Our Team
The Rocky Mountain Cat Conservancy started in 2008, evolving from a research study of mountain lions in the Front Range of Colorado. RMCC focuses on research, education, and community outreach. As a non-profit conservation organization, we conduct programs and educational events such as field seminars, volunteer projects and more. RMCC has hosted Wild x Wild, an event featuring a photography exhibition of wildlife photos captured from the remote cameras. The proceeds funded the future research of mountain lions and other wild animals.
Caroline Krumm
Caroline Krumm received her Bachelor's in Wildlife Biology and a Master’s in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology from Colorado State University. She has worked on various studies of chronic wasting disease in deer since 1998, including a study examining selective predation by mountain lions on diseased prey. Her interests are disease and predator-prey dynamics in wildlife populations worldwide.
Dr. Don Hunter
Don Hunter wears the hats of scientist, teacher, author and science director at RMCC. With a doctorate in wildlife ecology, he was lured into the worlds of two big cats, the mountain lion and snow leopard. Their environments, east and west, enriched his life and moved him to tithe in words his gratitude for a wonder-filled privilege of place few get to experience. He contributed and edited Snow Leopard – Stories from the Roof of the World. In Wind Horses he finds his voice for historical fiction that fuses the authentic worlds of east and west in 1875. He continues to study wild cats and write from his seven-acre home, “The Ranch,” in Colorado.
Caroline Krumm, RMCC Director with a mountain lion kitten.
Don Hunter, RMCC Science Director, on the look out for snow leopard prey in Mongolia.
David Neils
Growing up in Libby, Montana and spending most of his free time in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness area, Neils became fascinated with apex predators beginning at age six. For the past twenty years he has spent time weekly filming and studying mountain lions. He developed a system that allows him to accurately map mountain lion activity throughout the western United States, Canada and Chile. He offers a one-on-one Mountain Lion Workshop for those who are interested in applying what he’s learned after 30,000 hours in the field.
David Neils has had the honor of developing this Website for the Rocky Mountain Cat Conservancy and provided many images for the site.
To learn more about his work and focus, visit Wild Nature Media.
Ben Hunter, managing filming in Mongolia.
Dr. Rodney Jackson looking for prey animals in Mongolia.
David Neils and his dog Autumn on a Mountain Lion hike in Northern Colorado.
Thanks to Marc McCurry for providing images for this Website!
Ben Hunter
Ben is a videographer, film-maker, avid paraglider pilot and experienced drone pilot. His passion is story-telling though visual media. His body of work is strongly influenced by the back stories of extraordinary people and places. For the Mongolia project, he personally raised the funds needed for him to join the research team. His drone skills and film-making expertise are evidenced in the video, Ghost of the Gobi: Using Drones To Assess Populations Of Snow Leopard Prey Species. This film allowed the research team to share essential project results months in advance of requisite journal articles. Ben continues to hone his craft from a home base in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
Dr. Rodney Jackson
Dr. Rodney Jackson is a leading expert on wild snow leopards and their high-mountain habitat. Snow Leopard Conservancy has grown out of Rodney’s 40 years’ experience gained in working closely with rural herders and farmers whose lives are directly impacted when snow leopards’ prey upon their livestock. Upon receiving a 1981 Rolex Award for Enterprise, Rodney launched a pioneering radio-tracking study of snow leopards in the remote mountains of the Nepalese Himalaya. This four-year study led to the cover story in the June 1986 National Geographic. In addition, the June 2008 issue of National Geographic featured Rodney’s work with the Snow Leopard Conservancy-India Trust. He has been a finalist for the Indianapolis Prize in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016, and 2018 – the first to be nominated three times consecutively. The Indianapolis Prize is the world’s largest individual monetary award for animal conservation.
