WILD

Robert Cleaves

One of the founders of The WILD Foundation and General Counsel for many years, Dr. Cleaves is a retired attorney and former jet test pilot. Currently, he holds the highest civilian aeronautical license (“Airline Transport Pilot”) issued by the FAA. His distinguished career includes service to both government and the private sector, and he is founder and President of the Wilderness Conservancy. Considered an expert on the use of aircraft in antipoaching, Dr. Cleaves has been active in conservation in southern Africa for 30 years, and more recently in Mexico.

Michael Fay

Michael Fay received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Arizona and then spent six years with the Peace Corps as a botanist in national parks in Tunisia and the savannas of the Central African Republic. He went on to work with Peter Raven at the Missouri Botanical Garden, originally to do a floristic study on a mountain range along Sudans western border, before ending up completing his Ph.D. on the western lowland gorilla. t was at this time that he first entered the forests of central Africa where he still works. Doctoral work was curtailed several times while he surveyed large forest blocks and worked to create and manage the Dzanga-Sangha and Nouabale-Ndoki parks in the Central African Republic and Congo. In 1996, Fay started flying a small airplane low over the forests of Congo and Gabon and realized that there was a vast, intact forest corridor that spanned these two countries from the Oubangui to the Atlantic Ocean. In 1997 he decided to walk the entire corridor, over 2000 miles, systematically surveying trees, wildlife and human impacts on twelve uninhabited forest blocks. He further developed this project, titled the Megatransect, with the objective of bringing to the worlds attention the last pristine blocks of forest in central Africa and the need for protection. Mike has worked for the past thirteen years for the Wildlife Conservation Society of the Bronx and for the past four years as an Explorer in Resident at the National Geographic Society in Washington, DC. He is currently focused on the redwood forests of Northern California, conducting an extended megatransect of this critically endangered ecosystem.

Patricio Robles Gil

A professional nature photographer and devoted conservationist, Patricio Robles Gil founded Agrupación Sierra Madre and Unidos para la Conservación in 1989 and 1992, respectively. He is currently president of both organizations and has, throughout his career, served as a liaison between various sectors of society in order to broadcast and carry out conservation projects on behalf of the natural wealth of Mexico and the world. Robles Gil has worked jointly with renowned organizations and institutions like Conservation International, World Wildlife Fund, and US Fish and Wildlife Service, among others. As a nature photographer, he has traveled throughout four continents to photograph wilderness and biodiversity. Patricio’s photographs have appeared in many well-known magazines such as Terre Sauvage, Natural History, International Wildlife, and National Geographic, among others. He has also participated as an editor and graphic designer for twenty five books that have helped define the global agenda for conservation. He has co-authored several books with The WILD Foundation, including Transboundary Conservation, The Last of the Wild, and Human Footprint: Challenges for Wilderness and Biodiversity. Patricio has earned numerous honors for his work as a photographer and conservationist such as: the Recognition Award and the Outstanding Nature Photographer Award, both presented by the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA), and an honorary mention for the Premio Nacional al Mérito Ecológico by Mexico’s former President, Vicente Fox. He is also a founding member of International League of Conservation Photographers. Among many other things, he was also WILD’s leading partner in the planning and implementation of WILD 9 – the 9th World Wilderness Congress (Mexico, 2009).

Morgan Heim

Morgan is a Colorado-based mulitmedia journalist, holding both a B.S. in zoology and M.A. in environmental journalism. Many of her stories focus on the uncommon nature of the human/wildlife connection from prairie dogs living in Denver’s ditches to border agents restoring wetlands as a way to fight crime. She has worked with Smithsonian Magazine, High Country News, the Nature Conservancy Magazine, OnEarth.org, Art for Conservation and the National Wildlife Federation. Along with freelancing, she works as the science writer and photographer for the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), where she communicates groundbreaking research in the interdisciplinary Earth sciences, including polar processes, hydrology and climate. Morgan is an Emerging Member of the International League of Conservation Photographers and was an active participant at WILD9.

Carl Hilker

Based in Ohio, Carl and his wife Cathryn (a leading public education expert on endangered cats, and a professional animal trainer), are life-long conservationists. Carl describes himself as aviation entrepreneur, geologist, farmer, conservationist, railroad buff, and collector of cannons and tall stories. Carl and Cathryn, along with some other “cheetah believers,” purchased the farm which became the Cheetah Conservation Fund Research and Education Center in Namibia. Carl also owns his own farm in Namibia, and helps coordinate WILD’s field programs that involve purchase, maintenance and deployment of anti-poaching and wildlife survey aircraft.

