News Release :
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                          CONTACTS:
Wednesday, July 23,1997                                                   Sue Knapp, New England Aquarium
                                                                                           617/973-5213
                                                                                           Barbara Beck, Pew Charitable Trusts
                                                                                           215/575-4816
 
THE PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS AWARD FELLOWSHIPS
FOR CRITICAL MARINE CONSERVATION PROJECTS
 
BOSTON, MA- Saving endangered dolphins in New Zealand and keeping tabs on Atlantic bluefin tuna for international fishing treaties are two of the ten marine conservation projects funded this year by the Pew Fellows Program in Conservation and Environment. The Program is a partnership of The Pew Charitable Trusts, the largest U.S. foundation supporter of efforts to protect the environment, and the New England Aquarium.
The Pew Fellows Program provides annual awards of $ 150,000 each to ten of the world’s outstanding marine scientists, advocates, and policy makers from across the globe. The awards, which are widely viewed as the preeminent marine fellowships in the world, support innovative work in four areas: fisheries conservation and management, coastal management, marine pollution and marine ecosystem conservation.
“The purpose of this program is to encourage and support efforts of some of the world’s most talented marine scientists and conservationists in solving major problems affecting the marine environment,” says Joshua S. Reichert, director of The Pew Charitable Trust’s Environment Program. “Because the oceans play such a vital role in our lives and in the future of all life on earth, and because marine systems are so neglected in comparison to their terrestial counterparts, the Trusts feel that it’s imperative to direct more attention to the plight of the world’s oceans.”
The 1997 Pew Fellows in Conservation and the Environment include non-profit conservation professionals, scientists, field researchers, grassroots activist, and academics from Canada, India, Palau, Turkey, and the United States. (Attached is a list of this year’s Pew Fellows and detailed descriptions of their projects.)
Despite their diversity, all share one thing in common: their peers consider them among the most outstanding individuals in their fields, with great potential to help solve the world’s most pressing conservation problems.
“The 1997 Pew Fellows are not only visionary leaders in marine conservation, they are also adept at solving actual problems to protect critical marine species and habitats,” says Jerry Schubel, New England Aqurium president. “Their work has important remifications for innovative marine conservation strategies, deployment of new technologies, and the establishment of policy at the regional, national, and international levels.”
The Pew Fellowships are competitive awards based on the applied conservation merit of the proposal, the individual’s professional achievement, and the potential impact of the project. Since the inception of the program in 1990, fellows have been selected from throughout the United States and countries around the world including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, the UK and Vietnam. Noted past recipients include Robert Costanza, founder of the International Society of Ecological Economics, Donella Meadows, author of Limits to Growth, and Nobel Prize winner Mario Molina of M.I.T. who predicted the ozone hole.
The Pew Charitable Trusts, among the largest philanthropies in the United States, suppotr nonprofit activities in the environment, culture, education, health and human services, public policy, and religion. Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Trusts make strtegic investments to encourage civic engagement in addressing critical issues and effecting social change.
The New England Aqurium (NEAq) opened in 1969 as the nation’s firs modern aquarium and currently attracts more than 1.2 million visitors each year. NEAq is known for its role in regional, national and international marine conservation efforts and for its innovative educational programs.
For more information on the Pew Fellows in Conservation and the Environment and the Pew Fellows Program, contact Cynthia Robinson, associate director, at 617-720-5100 or via e- mail: crobinson@neaq.org