Brian’s previous job at the Zoo was to raise money and then to spend it on environmental projects around the world. Presently, he’s the Zoo’s Honorary Conservation Advisor to their outreach efforts, a former Adjunct Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the U of C, the owner of www.goingwild.org & the co-director of www.greatBIGnature.com
He’s been leading groups on nature-based travel for over 3 decades, exploring some of the best wildlife areas on the Planet. He’s a weekly guest on Calgary’s CBC Radio, and frequently appears on other media outlets. He’s in high demand as an international speaker, presenting at some 40 events a year.
Brian’s a pilot, a naturalist, scuba diver, mountaineer, the author of 5 children’s books celebrating nature. He’s an honorary chief of a West African village which supports a hippo sanctuary.
Brian has been presented with the distinguished “Canadian Hero of the Year” award (Reader’s Digest Magazine); an Honorary Doctor of Science degree (Brandon University 2009); an Honorary Doctor of Laws (University of Calgary 2011); and the “Stan Hodgkiss Canadian Outdoorsperson of the Year Award” (Canadian Nature Federation 2017). All 4 accolades were presented in recognition of his global environmental efforts. Brian was recently inducted as a “Fellow” into The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (2016), and in 2020, received their “Louie Kamookak Medal” for making Canada better known to Canadians and the World. That year, he also received the “Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal” for his service to the natural world.
Finally, the “Brian Keating Conservation Endowment Fund”, named in his honour (2017), presently has accumulated three million dollars. The annual interest from this fund will be used to support conservation outreach efforts world-wide.
His wife, Dee, is a physician and keen naturalist who always joins him on his adventures.
