Rodney Jackson, director of the Snow Leopard Conservancy, is widely considered the leading world expert on the snow leopard, having devoted over forty years to researching and conserving this elusive cat in South and Central Asia.

Upon receiving the 1981Rolex Award for Enterprise, Jackson launched a pioneering radio-tracking study of snow leopards in the Nepalese Himalayas. The four-year study resulted in a cover story in National Geographic in June 1986.

He has been a finalist for the Indianapolis Prize in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016, and 2018 and was the first person to be nominated three times consecutively. The Indianapolis Prize, awarded biennially, is the world’s largest individual monetary award for animal conservation. He has trained biologists across many of the snow leopard’s twelve range countries, although his real passion is for helping local people coexist with this elusive predator.

His and Darla Hillard’s work with rural communities led to the establishment of the Snow Leopard Conservancy in 2000 and the development
of grassroots interventions, including predator-proofed corrals, Himalayan homestays, and a suite of other economic incentives to
transform the snow leopard from a pest to a valuable asset in the eyes of local people.

Photo by Darla Hillard.