Sylvia earle, 2017
Sylvia Earle has led more than 100 expeditions and clocked more than 7,000 hours underwater. She was captain of the first fully female team to live under water in 1970, and with her research colleagues received a reception at the White House. In 1979 she did a deeper solo dive than any other woman before or since. In the 1980s, she started Deep Ocean Engineering and Deep Ocean Technologies to design subsea vessels for previously unavailable depths. In the early 1990s she worked as Chief Scientist at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
Few people have done more to create engagement, strengthen research and knowledge, and contribute to a better marine environment than Sylvia Earle. She won the TED-talk award in 2009 and fights relentlessly to ensure that marine conservation areas cover 20 % of the world’s ocean by 2020. We are proud to welcome this remarkable woman to Norway and to Stavanger in October to receive the prize.
The Norwegian Rachel Carson Prize is an international environmental award presented in Stavanger every second year. The prize was founded in 1991 and Sylvia Earle is the 14th recipient of the prize. The prize is awarded to a woman who has made a significant contribution to our physical habitat nationally or internationally. The prize aim to highlight women’s contributions for a better living environment and inspire creativity and innovation. It consists of prize money and the bronze statue “ The Cormorant” by the artist Irma Bruun Hodne.
Few people have done more to create engagement, strengthen research and knowledge, and contribute to a better marine environment than Sylvia Earle. She won the TED-talk award in 2009 and fights relentlessly to ensure that marine conservation areas cover 20 % of the world’s ocean by 2020. We are proud to welcome this remarkable woman to Norway and to Stavanger in October to receive the prize.
The Norwegian Rachel Carson Prize is an international environmental award presented in Stavanger every second year. The prize was founded in 1991 and Sylvia Earle is the 14th recipient of the prize. The prize is awarded to a woman who has made a significant contribution to our physical habitat nationally or internationally. The prize aim to highlight women’s contributions for a better living environment and inspire creativity and innovation. It consists of prize money and the bronze statue “ The Cormorant” by the artist Irma Bruun Hodne.
Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, 2015
Dr. Mozhgan Savabieasfahani has been awarded the Rachel Carson prize for 2015 for her intensive work to improve public awareness on the devastating effects of war on the environment and on public health.
In particular Dr. Savabieasfahani has brought public attention to the increase in levels of birth defects in Iraq and how these defects can be associated with chemical contamination during the 2003 war.
Dr. Savabieasfahani, originally from Iran, is an environmental toxicologist, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. She is a dedicated scientist who has published extensively in scientific journals, within the field of environmental toxicology. In 2009 her book "Pollution and reproductive damage: pollution induced cell-death and reproductive damage in fish and mammals" was published.
Dr. Savabieasfahani has watched the conflicts in the Middle East closely. She has a sound scientific approach when dealing with an extremely complex and sensitive research area, and her determination is strong to communicate her findings to the public. In 2014 she was travelling extensively in the U.S. to present work on the investigation of the epidemic of birth defects in Iraq.
"It is more than 10 years since the US-lead war in Iraq was over, but there is still a very high frequency of cancer, neurodevelopmental disorders and embryo defects", says Dr. Savabieasfahani. "Certainly the U.S. should be held responsible to cleanup its bases in Iraq", she says. "This would reduce the catastrophic damage inflicted upon Iraq's newborns, which is already reminiscent of that in Vietnam. Today, after 40 years, the U.S. is helping clean dioxin contaminated hot spot in Da Nang Airport in Vietnam. Why wait for decades? Cleanup now and save millions of people from years of devastation and pain", says Dr. Savabieasfahani.
In particular Dr. Savabieasfahani has brought public attention to the increase in levels of birth defects in Iraq and how these defects can be associated with chemical contamination during the 2003 war.
Dr. Savabieasfahani, originally from Iran, is an environmental toxicologist, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. She is a dedicated scientist who has published extensively in scientific journals, within the field of environmental toxicology. In 2009 her book "Pollution and reproductive damage: pollution induced cell-death and reproductive damage in fish and mammals" was published.
Dr. Savabieasfahani has watched the conflicts in the Middle East closely. She has a sound scientific approach when dealing with an extremely complex and sensitive research area, and her determination is strong to communicate her findings to the public. In 2014 she was travelling extensively in the U.S. to present work on the investigation of the epidemic of birth defects in Iraq.
"It is more than 10 years since the US-lead war in Iraq was over, but there is still a very high frequency of cancer, neurodevelopmental disorders and embryo defects", says Dr. Savabieasfahani. "Certainly the U.S. should be held responsible to cleanup its bases in Iraq", she says. "This would reduce the catastrophic damage inflicted upon Iraq's newborns, which is already reminiscent of that in Vietnam. Today, after 40 years, the U.S. is helping clean dioxin contaminated hot spot in Da Nang Airport in Vietnam. Why wait for decades? Cleanup now and save millions of people from years of devastation and pain", says Dr. Savabieasfahani.
