Squam Lakes Natural Science Center Hosts World-renowned Big Cat Expert

HOLDERNESS — Squam Lakes Natural Science Center's Annual Meeting and Summer Celebration on August 9 will feature a very special keynote speaker.- Dr. Alan Rabinowitz. Rabinowitz, one of the world's leading big cat experts who has been called 'The Indiana Jones of Wildlife Conservation' by TIME Magazine.

Dr. Rabinowitz is currently the CEO of Panthera, a nonprofit organization devoted to saving the world's wild cat species. Prior to co-founding Panthera with the organization's Chairman, Dr. Thomas S. Kaplan, Rabinowitz served as the Executive Director of the Science and Exploration Division for the Wildlife Conservation Society for almost 30 years.

Dr. Rabinowitz has traveled the world on behalf of wildlife conservation and over the years has studied jaguars, clouded leopards, Asiatic leopards, tigers, Sumatran rhinos, bears, leopard cats, raccoons, and civets. His work in Belize resulted in the world's first jaguar sanctuary; his work in Taiwan resulted in the establishment of this country's largest protected area and last piece of intact lowland forest; his work in Thailand generated the first field research on Indochinese tigers, Asiatic leopards, and leopard cats, in what was to become the region's first World Heritage Site; and his work in Myanmar has led to the creation of five new protected areas, including the country's first marine national park, first and largest Himalayan national park, and the world's largest tiger reserve in the Hukaung Valley.

He has been profiled in The New York Times, Scientific American, Audubon, Men's Journal, Newsweek, Outside, Explorer, The Jerusalem Report, and National Geographic Adventure Magazine, and is the subject of an acclaimed PBS/National Geographic television special, "In Search of the Jaguar" and will be featured in the upcoming BBC special "Lost Land of the Tiger" filmed in Bhutan in 2010. He has appeared on the Colbert Report and the NPR Moth Radio Hour. He is also featured in a soon to be released film by acclaimed documentarian, and Holderness resident George Butler. This film, entitled "Tiger, Tiger" was filmed in India and will be released in spring 2015.

"We are thrilled to have Dr. Rabinowitz as our keynote this year," said Iain MacLeod, Executive Director of the Science Center. "His pioneering work on behalf of our planet's most vulnerable predators is inspiring and his impact and legacy outstanding," added MacLeod. "I can't wait to meet him and hear him speak."

The Science Center's Annual Meeting and Summer Celebration takes place on Saturday August 9 beginning at 5:30 pm in Holderness. The event begins with a brief annual business meeting from 5:30-6:00, then transitions to the Summer Celebration with cash bar, heavy hors d'oeuvres, and a live auction. Dr. Rabinowitz' presentation will begin at 7:30 and will be followed by a book signing at 8:30.

Members may attend the business meeting free of charge. Tickets for the Summer Celebration featuring Dr. Rabinowitz are $75. Proceeds support both the Science Center and Panthera. There will be a separate program for children 12 and under ($10 per child) with crafts, stories, activities, and food. Ticket reservations can be made online at www.nhnature.org/programs/gala.php, or call 603-968-7194, option 7.