The Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award was launched in 2017 to reward passionate and innovative problem solvers who have made extreme strides in saving humanity from environmental disaster. This prestigious award is managed by the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, and funds for the award are part of a $20 million gift to UCLA from the Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker Family Foundation. Each year the award provides a grant of $100,000 to someone under the age of 40 who is achieving environmental solutions through research, art, engineering or business. The winner for 2022 is set to be announced in November.

Past winners include Farwiza Farhan, who founded the nonprofit organization HAkA as part of her mission to protect the Leuser Ecosystem. This organization successfully saved the “orangutan capital of the world” from being converted to palm oil plantations.

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim was the winner in 2019, who spent the last 20 years fighting to bring awareness to the disparities Indigenous people face due to climate change. For Ibrahim, the Pritzker prize enabled her Chad-based nonprofit, the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad, to inject funding into a mapping system covering a large area around Lake Chad. Using satellite imagery, the map identifies areas of clean water and crops that are drought resilient.

Other winners include Dan Hammer who co-founded Earth Genome, a nonprofit that provides environmental data to corporate leaders, government officials and investors. Clara Pratte, the winner in 2020, made strides as the head of Navajo Power, a public benefit company that also advises on issues ranging from economic disparities to tribal sovereignty. And lastly, Miranda Wang was recognized in 2018 for co-founding Novoloop, an upcycling company that breaks down plastics into valuable base chemicals.

Learn more about the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award at UCLA Newsroom. 

Image Source: Ethan Pines