Sam Fanshawe, 2013
Sam Fanshawe is 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 prize will be presented in Stavanger, Norway on June 2, 2013.
Sam (Samantha) Fanshawe is the leader of the MarineConservation Society (MCS), a charity based in Great Britain. The purpose of the organization 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.
Sam Fanshawe receives the prize for her longterm commitment to protect marine resources and for her leadership of the MCS. Under her leadership the impact and scope of conservation work delivered by the MCS has increased significantly. Sam is recognized as a charismatic leader, representing a clear voice in public debate. She is also a successful lobbyist for her cause.
Fanshawe has during her long professional career held key positions on numerous multi-stakeholder groups increasing awareness of and developing solutions to the environmental challenges facing our seas. She is an effective communicator to a wide range of audiences, and with a strong grounding in science, ensures that conservation messages and campaigns are based on facts and substantive evidence to effectively influence politicians and decision makers.
Through her engagement with MCS she has written and co-authored several reports. The report Silent Seas was published in 2008, and underlines the need for urgent action in order to conserve the environment surrounding the British Isles. In this report the authors substantiate the damaging effects of overfishing, pollution and the insufficient protection of marine habitats and species. The report concludes that without significant changes in order to obtain protection of the marine environment, coasts and seas will face an ecological catastrophe.
“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”, says Fanshawe.
Sam (Samantha) Fanshawe is the leader of the MarineConservation Society (MCS), a charity based in Great Britain. The purpose of the organization 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.
Sam Fanshawe receives the prize for her longterm commitment to protect marine resources and for her leadership of the MCS. Under her leadership the impact and scope of conservation work delivered by the MCS has increased significantly. Sam is recognized as a charismatic leader, representing a clear voice in public debate. She is also a successful lobbyist for her cause.
Fanshawe has during her long professional career held key positions on numerous multi-stakeholder groups increasing awareness of and developing solutions to the environmental challenges facing our seas. She is an effective communicator to a wide range of audiences, and with a strong grounding in science, ensures that conservation messages and campaigns are based on facts and substantive evidence to effectively influence politicians and decision makers.
Through her engagement with MCS she has written and co-authored several reports. The report Silent Seas was published in 2008, and underlines the need for urgent action in order to conserve the environment surrounding the British Isles. In this report the authors substantiate the damaging effects of overfishing, pollution and the insufficient protection of marine habitats and species. The report concludes that without significant changes in order to obtain protection of the marine environment, coasts and seas will face an ecological catastrophe.
“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”, says Fanshawe.
Marilyn Mehlmann, 2011
Marilyn Mehlmann is awarded the Rachel Carson Prize 2011 for her longterm efforts to involve individuals, companies and NGOs in acting sustainably.
Originally from England, Marilyn is a long-time resident of Sweden. She has since 1995 been General Secretary of Global Action Plan International, a network of NGOs that empowers individuals and organizations to act increasingly sustainably.
Global Action Plan started in 1990 with a program organizing participating households into Eco Teams to provide group support in learning to live more sustain-ably. Since then the network has acquired member organizations in more than 20 countries; and the basic empowerment program has diversified into more than a dozen programs for schools and youth, programs to engage employees in sustainability work, and most recently on-line programs using social media. Dutch and British research shows these programs to be uniquely effective in bringing about long-term behavior change.
Originally from England, Marilyn is a long-time resident of Sweden. She has since 1995 been General Secretary of Global Action Plan International, a network of NGOs that empowers individuals and organizations to act increasingly sustainably.
Global Action Plan started in 1990 with a program organizing participating households into Eco Teams to provide group support in learning to live more sustain-ably. Since then the network has acquired member organizations in more than 20 countries; and the basic empowerment program has diversified into more than a dozen programs for schools and youth, programs to engage employees in sustainability work, and most recently on-line programs using social media. Dutch and British research shows these programs to be uniquely effective in bringing about long-term behavior change.
Marie-Monique Robin, 2009
Marie-Monique Robin is awarded the Rachel Carson Prize 2009 for contributing to focus on one of the most important environmental threats of our time; how genetically altered seed grains threaten the balance of nature.
Marie-Monique Robin is a French journalist, born in 1960.
She is the author of the book and creator of the documentary film "The World According to Monsanto", dealing with such important themes as the right of people to know what they are eating.
Robin's work is also dealing with the fact that farmers who produce food are losing control of their own production, because the producer of genes "owns" the seed, and the farmers are not allowed to harvest their own crop. Numerous farmers will therefore be indebted to the producers of the seed and liable to feel that they are being controlled by them.
The film was first shown in February 2008 and has since been shown in 15 countries.The book, which appeared simultaneously with the film, quickly became a bestseller and has been translated into 10 languages.
