Chris Palmer
Distinguished Film Producer in Residence and Director of the Center for Environmental Filmmaking, School of Communication, American University
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Chris Palmer is a wildlife filmmaker. He has traveled the globe, swum with dolphins and whales, confronted sharks, come face-to-face with Kodiak bears, camped with wolf packs, and waded hip-deep through an Everglades swamp.

He joined American University in August 2004 and is working to establish the Center for Environmental Filmmaking at the School of Communication. In addition to being a professor on the AU faculty, Chris produces films and gives speeches and workshops all over the country. He is writing a book called Adventures in Wildlife Filmmaking and another one on how to father daughters effectively.

Chris is also Vice President of Special Projects at MacGillivray Freeman Films, the largest and most successful producer and distributor of IMAX films in the world.

In 1983, Chris founded the non-profit organization National Audubon Society Productions and served as President and CEO for 11 years. In 1994, he founded the non-profit National Wildlife Productions (part of the National Wildlife Federation and the largest conservation organization in the US) and served as President and CEO for ten years. Chris directed NWF's launch into broadcast, cable, syndication, home video, new media, large format and international markets.

Chris spent over 20 years producing more than 300 hours of original programming for prime time television and the large format film industry. His films were broadcast on the Disney Channel, TBS Superstation, Animal Planet, Home and Garden Television, The Travel Channel, The Outdoor Life Network, for the Public Broadcasting System and in the global system of IMAX theaters. His IMAX films include Whales, Wolves, Dolphins, Bears, India: Kingdom of the Tiger and Coral Reef Adventure.

Chris and his colleagues have won many awards, including two Emmys and an Oscar nomination. His movies, music videos, documentaries and computer software have all focused on documenting threatened species and habitats, exposing damaging commercial enterprises and practices while celebrating environmental success stories. In 1994, Palmer was honored with the Frank G. Wells Award from the Environmental Media Association for "contributing to environmental protection year after year."

Profiles of Chris have appeared in many publications, including the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. He has been interviewed on the Today Show. He has jumped out of helicopters, worked on an Israeli kibbutz, and was a high school boxing champion. Chris has worked with many celebrities in his films, including Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Jane Fonda, Ted Turner and Ted Danson.

Chris is a frequent and popular speaker at conferences and film festivals. Besides giving speeches on the secrets of wildlife filmmaking, he also talks about how to live a fulfilling life, how to raise money, how to give effective presentations, and how to triple your productivity.

He serves on the boards of six not-for-profit organizations, all related to environmental filmmaking, including the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, Filmmakers For Conservation, the International Wildlife Media Center and Film Festival, the Large Format Cinema Association, the MacGillivray Freeman Films Educational Foundation and Green Planet Films.

He is also a husband (to Gail Shearer) and the father of three daughters (Kim, Christina and Jenny). Gail, Chris and their daughters live in Bethesda, Maryland. Chris was born in Hong Kong, grew up in England and emigrated to the US in 1972.

Before Chris became a producer of environmental films, he was a naval officer, an engineer, a business consultant, an energy analyst, chief energy advisor to a senior U.S. Senator, a political appointee in President Jimmy Carter's EPA, and an environmental lobbyist.

He has three degrees and was a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard. He has a B.S. with First Class Honors in Mechanical Engineering from University College London, an M.S. in Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture also from University College London, and a second masters degree in Public Administration from Harvard University.