Young Conservation Leaders Award - The Conservation Foundation

September 9th 2024

3rd Annual Young Conservation Leaders Award Winners Announced

We are excited to announce three new recipients of our Young Conservation Leaders Award.

The Conservation Foundation Young Conservation Leaders Award Programme is a comprehensive initiative crafted to cultivate and honour the commitment of young individuals to environmental stewardship throughout their formative years, with an eye toward widening participation in the field of conservation. This program is thoughtfully structured into three distinct levels, each tailored to the participants’ age and developmental stage, ensuring that their engagement with conservation evolves meaningfully over time.

The Level 3: Emerging Conservation Leaders (ages 18-30) is designed for university students and recent graduates, offering advanced support for those pursuing leadership roles in conservation. This stage includes opportunities for conducting research, leading conservation initiatives, and engaging in community advocacy. Participants in this level are eligible for a financial award, networking opportunities with established conservation leaders, and recognition at prestigious events, all aimed at furthering their impact in the field. To find out more about the Level 3 Award click here.

For 2024 we have continued our partnership with Exeter University’s Marine Environmental Management and Marine Vertebrate Ecology and Conservation MSc programmes.

“With world oceans now massively degraded by human impacts, MSc graduates in subjects like “Marine Environmental Management” or “Marine Vertebrate Ecology and Conservation” are required to help address the problems involved. To achieve a Young Conservation Leaders Award, the recipients have shown exceptional drive for conservation work though volunteering and all intend to use their prize money to pursue more of this. As skills and knowledge from an MSc need application practise, the opportunity to gain experience from further volunteering is career enhancing”. Dr. Julie Hawkins, Senior Lecturer in Marine Environmental Management, Exeter University.

YCLA 2023 Winners:

Dani Seales

Dani is currently completing Exeter’s MSc in Marine Environmental Management and thereafter will return to her home in Cayman Islands to work in marine science and outreach. As Dani is passionate about sea turtle conservation, she will specialize in this arena. She has already gained considerable expertise in it, having led on efforts to monitor turtle abundance and nesting activity. Whilst conducting her MSc, Dani represented Cayman Islands at COP28 as a “youth delegate” to deliver a speech on the connection between culture, heritage, and climate change. Dani will use her YCL award to ease the financial burden acquired from doing an MSc.

Natalie Pramuk

Natalie is completing Exeter’s MSc in Marine Environmental Management and aims to pursue a PhD, eventually working in a political body like UNEP to support environmental legislation with her scientific knowledge. With experience in bioacoustics, mussel conservation, blue health, and sea-grass conservation, she has worked at the Eden Project on public engagement and as a Marine Conservation Society Community Speaker. As an undergraduate, she helped create accessibility measures for refugee students at Exeter. Natalie will use her YCL award to learn to dive for conservation internships requiring this skill.

Emily Sissons

Emily is completing Exeter’s MSc in Marine Environmental Management and aims to pursue a PhD focused on marine biodiversity and climate change, with goals of advocating for university access for underrepresented groups and better inclusion of women in science. Alongside her MSc, she volunteers at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary and assists with fieldwork on Herring gulls and antimicrobial resistance. As an undergraduate, she was Senior Editor of the Science section of her university newspaper, a student mentor, and involved in promoting university access. Emily has also worked on a turtle conservation project in Greece and volunteered extensively at a local Nature Reserve. She will use her YCL award to ease the financial burden from her MSc.

“I am delighted that we are working with Exeter University for a third year in a row to present more Young Conservation Leaders Awards. We know that places like Exeter are full of young people wanting to use their talents to work on a range of environmental projects and so it is great for us to provide some of them with help to develop their skills to benefit them and our future world. David Shreeve MBE, Founder & Director of The Conservation Foundation.

If you would like to find out more about the Young Conservation Leaders Award or make a donation towards future awards please click on the link below.

YCLA