The facts that were revealed in the book have resulted in a world wide surge of skepticism against gene manipulated organisms all over the world. Marie-Monique Robin emphasizes that her objective is the importance of people's right to know what they are eating. In Europe gene modified food must bear a special label. Thus consumers are given a choice, which they do not have in the USA, where such labeling is not demanded.
Robin has won several prizes for her earlier books, most of which were more critical of the society. She has previously made three documentaries on the cultivation of wheat, soybeans and transgenes. Due to this work she obtained the basis for her knowledge about Monsanto.
Marie-Monique Robin is a French journalist, born in 1960.
She is the author of the book and creator of the documentary film "The World According to Monsanto", dealing with such important themes as the right of people to know what they are eating.
Robin's work is also dealing with the fact that farmers who produce food are losing control of their own production, because the producer of genes "owns" the seed, and the farmers are not allowed to harvest their own crop. Numerous farmers will therefore be indebted to the producers of the seed and liable to feel that they are being controlled by them.
The film was first shown in February 2008 and has since been shown in 15 countries.The book, which appeared simultaneously with the film, quickly became a bestseller and has been translated into 10 languages.
The facts that were revealed in the book have resulted in a world wide surge of skepticism against gene manipulated organisms all over the world. Marie-Monique Robin emphasizes that her objective is the importance of people's right to know what they are eating. In Europe gene modified food must bear a special label. Thus consumers are given a choice, which they do not have in the USA, where such labeling is not demanded.
Robin has won several prizes for her earlier books, most of which were more critical of the society. She has previously made three documentaries on the cultivation of wheat, soybeans and transgenes. Due to this work she obtained the basis for her knowledge about Monsanto.
Sheila Watt-Cloutier, 2007
Sheila Watt-Cloutier, born 1953, was awarded the Rachel Carson Prize 2007 for her contribution to show the world how climatic changes and environmental poisons affect human individuals and cultures in polar areas.
The prize was presented to her by meteorologist Siri Kalvig.
Sheila Watt-Cloutier is a Canadian Inuit, residing in Iqaluit, Nunavut. She has been president for the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, which is a general interest group for 155.000 Inuits in Canada, USA, Greenland and Russia. Through her strong engagement in several areas - ranging from the UN to the citizens of the Islands of the Pacific Ocean - she is calling attention to the changes that will appear globally, and which are already an established fact in Polar regions.
Climatic changes represent a threat to the whole planet, and have, in the Arctic regions, already shown to be effectuated. Whole cultures, such as the Inuit culture, are in danger of disappearing with the ice.
GAME OF CHANGE
The Arctic regions have experienced a temperature rise twice as large as the rest of the world during the last decades. When the ice is disappearing, the basis for the traditional Inuit culture is vanishing. Hunting on the ice is becoming too hazardous.
For a people already living in the suspense between traditional and modern culture, the identity and belonging is additionally put to the test when their own history and foundation literally is melting away. "The Arctic is the world's barometer of climate change. We are the early warning system for the world," says Sheila Watt-Cloutier.
In addition to the global warming, the Arctic regions are also experiencing concentration of environmental toxins such as DDT, PCB and other organic components. These are mainly transported over large distances, also as far as from South-East Asia, but they show the most prominent effects in the coldest regions. Such environmental toxins are poorly degraded, and accumulate in the fatty tissues of fish and mammals, including humans. Since the Inuit traditional diet includes a substantial amount of animals high up in the food chain, they are exposed to a high toxic stress. As a matter of fact, the content of environmental toxins in the breast milk of women in Greenland is so high that they are recommended not to breast feed their children.
HUMAN RIGHT
Sheila Watt-Cloutier considers it a human right to be able to live in harmony with nature and the traditions. She has, in many fora, presented the Inuit cause and asserted their right not to be affected by the life style and high CO2 discharges of other societies, and to have the right to live the way they always have done. As an Inuit leader, she also has collaborated with minority groups on low-lying islands that face the risk of inundation by the rise of sea water level. Through this she has elucidated the connection between ruining the environment and human rights.
"We are in essence fighting for our right to be cold", says Sheila Watt-Cloutier. "Global warming connects us all. Use what happens in the Arctic as a vehicle to connect us all, so that we may understand that the planet and its people are one. The Inuit hunter who falls through the depleting and unpredictable sea ice is connected to the cars we drive, the industries we rely upon and the disposable world we have become.
The prize was presented to her by meteorologist Siri Kalvig.
Sheila Watt-Cloutier is a Canadian Inuit, residing in Iqaluit, Nunavut. She has been president for the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, which is a general interest group for 155.000 Inuits in Canada, USA, Greenland and Russia. Through her strong engagement in several areas - ranging from the UN to the citizens of the Islands of the Pacific Ocean - she is calling attention to the changes that will appear globally, and which are already an established fact in Polar regions.
