Ilana Pearlman

Ilana Pearlman (co-investigator) earned her BA at the University of Colorado, Boulder, in Environmental Science and Management. Ms. Pearlman worked for the Boulder County Parks Department managing a project that studied the impact of human encroachment on mountain lions. Responsilities included organizing volunteers, random surveys, mapping human/lion encounters, and lecturing at national wildlife symposiums. Ms. Pearlman also brings to this project her experience from working in the field of Geographic Information Systems for four years.

David Ole Paswa (Maasai team member) was a member of the Maasai Mara Expeditions in 1983-85. A graduate of Washington University, Mr. Paswa has worked for the United Nations (UNDP) in Kenya, and has continuously worked towards balancing the modernization of Kenya with preservation of traditional Maasai culture. He is currently working on behalf of the Maasai and will join the project on an as-need basis.

Robert Pearlman

Robert Pearlman (co-principal investigator) was a 1984 Lindbergh Foundation grant recipient for an intercultural communications project with the Maasai. The Maasai Mara Expeditions, organized and led by Mr. Pearlman with his son Scott, was also sponsored and supported by The Explorers Club, Rolex Watch USA, Abercrombie & Kent, and Discover Magazine, Filmed by British television and included in a 13-part series titled "Village Earth", the Maasai Mara Expeditions was televised in the United States on the Discovery Channel.

Since 1987, Mr. Pearlman has volunteered with the Lindbergh Foundation as a member of the Board of Directors. In 1989-91, Mr. Pearlman worked as a USAID consultant for the government of Botswana to encourage tourism and industry, and from 1984-89 he was a member of Yale University's Council Committee for the Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Mr. Pearlman also organized Planetfest, a national Explorers Club youth initiative that brought together 25 essay winners and Carl Sagan to watch the Voyager Encounter with Saturn at the Jet Propulsion Laboratories; produced pro bono materials for the Cousteau Society for five years; and was a member of a Whale Rescue Expedition to test equipment designed to save stranded marine mammals.

In 1998, Mr. Pearlman was awarded the Edward C. Sweeney Medal in recognition of his years of dedication and service to The Explorers Club.