Safari in Kenya and Tanzania

Pepper Trail has traveled the world in the course of his studies on the ecology, behavior and conservation of birds. After receiving his PhD from Cornell University for his field study of one of the world’s most spectacular birds, the Guianan cock-of-the-rock, Pepper did post-doctoral research at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the California Academy of Sciences. An expert photographer and writer, his work has appeared in many publications including Science, Conservation Biology, and National Geographic.  

For over 20 years, Pepper served as the forensic ornithologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, where his work combatting the U.S. and international wildlife trade earned him the title of "the Sherlock Holmes of bird crime." He is the creator of the leading feather identification website, The Feather Atlas of North American Birds. Recently retired, Pepper continues to work for the protection of threatened birds, particularly the spectacular and endangered hornbills of Africa.

Pepper is a popular expert on trips to the world's top natural history destinations, including southern and East Africa, the Galápagos, the Amazon, New Guinea, and the South Pacific.  His knowledge, enthusiasm and sense of humor enrich the experience of birders and non-birders alike on every journey.

Grant Nel is an enthusiastic disciple for biodiversity conservation, continually travelling the globe to experience and study our planet’s myriad wildlife. After qualifying as a Zoologist, Grant opted for a career as a field naturalist. He received his ranger training at the world-renowned Mala Mala Game Reserve and has been working in the African wild for the past thirty years. Living a few hundred meters from the confluence of the Chobe and Zambezi Rivers, makes the Victoria Falls and Chobe National Park virtually his back yard. A highly respected conservation advocate, he sits on the board of two local environmental organizations and frequently consults on national ecotourism and conservation policies.

Dr. Emily Crawford is a veterinarian and conservation advocate whose lifelong fascination with the natural world has shaped a dynamic and evolving career. Growing up near the Cincinnati Zoo, she developed an early passion for wildlife through volunteer work with zoo veterinarians and educational programming focused on the protection of African wildlife and their habitats. She earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from The Ohio State University, completed advanced training at a specialty hospital in Massachusetts, then moved to Vermont, where she established a successful small animal veterinary practice in Waterbury.

Emily’s professional focus has expanded in recent years to include wildlife conservation and education. Her first safari in Tanzania with Smithsonian Journeys proved transformative, as seeing wildlife in their native habitats reaffirmed her desire to contribute more directly to conservation efforts in Africa. She is particularly interested in cheetahs and other large cats and is working to make an impact through conservation advocacy and public education. By combining her veterinary expertise with her passion for wildlife, Emily brings a unique perspective to safari-based educational travel. She is excited to share her knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm for African wildlife, helping to deepen understanding of biodiversity and the importance of protecting these remarkable animals and their habitats.

Dr. George Lohay is a Tanzanian biologist and conservation geneticist with more than 15 years of experience in wildlife research and management. He currently serves as head scientist at the Grumeti Fund, leading applied conservation research and capacity-building initiatives through the Research and Innovation for the Serengeti Ecosystem (RISE) program. His work integrates science, technology, and mentorship to support Tanzanian graduate students and early-career conservationists.

George earned his PhD in biology from Pennsylvania State University, where he investigated the genetic connectivity of African savanna elephants, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship focused on the giraffe genome project. His current research emphasizes conservation genetics, landscape connectivity, and human dimensions of wildlife conservation, including the socioeconomics of bushmeat hunting and vulture ecology. He is deeply committed to restoring Tanzania’s wildlife corridors and fostering the next generation of conservation leaders.

Tara N. Keir is a creative storyteller, conservationist, and National Geographic Explorer dedicated to exploring the human dimensions of wildlife crises around the world. Her investigative storytelling work seeks to inspire thoughtful and nuanced conversations about wildlife crime, conservation, and coexistence.

By combining illustration, writing, investigative journalism, and mapping in a creative storytelling approach, Tara invites audiences to engage with conservation stories through the perspectives of local communities while challenging reductive and often harmful mainstream narratives. By stripping away projected morals and assumptions, she encourages the public to turn the lens inward—examining the roles we all play in shaping conservation outcomes, both in our own communities and across the globe.