Climatic changes represent a threat to the whole planet, and have, in the Arctic regions, already shown to be effectuated. Whole cultures, such as the Inuit culture, are in danger of disappearing with the ice.
GAME OF CHANGE
The Arctic regions have experienced a temperature rise twice as large as the rest of the world during the last decades. When the ice is disappearing, the basis for the traditional Inuit culture is vanishing. Hunting on the ice is becoming too hazardous.
For a people already living in the suspense between traditional and modern culture, the identity and belonging is additionally put to the test when their own history and foundation literally is melting away. "The Arctic is the world's barometer of climate change. We are the early warning system for the world," says Sheila Watt-Cloutier.
In addition to the global warming, the Arctic regions are also experiencing concentration of environmental toxins such as DDT, PCB and other organic components. These are mainly transported over large distances, also as far as from South-East Asia, but they show the most prominent effects in the coldest regions. Such environmental toxins are poorly degraded, and accumulate in the fatty tissues of fish and mammals, including humans. Since the Inuit traditional diet includes a substantial amount of animals high up in the food chain, they are exposed to a high toxic stress. As a matter of fact, the content of environmental toxins in the breast milk of women in Greenland is so high that they are recommended not to breast feed their children.
HUMAN RIGHT
Sheila Watt-Cloutier considers it a human right to be able to live in harmony with nature and the traditions. She has, in many fora, presented the Inuit cause and asserted their right not to be affected by the life style and high CO2 discharges of other societies, and to have the right to live the way they always have done. As an Inuit leader, she also has collaborated with minority groups on low-lying islands that face the risk of inundation by the rise of sea water level. Through this she has elucidated the connection between ruining the environment and human rights.
"We are in essence fighting for our right to be cold", says Sheila Watt-Cloutier. "Global warming connects us all. Use what happens in the Arctic as a vehicle to connect us all, so that we may understand that the planet and its people are one. The Inuit hunter who falls through the depleting and unpredictable sea ice is connected to the cars we drive, the industries we rely upon and the disposable world we have become.
Malin Falkenmark, 2005
Professor Malin Falkenmark at Stockholm International Water Institute was awarded the Rachel Carson Prize 2005 for her long standing research for an ecologically defensible use of the resources of the earth, focusing at the same time on sufficient water supply for people all over the world. Her work has always implied a natural as well as sociological scientific approach.
She was given the prize by MP (later Minister) Magnhild Meltvedt Kleppa.
Malin Falkenmark was born on November 21st,1925. She is Fil.Lic from Uppsala University, 1964, Ph.D. Honoris causa, Linköping University, 1975, and Professor of Applied and International Hydrology, 1986.
She spent most of her scientific career as Executive Secretary of the National Committee for Unesco's International Hydrological Decade Programme.This position, and her own research , made her internationally ackowledged and highly respected. Since 1976 she has been involved in interdisciplinary research at the The Department. for Water and Environment Studies at Linköping University, a school for Ph.D. students.
Malin Falkenmark has also been a scientific adviser to Stockholm Water Company, where she for many years was Chair of the Scientific Programme Committee of the annual Stockholm Water Symposia. She has a number of international positions, many of them administered by the United Nations. She has been invited as a key speaker to a large number of international conferences. She is a future oriented water scientist, with focus on man, land, water, ecosystems and their political implications.
Similarly to Rachel Carson, she is both a scientist and a writer. Among her most important publications are: "Water for a Starving World"(1976), "World freshwater problems. Call for a new realism" (1997),"Freshwater as shared between societies and ecosystems" (2003), and "Balancing water for humans and nature" (2004).
She was given the prize by MP (later Minister) Magnhild Meltvedt Kleppa.
Malin Falkenmark was born on November 21st,1925. She is Fil.Lic from Uppsala University, 1964, Ph.D. Honoris causa, Linköping University, 1975, and Professor of Applied and International Hydrology, 1986.
She spent most of her scientific career as Executive Secretary of the National Committee for Unesco's International Hydrological Decade Programme.This position, and her own research , made her internationally ackowledged and highly respected. Since 1976 she has been involved in interdisciplinary research at the The Department. for Water and Environment Studies at Linköping University, a school for Ph.D. students.
Malin Falkenmark has also been a scientific adviser to Stockholm Water Company, where she for many years was Chair of the Scientific Programme Committee of the annual Stockholm Water Symposia. She has a number of international positions, many of them administered by the United Nations. She has been invited as a key speaker to a large number of international conferences. She is a future oriented water scientist, with focus on man, land, water, ecosystems and their political implications.
Similarly to Rachel Carson, she is both a scientist and a writer. Among her most important publications are: "Water for a Starving World"(1976), "World freshwater problems. Call for a new realism" (1997),"Freshwater as shared between societies and ecosystems" (2003), and "Balancing water for humans and nature" (2004).
