by education, Webb retired from McDonald's Corporation as Vice President
of Real Estate and Construction Worldwide in 1995. In 1991 he renewed
a long-time relationship with WalMart by installing over 2000 McDonald's
in the retailer's stores, establishing a blueprint for their Worldwide
expansion program followed to this day. In addition to his developments
in business, Webb was the founder of the Ronald McDonald Camp for
Children at Eagle Lake and has served on numerous scholarship boards.
Currently Webb is associated with Powerski International, XS City
and New Media's portfolio of companies, among them MoonCrescent
Studios, Whiz-Bang Labs, FlipDog.Com, Talk To and TeleSuite.
Post-retirement, Webb returned to his architectural roots and now
works as a contact source in alternative building and solar-power
technology, consulting on projects using ecologically-sound materials
such as straw bales to maximize energy efficiency and foster sustainability.
He and his wife Donna divide their time between Laguna Beach, California,
and the straw bale home they built in the Mojave desert in southern
Nevada.
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Howard W. Buffett : Director
Howard W Buffett is Founder of Cliffspringer LLC, a strategic advisory
organization established in 2007 as part of Columbia University's
Executive MPA Program. Cliffspringer works to bridge philanthropic,
corporate and government sector organizations such as the United
Nations, the Gerson Lehrman Group, and the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation. Mr. Buffett has served as a board member for the Clark
and Hinman Foundation, the Cougar Fund, and the FEED Foundation,
and has served on advisory or program committees for the Center
on Philanthropy, the Aspen Institute, Rockefeller Philanthropy
Advisors, and the Hewlett Foundation's Philanthropy Workshop West.
For nearly ten years, Mr. Buffett has assisted his father in domestic
and international travel activities of his family's foundation,
including site visits, photography, and field data collection.
Mr. Buffett has traveled in over 50 countries on 6 continents,
has a BA from Northwestern University and an MPA from Columbia
University.
Patricio Robles Gil : Director
Patricio Robles Gil founded Agrupación Sierra Madre and Unidos para la
Conservación in 1989 and 1992, respectively. He is currently the president
of both organizations, working on three ecoregions: the Gulf of California, the
Chihuahuan Desert, and the Mayan jungles. He has been editor of 18 books about
nature. Some of the more recent works published are: Megadiversity, Hotspots,
The Gulf of California, and The Red Book: The Extinction Crisis Face-to-Face.
He is an advisor for the Mexican Section of the Mesoamerican Corridor, the Fund
for Environmental Communication and education, Mexico’s Protected Natural
Areas, and World Wildlife Fund-Mexico. He has photographed 23 of the regions
in this book. His photographic work has appeared in several publications. He
has received various awards, such as from the BBC and the North American Nature
Photography Association (NANPA).
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Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE : Director
Perhaps the most recognizable face of the conservation movement,
Dr. Jane Goodall is the world's renowned primatologist-turned-activist
who brought the lives of chimpanzees to the forefront of animal
behavior studies with her groundbreaking research conducted in the
field in Tanzania over four decades.
A longtime champion of animals and their well-being, Dr. Goodall,
along with Genevieve, Princess di San Faustino, founded The Jane
Goodall Institute in 1977. Today, her international environmental
and humanitarian program for young people, Roots & Shoots, has
3000 4000 active groups in more than 70 countries. Dr. Jane Goodall
is the author of many bestselling books including her recently published
bestselling autobiography, A Reason for Hope.
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Dr. Rick Hopkins : Director
Rick Hopkins is Co-Owner of Live Oak Associates, an ecological consulting
firm based in San Jose, CA. Rick has a Ph.D in Wildlands Resource
Science from University of California at Berkeley, an M.A. in Biology
and a B.A. in Wildlife Zoology from San Jose State University in
San Jose, CA. His dissertation focused on cougars, more specifically,
the Ecology of the Cougar in the Diablo Range. Rick has spent 25
years in the field researching cougars and has testified before
Game and Fish Commissions in 5 different states. He is the author
or co-author of many publications including The Density and Home
Range Characteristics of Mountain Lions in the Diablo Range of California,
Monitoring Population Trends of Large Carnivores using Track Transects
and Current Techniques Used in the Research of Pumas. As an ecologist,
Rick has specialized in population ecology, predator ecology, wildlife/habitat
relationships, conservation biology, and in developing conservation
strategies for many threatened and endangered species throughout
California.
Corinne
E. Rutledge, ESQ : Director
Corey Rutledge of Cheyenne, WY, is a litigator who has worked on
various legislative matters over the years. Her husband, Kent Rutledge,
also a litigator, is a third generation Wyoming rancher. Corey has
a balanced view of the political and social realities within Wyoming,
especially concerning attitudes pertaining to predators within the
Rocky Mountain West.
Bob Smith : Director
Bob Smith is currently the Director of the Thomas D. Magelsen Stock
agency. He was formally an account executive with Apple Computer
and an instructor in computer technologies and digital imaging.
Mr. Smith holds an MBA in management from the University of Central
Arkansas and has 24 years experience in the computer industry.
He is a frequent staff member of photography workshops and seminars,
and a digital consultant.
ADVISORS
Dr. Susan G. Clark, Ph.D., CT
Ted Kerasote, WY
Bob Kuhn, AZ
Linda Sweanor, M.S., CO
Brett G. Dickson
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