Larry Kopald

After beginning his career at Ogilvy & Mather in New York, Larry rose through the ranks at global agencies such as Leo Burnett, DDB, and Foote, Cone & Belding, where he spent his last stint as an Executive Creative Director and ran nearly $500 million in annual advertising. Becoming one of four partners in THINK New Ideas, an agency created to combine global marketing capabilities with bleeding-edge technology, Larry helped grow the agency to 700 employees in the US and Europe within five years before the company was acquired. A sampling of his clients includes McDonalds, American Express, Honda, Mazda, Universal Studios, Coke, Pepsi, and Oracle.

In addition to helping brands, products, and companies Larry has had a strong commitment to working for organizations that bring positive impact to the world. This includes extensive work in the environment, early child education, healthcare, and international labour and human rights. As the head of Hollywood’s Earth Communication Office, for example, Larry created films seen by over a billion people a year in a hundred countries. His work has been celebrated in such varied and distinct places as the Harvard Business Review, Esquire, and Advertising Age and been nominated for Emmy and Grammy awards in addition to winning hundreds of advertising awards. He has also been honored at the United Nations for his work on the environment, and currently sits on boards of Oceana, WILD, 1‰ For The Planet, and the National Marine Sanctuaries.

Michael McBride

Michael McBride and his wife, Diane, are the founders/owners of The Kachemak Bay Wilderness Lodge near Homer Alaska, named as one of the “World’s Best Small Resorts” by the Harper Hideaway Report. He served for six years as a member of the Smithsonian’s National Board, is a former Trustee of the Nature Conservancy and founder of the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies. The Center is a winner of the National Science Foundations award for excellence in science education and, now in its 25th year, over 43,000 children have experienced multi-day marine science programs. Mr. McBride has worked for several Alaskan governors in a variety of capacities. He is an Advisory Board member of Project Lighthawk and a founding patron for “The Bateleurs – Volunteer Pilots Flying for Conservation in Africa.” He has led expeditions around the world, is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a member of the Explorers Club, and a Master Guide. He also writes and lectures about the importance of Alaska to America’s future.


Andrew Muir

Concentrating on wild habitats, Andrew has understood natural areas as a context for both social and environmental reform. The programs he has initiated since 1987 have impacted over ninety-five thousand South Africans, mostly from previously disadvantaged backgrounds. As an environmental activist and leader who targets community influencers – youth leaders; politicians and opinion leaders – Andrew develops opportunities for extending socio-political perceptions, reforming environmental legislation, developing environmental awareness among emerging young black leaders and for activating a future for orphans of the Aids crisis. In 2000, Andrew joined the Wilderness Foundation as the Executive Director in Africa. He has a Masters Degree in Environment and Development from the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg and serves on a number of non-profit and conservation Boards. In addition he is a Co-Founder and Trustee of Usiko Rites of Passage, Chairman of the Wilderness Leadership School Trust, Associate of the Gaia Foundation (UK), Director of the Board of Open Africa Initiative and Member and Deputy Chairperson of the Eastern Cape Provincial Parks Board.

Jo Roberts

Jo Roberts has been Director of the Wilderness Foundation UK since 2004 but involved as projects Director and project coordinator since 1998. South African by birth, Jo has enjoyed a rich life of wild places in many parts of Africa as she grew up. She graduated and worked as a Social Anthropologist during the time of Apartheid, working mainly with rural communities and migrant workers. As a passionate conservationist and traveler always interested in new adventures, Jo has explored wilderness areas around the world on foot, canoe and on horseback. She is never happier than sitting quietly listening and absorbing all the elements of wild places. Her main interest in life is the vital connection between humanity and nature, and the value that experiential learning and outdoor education brings to social and personal change. Jo focuses her attention on linking wilderness trails to peace and reconciliation and the effects of wilderness on developing sound youth leadership built on environmental awareness and ethics, and the turn around potential for youth who are vulnerable or at risk. Using the extensive wilderness network and her close link to South Africa and programmes running there, she merges best practice from around the world into creative programmes that suit British climate and culture. Jo is married with two teenagers and lives in Essex with her family.

