Working as a volunteer at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo, Freeman became fascinated with the snow leopards there and learned about their endangered plight.

She also began the trust’s philosophy of helping the people sharing the snow leopard’s habitat improve their standard of living in exchange for protecting the animal.

Co-operation with communities in snow leopard range countries forms the basis of the trust's on-the-ground conservation work.

When a region has been identified as a place of significant snow leopard habitat, the trust works with local residents to understand their needs and then jointly develop conservation programs.

Over 300 families in Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan participate by making handicraft products from the wool of their livestock to increase their income in return for helping protect the snow leopard in their region.

[6] The aim of this project is to study all aspects of snow leopard ecology, and researchers will employ a variety of methods including trap cameras and GPS radio collaring.

The trust has established a base camp in the Tost Mountains, approximately 250 km (160 mi) west of the provincial capital of Dalanzadgad, and in the first wave of researchers were scientists from Argentina, Mongolia, the United States and Sweden.

Prior to the launch of this long-term study, trust scientists captured a female snow leopard (named Bayad) in Chitral Gol National Park in northern Pakistan on 17 November 2006, fitting her with a GPS satellite collar in order to accurately collect detailed knowledge regarding the species’ movements and home range size.

[citation needed] Through its Indian partner NGO, Nature Conservation Foundation, and in collaboration with the Himachal Pradesh Forest Department, the trust will launch a similar, long-term snow leopard study in Spiti Valley, India, in the fall of 2014.

Dr. George Schaller, one of the first people to ever study snow leopards, and Dr. Urs Breitenmoser, co-Chair of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group, delivered keynote address.

Outputs of the conference include an updated map of snow leopard range, country-specific action plans and three resolutions.