Åshild Dale, 2003
Åshild Dale, born in 1944, was awarded the Rachel Carson Prize 2003 for her long standing contributions to nature and the environment in the broader sense, both locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Her most important achievements have been the realization of vital aspects in the field of nature- and culture conservation, where especially children and young people have been at center stage.
The prize was presented to her by Minister Hilde Frafjord Johnsson.
Through her work as a farmer and in her role as manager of natural and cultural resources from fjords to high mountains in central Norway, she has translated words like "Green Care", "watercourse conservation", "cultivated landscape and biological diversity", "mountain farming culture" and "international volunteering" into action. Her farm and mountain farm have been hosts to children and young people, Norwegian and foreign, who through practical work and active participation have acquired an understanding of biological diversity and green values. Nature and environmental management are central concepts in eveything she shares.
Åshild Dale has initiated a series of projects, which in the end led to the establishment of the national organization "Norsk Seterkultur" (Norwegian Mountain Farming Association). This is an organization that focuses on the crucial role of mountain farming in Norwegian agricultural traditions, and promotes an organic and biological sustainable management of common grounds resources in Norway - and in many other mountainous countries, which was dwindling, but which now is encompassed with dawning interest.
Åshild Dale has published popular science articles in a series of newspapers, magazines and television programmes, yearbooks, research reports (Nordland Research), FAO reports a.o.
In 2000 she won the international "Prize for Women's Creativity in Rural Life", presented by the Women's World Summit Foundation". Two years later, together with her husband, she received "Seterprisen 2002" (Mountain Farming Prize 2002) from the Royal Norwegian Society for Development.
Åshild Dale is a farmer and lives in Sunnmøre, she has studied business and tourism, and has work experience from tourism, Norwegian Trade Council and National Association of Local Newspapers. She has promoted green values since 1970.
The prize was presented to her by Minister Hilde Frafjord Johnsson.
Through her work as a farmer and in her role as manager of natural and cultural resources from fjords to high mountains in central Norway, she has translated words like "Green Care", "watercourse conservation", "cultivated landscape and biological diversity", "mountain farming culture" and "international volunteering" into action. Her farm and mountain farm have been hosts to children and young people, Norwegian and foreign, who through practical work and active participation have acquired an understanding of biological diversity and green values. Nature and environmental management are central concepts in eveything she shares.
Åshild Dale has initiated a series of projects, which in the end led to the establishment of the national organization "Norsk Seterkultur" (Norwegian Mountain Farming Association). This is an organization that focuses on the crucial role of mountain farming in Norwegian agricultural traditions, and promotes an organic and biological sustainable management of common grounds resources in Norway - and in many other mountainous countries, which was dwindling, but which now is encompassed with dawning interest.
Åshild Dale has published popular science articles in a series of newspapers, magazines and television programmes, yearbooks, research reports (Nordland Research), FAO reports a.o.
In 2000 she won the international "Prize for Women's Creativity in Rural Life", presented by the Women's World Summit Foundation". Two years later, together with her husband, she received "Seterprisen 2002" (Mountain Farming Prize 2002) from the Royal Norwegian Society for Development.
Åshild Dale is a farmer and lives in Sunnmøre, she has studied business and tourism, and has work experience from tourism, Norwegian Trade Council and National Association of Local Newspapers. She has promoted green values since 1970.
Renate Künast, 2001
Renate Künast received the prize for her great courage and hard work for a change of agricultural policy in her own country and within the European Union. She is a strong advocate of organic farming, which avoids pesticides, drugs and other manmade chemicals and feeds.
She was, unfortunately, not able to be present at the prize giving event, therefore the prize was received on her behalf by the Consul for Germany in Stavanger, from State Secretary Sigrun Møgedal.
Renate Künast was Minister for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture in Germany. She was born December 15, 1955 in Recklinghausen in then West-Germany. She went to the polytechnic high school in Düsseldorf, worked as a social worker at the penitentiary Berlin-Tegel from 1977 to 1979, before she went on to university, earned a law degree and started practising law in Berlin.
Ms. Künast actively joined the anti-nuclear movement in the late -70s and was particularly involved in the battle against a recycling plant and deposit for atomic waste in Gorleben. In 1979 she joined the "Alternative List", the precursor to the Green party, and has since had various assignments within the party and in the local government in Berlin. She has been a fervent advocate for civil rights and citizens' participation in democratic processes, especially after the German reunion. Equal rights and legal rights for minorities have also been causes close to her heart.
In June 2000 Renate Künast was elected spokesperson of the Green party by the Central Committee. After having been appointed Minister for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture in the red-green German coalition government in January 2001, she left her position in the party, to avoid role conflicts.