Jaime Rojo

Jaime Rojo studied Environmental Sciences at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and the Université de Lausanne in Switzerland. His passion for conservation of wild nature, coupled with his interest in photography, led him from Spain to Mexico where, for the past six years, he has been working for two local conservation NGOs, Sierra Madre and Unidos para la Conservacion. During this time he has participated in different projects to promote the concept of wilderness in Latin America, such as El Carmen-Big Bend Conservation Corridor or WILD9, the 9th World Wilderness Congress, in which he was the Executive Director in Mexico City. He is also an Emerging Member of the International League of Conservation Photographers.

Bittu Sahgal

Bittu Sahgal’s innate affinity for nature, borne of frequent treks and camping trips to the Indian wilderness, has propelled his career in both publishing and on-the-ground activism for nature conservation. He publishes Cub Magazine, and The Ecologist Asia, plus an environmental features syndication service. He is founder and editor of Sanctuary Magazine and has produced over thirty conservation-oriented documentary films seen by millions of Indians over the national television Network, Doordarshan, in the 1980s. Bittu’s eloquent outspokenness against destructive development projects, the use of toxic chemicals, government usurpation of natural resources belonging to communities at large, and much more, has put him in high profile struggles too numerous to record. His ability to influence government policy through his enlightened activism is well known. Bittu has held several honorary positions on government and non-government committees including the Indian Board for Wildlife, Project Tiger, Environment Expert Committee, Animal Welfare Board, and the Maharashtra Advisory Board. In 2004 Sahgal received the Society for Conservation Biology, Distinguished Service Award (Education and Journalism). He also founded the highly successful Kids for Tigers, an all-India initiative in which kids lobby to save the Bengal tiger.

Partha Sarathy

Partha Sarathy, a former long-term Board member of The WILD Foundation and Chair of the 6th Word Wilderness Congress, has been involved in conservation both nationally as well as internationally for over four decades. Sarathy participated in the conservation movement in India for several years, at both Government and NGO levels – as an active protagonist of “Project Tiger,” among other initiatives. He founded the Bangalore office of the World Wildlife Fund and was elected its Chair, as a member of the National Board of WWF in Delhi, and as a representative for India at meetings of the International Board of WWF. He was later elected to the Board of IUCN and as Chair of its Commission on Education and Communication for nearly nine years, during which he established branches of IUCN’s Commission on Education in East Africa and Eastern Europe. He was named Chair of the IUCN Task Force on the Asian Elephant and spear-headed the movement against Ivory Poaching. Sarathy also participated in the drafting of “Agenda 21″ as a member of the Preparatory Committee of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and was named a member of the United Nations University (Tokyo, Japan) Committee on Traditional Knowledge. Partha leads a very active life traveling all over the world carrying his missionary spirit towards the protection of the environment. He writes frequently, is a broadcaster, and an international award-winning film-maker. He was awarded the “Palm d’ Orr” Award at the International Film Festival in Cannes, France, as well as the Foreign Press Association Award in the USA for Technical Direction of a feature film. Partha founded NatureScreen International, an international film festival organization which organizes film festivals on nature-related subjects all over the world. He also founded the International Environmental Film Festival organization in South Africa, and is involved with several other international film festivals. He lives with his wife, two children and two grand-daughters in Bangalore, India.

Peter Stranger

Peter Stranger is Managing Partner of Kopald/Stranger, a company focused on applied strategy, communications and vision for ethical corporations and non-profit organizations. Peter was born in South Africa, raised and educated in England and began a career in advertising in the US. He achieved positions such as CEO of J. Walter Thompson West, President of Della Femina/Los Angeles, and Managing Partner of Bozell in Irvine, California. Peter ran companies with accounts in every category from automotive to packaged goods, entertainment to financial services, and airlines to alcoholic beverages. Former clients include Taco Bell, 20th Century Fox, Transamerica, Isuzu, Ralston Purina and Singapore Airlines.

Peter has consulted for The Rocky Mountain Institute, The Forum for Education and Democracy, the WILD Foundation, the Green LA Coalition, and Esalen Institute. He is on the advisory board of Oceana. He has co-produced a documentary film on the JPL scientists responsible for the Mars Rover missions, developed a concert series to raise funds to combat AIDS and malaria and lead a safari to Botswana. For 12 years he was a Trustee of Pitzer College, and for 10 years a Director of the Los Angeles Opera, where he was Chairman of its Marketing Committee. He is a Founding Director of CityLife Downtown Charter School in Los Angeles and a Founding Director of The Oaks School in Hollywood. He and his wife, Camille, have fledged their two children from their Hollywood Hills home.