Laurie L. Marker

Laurie Marker is an American zoologist, researcher, author, educator, and one of the world's foremost cheetah experts, who founded the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in 1990. As executive director of CCF, among many endeavors, Marker helps rehabilitate cheetahs and reintroduce them to the wild, performs research into conservation, biology and ecology, educates groups around the world, and works toward a holistic approach to saving the cheetah and its ecosystems in the wild. Before her work with CCF, Marker's career started to take off at the Wildlife Safari in the U.S., where her interest with captive cheetahs began.

Marker's family moved to Southern California when she was four years-old. She spent her childhood surrounded by animals, learning how to care for horses, dogs, cats, rabbits, donkeys and goats. Marker's family resettled in Palos Verdes, and later in San Jose, both in Northern California (USA), in time for her to finish high school at age 16. There she solidified her love for animals, starting with her dogs, and her horse on which she competed locally.

CCF has grown from sponsors and donations over the years and now occupies over 165,000 acres of mixed-use land. The program has placed over 650 dogs with farmers across Namibia and continues to expand.

Continuing scientific contributions

In the early 1980s, with collaborators at the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo and National Cancer Institute (USA), Marker helped identify the cheetah's lack of genetic variation, thus causing the species greater problems for survival. Collaboration with the two above listed institutions lead to Marker becoming executive director of the Centre for New Opportunities in Animal Health Sciences (NOAHS), in 1988, based at Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo. She continues to serve as a NOAHS Research Fellow.

Marker graduated in 2002 from Oxford University with a doctorate in zoology.

More recently, Marker joined the Steering Committee of the Greater Waterberg Complex, Namibia, in 2011, and the Steering Committee of the Natural Resource Department at Namibia University of Science and Tech in 2012. Restoration thinning reduces bush encroachment on freehold farmlands in north-central Namibia. October 4, 2021 by Nghikembua M., Marker L. L., Brewer B., Leinonen A., Mehtätalo L., Appiah M., Pappinen A. Global dataset for seized and non-intercepted illegal cheetah trade (Acinonyx jubatus) 2010–2019. February 16, 2021 by Tricorache, P., Yashphe, S., Marker L. L. Twenty-five years of livestock guarding dog use across Namibian farmlands. February 11, 2021 by Marker L. L., Pfeiffer L., Siyaya A., Seitz P., Nikanor G., Fry B., O'Flaherty C., Verschueren S.

Marker continues to travel the world, giving educational talks and presentations, fundraising and running the Cheetah Conservation Fund facilities in Namibia and Somaliland. She continues to collaborate with scientists and conservationists to increase knowledge and awareness for the cheetah and its endangered status, to develop best practices in research, education, and land use to benefit all species, including people, and to develop sustainable systems that are protective of the environment, socially responsible, and economically viable, and to save the cheetah and their ecosystems from extinction.

Awards & recognitions

1988 - White Rose Award, Oregon's Top Ten Women. 1992 - Conservationist of the Year, African Safari Club, Washington, DC. 2000 - Marker was recognized as one of Time Magazine's Heroes for the Planet. Burrows Conservation Award, Cincinnati Zoo 2001 - Windhoek Rotary Club's Paul Harris Fellowship Award. 2002 - Marker received a special award from the Sanveld Conservancy, signifying Namibia's farming community's public acknowledgement of Dr. Marker and CCF's contributions. 2003 - Chevron-Texaco Conservationist of the Year. 2005 - Living Desert's Track's in the Sand – Conservationist of the Year. 2008 - Zoological Society of San Diego's Lifetime Achievement Award. Tech Museum's Intel Environmental Award, Society of Women Geographers' Gold Medal, Indianapolis Prize Finalist. 2009 - BBC World Challenge Finalist, St Andrews Prize for the Environment Finalist, International Wildlife Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award. 2010 - Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. Finalist for the BBC World Challenge Award. The Explorers Club Lowell Thomas Award, Indianapolis Prize Finalist. 2011, 2012 - Rainer Arnhold Fellow. 2013 - Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large, Cornell University, International Conservation Caucus Foundation(ICCF) Good Steward Award. 2015 - Ulysses S. Seal Award for Innovation in Conservation, E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Technology Pioneer Award, Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal Award. 2020 - Explorers Club President's Award for Conservation.

Publications

A Future for Cheetahs (2014) by Dr. Laurie Marker (author), Suzi Ezsterhas (photographer). Chewbaaka (2017) by Dr. Laurie Marker and Jessie Jordan. Cheetahs: A Celebration of Speed and Elegance (2018) by Dr. Laurie Marker (author), Suzi Ezsterhas (photographer). Teacher's Resource Guide: A Predator's Role in the Ecosystem (multiple editions) By Dr. Laurie Marker and The Cheetah Conservation Fund. Cheetahs – Biology and Conservation (2018) A volume in the Series: Biodiversity of the World: Conservation from Genes to Landscapes; edited by Laurie Marker; Lorraine K. Boast; Anne Schmidt-Küntzel. Series Editor – Philip J. Nyhus.