Renate Künast was the first female Minister of Agriculture in Germany. She took office in the midst of the foot- and mouth disease crisis, and immediately set out to reform old-fashioned agriculture. She worked doggedly to promote environmentally friendly farming methods, to improve consumer safety and food quality, and to protect biological diversity, having as a goal to increase organic farming to
20 % of agriculture within 10 years.
She was, unfortunately, not able to be present at the prize giving event, therefore the prize was received on her behalf by the Consul for Germany in Stavanger, from State Secretary Sigrun Møgedal.
Renate Künast was Minister for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture in Germany. She was born December 15, 1955 in Recklinghausen in then West-Germany. She went to the polytechnic high school in Düsseldorf, worked as a social worker at the penitentiary Berlin-Tegel from 1977 to 1979, before she went on to university, earned a law degree and started practising law in Berlin.
Ms. Künast actively joined the anti-nuclear movement in the late -70s and was particularly involved in the battle against a recycling plant and deposit for atomic waste in Gorleben. In 1979 she joined the "Alternative List", the precursor to the Green party, and has since had various assignments within the party and in the local government in Berlin. She has been a fervent advocate for civil rights and citizens' participation in democratic processes, especially after the German reunion. Equal rights and legal rights for minorities have also been causes close to her heart.
In June 2000 Renate Künast was elected spokesperson of the Green party by the Central Committee. After having been appointed Minister for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture in the red-green German coalition government in January 2001, she left her position in the party, to avoid role conflicts.
Renate Künast was the first female Minister of Agriculture in Germany. She took office in the midst of the foot- and mouth disease crisis, and immediately set out to reform old-fashioned agriculture. She worked doggedly to promote environmentally friendly farming methods, to improve consumer safety and food quality, and to protect biological diversity, having as a goal to increase organic farming to
20 % of agriculture within 10 years.
Theo Colborn, 1999
Theo Colborn received the prize for her long standing work in the field of environmental toxicology to promote awareness and knowledge for the implications of toxic chemicals. Dr. Colborn 's work has triggered world-wide public concern about endocrine disruptors, and has prompted enactment of new laws by governments and redirection of research by governments, the private sector and academics.
The prize was given to her in absentia by Minister Guro Fjellanger in 1999, and by the County Prefect, Tora Aasland, in 2000, when she came to receive it. Dr. Theo Colborn has served as Senior Program Scientist and directed the Wildlife and Contaminants Program at World Wildlife Fund in Washington, USA.
She is the author of numerous scientific publications on toxic substances that interfere with hormones and other chemical messengers that control development in wildlife and humans. She edited "Chemically Induced Alterations in Sexual and Functional Development: The Wildlife/Human Connection", published in 1992.
The information from this volume and numerous subsequent scientific publications was popularized in the 1996 book, "Our Stolen Future", co-authored with Dianne Dumanoski and J. Peterson Myers. "Our Stolen Future" has been published in more than a dozen languages around the world. Dr. Colborn's work has triggered world-wide public concern about endocrine disruptors, and has prompted enactment of new laws and redirection of of research.
Dr. Colborn has served on numerous advisory panels, including the US. Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board. She lectures on the transgenerational effects of toxic chemicals on the developing endocrine, immune and nervous systems in the womb and early childhood.
In 1985 Dr. Colborn received a Fellowship from the Office of Technology Assessment, US.Congress, where she worked on human and ecotoxicological issues. She joined the Conservation Foundation in 1987 to provide scientific guidance for the 1990 book "Great Lakes, Great Legacy?" in collaboration with the institute for Research and Public Policy, Ottawa, Canada. She held a Chair for three years with the W. Alton Jones Foundation, and in 1993 was given a three year Pew Fellows Award.
Dr. Colborn earned a Ph.D. (distributed minors in epidemiology, toxicology and water chemistry),at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Zoology; an M.A in science (freshwater ecology) at Western State College of Colorado; and a B.S. in pharmacy from Rutgers University, College of Pharmacy.
Theo Colborn's first career was as a pharmacist, where she and her husband operated three pharmacies in New Jersey. They sold these businesses in 1962 and moved to Colorado, where they raised their four children on a ranch. Theo fought as a citizen an active but losing battle to protect the water of the valley. In 1978 she enrolled in a Masters Degree Program to become a more effective spokesperson for water quality issues. Theo continued her university education and was awarded a Ph.D in 1985 at the age of 58.
The prize was given to her in absentia by Minister Guro Fjellanger in 1999, and by the County Prefect, Tora Aasland, in 2000, when she came to receive it. Dr. Theo Colborn has served as Senior Program Scientist and directed the Wildlife and Contaminants Program at World Wildlife Fund in Washington, USA.
She is the author of numerous scientific publications on toxic substances that interfere with hormones and other chemical messengers that control development in wildlife and humans. She edited "Chemically Induced Alterations in Sexual and Functional Development: The Wildlife/Human Connection", published in 1992.
