About us

Our mission is to tackle the complicated issues around lion conservation through advocacy for direct international funding for African wildlife reserves and development of innovative strategies to protect both lions and vulnerable human communities in an ever-evolving landscape.


 

Portrait of Craig Packer

Dr. Craig Packer, Founder

Considered the world’s foremost expert on African lions, Dr. Craig Packer is a Distinguished McKnight Professor of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota. He established the world’s first research center dedicated to the study of lions in 1986. Working with a team of PhD students and dividing his time between Minnesota and Africa, Dr. Packer’s studies of lion behavior have shaped much of what is known about these animals. Craig Packer's Bio

 


The Team

Jessica Burckhard standing near a lion

Jessica Burkhart

GRADUATE RESEARCHER

Jessica is examining the link between oxytocin and social behavior in lions, to see if this can be used to help bonding during lion re-location. Jessica Burkhart's Bio

 

Abby Guthmann seated on a rock

Abby Guthmann

GRADUATE RESEARCHER

Abby studies how livestock grazing impacts ecostsyem functioning and food-web dynamics in Kenyan Conservancies. Abby Guthmann's Bio

 

Natalia Borrego seated in front of a lion

Dr. Natalia Borrego

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER

Natalia’s work focuses on the evolutionary links between social, ecological, and cognitive complexity in lions. Natalia Borrego's Bio

 

 

Portrait of John Heydinger

John Heydinger

GRADUATE RESEARCHER AND NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY EXPLORER

John studies the unique desert-adapted lions of northwest Namibia and works with local communities to prevent human-lion conflict. John Heydinger's Bio