On 2 June, Samantha Fanshawe, head of the Marine Conservation Society in Great Britain, received the Rachel Carson Prize for her outstanding leadership of the organisation and long-term commitment to protect the marine environment.
The Rachel Carson Prize is an environmental award in memory of Rachel Carson, the American marine biologist and author, who many considers the ”mother” of today’s environmental movements. It is awarded every two years to a “woman who has distinguished herself in outstanding work for the environment in Norway or internationally.”
The award was initiated by Berit Ås, Professor Emerita in Social Psychology at the University of Oslo, at a meeting in Stavanger, Norway, in 1991. Her initiative was acted upon by three women from Stavanger: Else Olsen, Brit Skjærvø and Venke Helene Thorsen, who formalised the Rachel Carson Prize.
The prize sets out to emphasise women’s contributions to environmental management. It is governed by a board seated in Stavanger, which appoints an independent jury – the Prize Committee – that then elects the award winner.
Sam Fanshawe was awarded this year’s Rachel Carson Prize “for her outstanding leadership of the British charity Marine Conservation Society, and for her strong and clear voice to protect the marine environment.” The purpose of the Marine Conservation Society is to protect seas, shores and wildlife, primarily concentrating on the marine environment surrounding Great Britain and the North Sea, and also influencing global initiatives.
Fanshawe received the prize in Stavanger on 2 June, as part of the city’s celebrations of the World Environment Day.
“The systematic decline in the state of our seas is one of the greatest environmental threats of this century. Without action, instead of seas teaming with fish and dolphins, the seas could become filled with algae and jellyfish, falling largely silent and empty of life”, said Fanshawe at the Prize ceremony.
Among earlier prize winners are: Renate Kűnast, previously Minister of Agriculture in Germany, for her work on improving the European Common Agricultural Policy; Professor Malin Falkenmark, Senior Scientific Advisor at Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) for her work on sustainable resource use and water supply; and Theo Colborn, Founder and President of The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX) and Professor Emeritus of Zoology at the University of Florida, Gainesville, USA, for her long-standing work on toxic chemicals, in particular endocrine disruptors.
The Rachel Carson Prize should not be confused with the Audubon Rachel Carson Award, which also awards women leaders in environmental work.