The information from this volume and numerous subsequent scientific publications was popularized in the 1996 book, "Our Stolen Future", co-authored with Dianne Dumanoski and J. Peterson Myers. "Our Stolen Future" has been published in more than a dozen languages around the world. Dr. Colborn's work has triggered world-wide public concern about endocrine disruptors, and has prompted enactment of new laws and redirection of of research.
Dr. Colborn has served on numerous advisory panels, including the US. Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board. She lectures on the transgenerational effects of toxic chemicals on the developing endocrine, immune and nervous systems in the womb and early childhood.
In 1985 Dr. Colborn received a Fellowship from the Office of Technology Assessment, US.Congress, where she worked on human and ecotoxicological issues. She joined the Conservation Foundation in 1987 to provide scientific guidance for the 1990 book "Great Lakes, Great Legacy?" in collaboration with the institute for Research and Public Policy, Ottawa, Canada. She held a Chair for three years with the W. Alton Jones Foundation, and in 1993 was given a three year Pew Fellows Award.
Dr. Colborn earned a Ph.D. (distributed minors in epidemiology, toxicology and water chemistry),at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Zoology; an M.A in science (freshwater ecology) at Western State College of Colorado; and a B.S. in pharmacy from Rutgers University, College of Pharmacy.
Theo Colborn's first career was as a pharmacist, where she and her husband operated three pharmacies in New Jersey. They sold these businesses in 1962 and moved to Colorado, where they raised their four children on a ranch. Theo fought as a citizen an active but losing battle to protect the water of the valley. In 1978 she enrolled in a Masters Degree Program to become a more effective spokesperson for water quality issues. Theo continued her university education and was awarded a Ph.D in 1985 at the age of 58.
Berit Ås, 1997
Berit Ås was awarded the Rachel Carson Prize for her life long pioneering work for justice and quality of life for the weakest in our society, physically, mentally, economically and environmentally.
Professor in Social Psychology Berit Ås won the prize in 1997, and it was given to her by Managing Director Maury Devine of Mobil Exploration Norway Inc. Professor Ås' pioneering work for a better environment spreads over many fields of society: feminism, children's and family policy, traffic security, anti-smoking, peace movement, political leadership, education a.o.
She has worked as a popular educator, lecturer in Norway and guest lecturer abroad. She became the first woman to chair a political party (Democratic Socialists (AIK) in Norway, and later the first leader of the Socialist Left Party; but the most important memorial to her efforts is the foundation of a Feminist University.
Berit Ås is Honorary Doctor of the Universities in Copenhagen and in Halifax, and in 1997 she was made Knight of the Order of St. Olav of 1st. degree.
Selected works:"Our Means of Transportation And Its Costs" (1971), "On Female Culture" (1975), "The 5 Suppression Techniques" (1976), "Influencing Social Climate with Regard to Smoking" (1979), "The Feminist University" (1985), "Managing Visions from Invisibility to Visibilty" (1988).
It was, in fact, Berit Ås who initiated the Rachel Carson Prize
Professor in Social Psychology Berit Ås won the prize in 1997, and it was given to her by Managing Director Maury Devine of Mobil Exploration Norway Inc. Professor Ås' pioneering work for a better environment spreads over many fields of society: feminism, children's and family policy, traffic security, anti-smoking, peace movement, political leadership, education a.o.
She has worked as a popular educator, lecturer in Norway and guest lecturer abroad. She became the first woman to chair a political party (Democratic Socialists (AIK) in Norway, and later the first leader of the Socialist Left Party; but the most important memorial to her efforts is the foundation of a Feminist University.
Berit Ås is Honorary Doctor of the Universities in Copenhagen and in Halifax, and in 1997 she was made Knight of the Order of St. Olav of 1st. degree.
Selected works:"Our Means of Transportation And Its Costs" (1971), "On Female Culture" (1975), "The 5 Suppression Techniques" (1976), "Influencing Social Climate with Regard to Smoking" (1979), "The Feminist University" (1985), "Managing Visions from Invisibility to Visibilty" (1988).
It was, in fact, Berit Ås who initiated the Rachel Carson Prize
Anne Grieg, 1995
Anne Grieg was awarded the Rachel Carson Prize for her literary research and educational work on the consequences of pollution from radioactive substances, with particular reference to affected areas around the world.
Psychiatrist Anne Grieg, specialist in child and juvenile psychiatry, received the Rachel Carson Prize in 1995. Rogaland County Prefect Tora Aasland presented it to her.
Grieg has written articles, given papers and lectured in various fora on health hazards caused by nuclear testing and the effects of low radiation dosages on children's health. She built up an archive of documentation on health and environmental risks associated with nuclear technology.