Tara’s work has been funded, featured, and commissioned by the National Geographic Society and National Geographic Partners, and her investigative reporting has appeared in National Geographic and The Fletcher Security Review. Her conservation-focused artwork has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, and her visual storytelling is supported through a fellowship from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

She continues to investigate illegal wildlife trade, working on projects examining the role of the United States, and exploring the relationship between humans, wildlife, and trauma in the context of poaching.

A childhood love of nature and good fortune set Ed on the path to a 35-year career with the Smithsonian. The living collections at the National Zoo, ranging from cuttlefish to kapok trees, kept his hands wet and muddy—a happy state for an organismal biologist. And opportunities to collaborate with like-minded colleagues have taken him to all continents except Antarctica.

As a naturalist, Ed is more focused on ants, plants, frogs, snakes, and birds than on megafauna. But watching an elephant in the field or listening to hippos bellowing at dawn, or seeing pink river dolphins break the mirror-like surface of a blackwater lake leaves him transfixed!

During free time, when not outdoors looking for birds, reptiles, etc., Ed enjoys gardening, reading, music, cooking, drawing, museums and keeping up with friends and second languages (primarily German, Spanish, Russian), and travel. 

Recently retired from the Amazonia Department's curatorial team, he is privileged to be able to share experiences and learn alongside Smithsonian Journeys participants once again.

Dr. Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell is a faculty member at Harvard Medical School at the Eaton Peabody Lab and has studied elephants in Namibia for almost thirty years, where she has a long-term field site and leads science expeditions. She has written eight popular books about elephants, along with dozens of scientific papers and many feature magazine articles, including two in Smithsonian Magazine. She taught creative science writing for Stanford and The New York Times and was the focus of the award-winning Smithsonian documentary, Elephant King. She has won numerous awards for her writing and photography. She has written a thriller series about the ivory trade based on her own experiences that has been converted in a comic series. She has blogged for The New York Times and National Geographic from her field site in Etosha National Park, Namibia. All her books include photographs that she and her husband, Tim Rodwell, have taken from their field site and elsewhere. She is published by such top houses as Houghton Mifflin, Simon & Schuster and Random House.

Dr. Tempe Adams is an Australian conservation ecologist who has been based in northern Botswana since 2012 and works in elephant conservation and research throughout Africa’s savanna elephant range. She has a deep passion for improving human-wildlife coexistence by combining modern technology, indigenous knowledge, our understanding of ecology, and strong community relationships to build meaning conservation polices. She previously held several roles at the Botswana-based wildlife NGO Elephants Without Borders, investigating how humans and elephants can coexist in Africa for her PhD, leading innovative research and educational studies as co-existence and education manager, and conducting aerial wildlife surveys.

Tempe holds adjunct scholar positions with the Okavango Research Institute at the University of Botswana and with her alma mater, the University of New South Wales. In these positions, she teaches and supervises post-graduate students from both Botswana and Australia in their conservation research projects within Botswana.

Tempe’s work has been published in several scientific publications and featured in an array of media platforms including the BBC, The Sunday Times, CNN, and National Geographic to name a few.

Francisco Dallmeier is a distinguished scientist internationally recognized for his expertise in integrating nature-positive solutions into energy and natural resources development. Over nearly four decades at the Smithsonian, he spearheaded the Center for Conservation and Sustainability at the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. Additionally, he led the co-creation of the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation with George Mason University and played a pivotal role in founding the Global Tiger Initiative with the World Bank.

Francisco's extensive collaborations with the private sector, governments, and academic institutions have advanced sustainable development practices worldwide and offered comprehensive training and capacity-building for hundreds of students and conservation professionals. His work has taken him around the world, and he has led tours for Smithsonian Journeys to diverse natural history destinations such as Patagonia and the tropical Andes, sub-Saharan Africa, and Australia and New Zealand.

Francisco holds a PhD and master’s in wildlife and natural resources management from Colorado State University, and his undergraduate degree in biology from the Central University of Venezuela, his birth country. As a published author, Francisco shares his passion for wildlife and the natural world through engaging presentations and photography. His easygoing personality and sense of humor further enhances his ability to inspire others with his experiences.