IAN McCALLUM

A medical doctor, psychiatrist and analytical psychologist, he is also a specialist wilderness guide, an author and a poet. He has spent the last ten years guiding throughout Southern Africa and parts of East Africa. His special interests focus on evolutionary theory, consciousness and the animal-human interface, what we learn about ourselves from the animals, and astronomy.

His anthology of wilderness poems, Wild Gifts, was published in 1999 followed a year later by his novel Thorns to Kilimanjaro. His highly acclaimed book Ecological Intelligence - Rediscovering Ourselves in Nature, which addresses the interconnectedness of all living things and ultimately, the survival of the human animal, was first published in 2005 and is into its third print run. Ian has recently developed Wild Leaders and The Spoor of Influence, corporate leadership programmes based on the principles of ecological intelligence.

His other interests include photography (Agfa Wildlife category winner 2001) and sport (he is a former rugby Springbok, 1970-74). He is a patron of the Wilderness Foundation and a trustee of the Cape Leopard Trust. He has travelled extensively in South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania.