Louis Liebenberg

Executive Director, CyberTracker Conservation (www.cybertracker.org)

Louis is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of CyberTracker Conservation NPC, an Associate of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and a Laureate of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise.

His books include The Origin of Science (2013), The Art of Tracking (1990), A Field Guide to the Animal Tracks of Southern Africa (1990), Tracks and Tracking in Southern Africa (2000) and Practical Tracking (2010). His academic papers on persistence hunting by the Kalahari San have been widely cited.

He represented the ANC on the International Mission on Environmental Policy. 1995. BUILDING A NEW SOUTH AFRICA, Volume 4, Environment, Reconstruction, and Development. A report from the International Mission on Environmental Policy, with a foreword by Nelson R. Mandela.

Working as software system designer in collaboration with software programmer Justin Steventon on the ongoing development of the CyberTracker software since 1997.

Initiated the CyberTracker Tracker Certification system for trackers in 1994 in South Africa. The objective is to revitalise indigenous tracking skills and develop the art of tracking into a modern profession. The CyberTracker Tracker Certification system has gained international recognition for maintaining the highest standards for animal tracking. It has been adopted in the USA for evaluating trackers and wildlife biologists working in the wildlife sciences to ensure observer reliability in field observations. More than 7000 tracker certificates have been issued to more than 4000 trackers in Africa, North America and Europe.

Experience

2007 – present: Associate of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.
1997 – present: Executive Director and System Designer, CyberTracker software.
1994 – present: Chairman, CyberTracker Tracker Certification Standards Committee.

Education

1980: Studied Physics, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and History & Philosophy of Science at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, but discontinued formal studies.
1980 – present: Self-educated and self-employed independent tracking scientist.