Great Plains Conservation is first and foremost a conservation company working to save Africa’s last wild places. Through its innovative approach; combining low-impact luxury travel with world-class impact-orientated conservation initiatives, it is protecting over 1M acres of pristine wilderness in Botswana, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
Great Plains Conservation is changing the way we experience Africa. Founded in 2006 as a first-of-its-kind conservation tourism company, Great Plains has fine-tuned the successful business-conservation model combining low-impact, high-dollar tourism experiences with strategic, sustainable, and impact-oriented conservation. Holding true to its original charter, its shareholders do not take dividends but rather reinvest the profits into Great Plains’ conservation footprint.
As a hybrid organization, with both commercial and charitable sides, Great Plains Conservation demonstrates the significant impact responsible tourism and individual travelers have on conservation; leaving lasting legacies for generations to come. Great Plains Conservation and its Foundation’s initiatives span a wide range from relocating more than 100 rhino from areas of intense poaching, to expanding wildlife corridors for lion and elephant, to supporting cultural adaptations of conservation practices, and distributing solar lanterns to communities without access to electricity. Through all of its efforts Great Plains operates with the same ethos: humans need wild places. They need them to renew their souls, to remind us of what we are, and who we want to be.
Join the Director of the Great Plains Conservation Foundation, Anna Rathmann, as she shares examples of the legacy socially-conscience and conservation-oriented travelers are having on Africa through Great Plains Conservation.
Please note that no refunds will be issued.
Speaker
Director, Great Plains Foundation
Working to expand and protect natural habitats in Southern Africa, Anna Rathmann leads the Great Plains Foundation as its Director. As the charitable arm of Great Plains Conservation, the Foundation identifies and implements sustainable wildlife, land, and community conservation initiatives throughout Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. Ms. Rathmann began her career in conservation as a Park Ranger in Yellowstone National Park and later spent more than a decade with the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C. Through the Great Plains Foundation, Ms. Rathmann is working to develop effective and sustainable conservation practices that ensure the continued existence of some of the most fragile and threatened ecosystems in the world.
Moderator
Dan Beaupre is Vice President, Experiences in the National Geographic Society's Education division. Throughout his career Beaupre has inspired individuals to engage in science, geography, and conservation through experiential learning. He leads National Geographic's experience-based programs, including the National Geographic Bee, Giant Traveling Maps, student challenges, and National Geographic Live Student Matinees. He is a former classroom teacher and curriculum writer for PBS productions. Beaupre is the recipient of awards and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Danish-American Fulbright Commission, and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. In 1998 he received the Distinguished Teacher Award from the White House. Beaupre graduated with honors with a B.A. in History from the University of Vermont, and has a Master's Degree in educational policy from Harvard University.
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