She has worked in many fields and led numerous campaigns. Selected works: "A World in Fear. From Despair to Solidarity. On the Threat of the A-bomb and Its Physiology" (1984), "Prescription For A Sick World" (1985), "Children of the Nuclear Age" (1987), "Health Hazards Caused By Radioactive Pollution To The Environment" (1990) and "Hiroshima - Never Again?" (1992).
Anne Grieg was an active campaigner for Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. She died in 2006.
Psychiatrist Anne Grieg, specialist in child and juvenile psychiatry, received the Rachel Carson Prize in 1995. Rogaland County Prefect Tora Aasland presented it to her.
Grieg has written articles, given papers and lectured in various fora on health hazards caused by nuclear testing and the effects of low radiation dosages on children's health. She built up an archive of documentation on health and environmental risks associated with nuclear technology.
She has worked in many fields and led numerous campaigns. Selected works: "A World in Fear. From Despair to Solidarity. On the Threat of the A-bomb and Its Physiology" (1984), "Prescription For A Sick World" (1985), "Children of the Nuclear Age" (1987), "Health Hazards Caused By Radioactive Pollution To The Environment" (1990) and "Hiroshima - Never Again?" (1992).
Anne Grieg was an active campaigner for Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. She died in 2006.
Bergljot Børresen, 1993
Dr. Med. Vet. Bergljot Børresen, born 1936, was the winner candidate of the Rachel Carson Prize in 1993. She is Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in the field of clinical pathophysiology.
Her global consciousness was awakened in the early sixties when she got involved in an educational project for women in Lima, Peru. As a young veterinary scientist she co-authored a political report on the environmental consequences of the incipient offshore oil industry.
Her work as a teacher in population genetics as well as her research in the field of clinical pathophysiology made her well equipped for her membership in the Norwegian Government's Commission on Nuclear Safety during the 1970s. In 1986 she was the first to alert the Norwegian community to the seriousness of the Chernobyl accident.
As a follow up to this work she was on the Board of the Norwegian Organization against Nuclear Weapons, as well as a co-founder of Norwegian Physicians against Nuclear Weapons.
Since receiving the Rachel Carson Prize in 1993 she has served on the Norwegian Committee on Xenotransplantation, and has published seven books on the mental equipment that humans share with other animals, and the extensive human/animal interaction which has shaped the world's cultural and environmental destiny through 10,000 years.
Her global consciousness was awakened in the early sixties when she got involved in an educational project for women in Lima, Peru. As a young veterinary scientist she co-authored a political report on the environmental consequences of the incipient offshore oil industry.
Her work as a teacher in population genetics as well as her research in the field of clinical pathophysiology made her well equipped for her membership in the Norwegian Government's Commission on Nuclear Safety during the 1970s. In 1986 she was the first to alert the Norwegian community to the seriousness of the Chernobyl accident.
As a follow up to this work she was on the Board of the Norwegian Organization against Nuclear Weapons, as well as a co-founder of Norwegian Physicians against Nuclear Weapons.
Since receiving the Rachel Carson Prize in 1993 she has served on the Norwegian Committee on Xenotransplantation, and has published seven books on the mental equipment that humans share with other animals, and the extensive human/animal interaction which has shaped the world's cultural and environmental destiny through 10,000 years.
Sidsel Mørck, 1991
Sidsel Mørck received the Rachel Carson Prize for her long standing courageous and tireless environmental struggle, particularly directed at industrial pollution.
Author Sidsel Mørck was the first Award Winner of the Rachel Carson Prize, and it was presented to her by Norwegian Minister of Culture, Åse Kleveland.
Through books, papers, numerous articles and editorials on environmental coservation, as well as speeches and poetry, Sidsel Mørck has battled for the protection of our environment. As Rachel Carson herself she has been portrayed as a prophet of the Day of Judgement, but this has never made her lose footing.
In 1988 she was awarded the Norwegian Leftist Party's Environment Prize, and in 1990 she won the Honour of Free Speech for "brave use of the word in the combat for the environment".
Selected works: "Silent Servants"(1978), "Future is Now"(1979), "No Smoke Without Fire"(1982), "Not For Sale"(1983), "Come On Old Park"(1990).
Author Sidsel Mørck was the first Award Winner of the Rachel Carson Prize, and it was presented to her by Norwegian Minister of Culture, Åse Kleveland.
Through books, papers, numerous articles and editorials on environmental coservation, as well as speeches and poetry, Sidsel Mørck has battled for the protection of our environment. As Rachel Carson herself she has been portrayed as a prophet of the Day of Judgement, but this has never made her lose footing.
In 1988 she was awarded the Norwegian Leftist Party's Environment Prize, and in 1990 she won the Honour of Free Speech for "brave use of the word in the combat for the environment".
Selected works: "Silent Servants"(1978), "Future is Now"(1979), "No Smoke Without Fire"(1982), "Not For Sale"(1983), "Come On Old Park"(1990).