Gregory McGruder (Vice President of Live Events, National Geographic Society) moderates a pre-recorded discussion with filmmakers Beverly and Dereck Joubert

Dereck and Beverly Joubert are award-winning filmmakers, conservationists and National Geographic Explorers at Large, who have been filming, researching and exploring Africa for over 40 years. Through their film company, ‘Wildlife Films’, they have created over 35 films, and received 8 Emmy awards. The films focus on Africa’s wildlife, with strong conservation messages at their core. The Joubert’s are founders of Rhinos Without Borders an initiative that has moved 87 rhinos from high poaching areas to safety. They also co-founded the Big Cats Initiative with National Geographic, as an emergency initiative to slow the rapid decline of big cats around the world, with over 150 grants in 28 countries. In recent years, the Joubert’s have expanded their conservation outreach through ‘Great Plains Conservation”. Dereck is CEO of the company and together with their business partners, they strive to secure African landscapes of a scale large enough to protect its resident and seasonal wildlife population. They achieve this through very light footprint safari camps that operate on these tracts of land in Botswana, Kenya and Zimbabwe. Through Great Plains Conservation, and their charity arm, ‘Great Plains Foundation’, they are running various initiatives to save Africa’s wildlife and uplift, educate and care for the surrounding communities.

Gregory McGruder serves as Curator of Global Events at the National Geographic Society, overseeing its lectures, film screenings, panel discussions, and other public events. Gregory began his career at National Geographic in 1987, and has served on various grant-making committees. He is currently a member of the committee that selects and mentors Fulbright-National Geographic Fellows. Additionally, he frequently takes part in the Society’s Science telling Boot camps in which he trains and coaches grantees on public speaking. For four years, he has served on the jury of the D.C. International Film Festival Circle Award. He also serves on the jury for the Barbados Independent Film Festival, and is a member of the board of the D.C. Environmental Film Festival. Additionally, he serves as vice president of the board of the D.C. Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative.