The Rachel Carson Award is awarded each spring by the National Audubon Society's Women in Conservation to recognize "women whose immense talent, expertise, and energy greatly advance conservation and the environmental movement locally and globally". Honorees are drawn from diverse backgrounds, including the worlds of journalism, academics, business, science, entertainment, philanthropy and law.

Background The award is named in honor of Rachel Carson, the undisputed founder of the modern environmental movement. Each year the Rachel Carson Award is created by Tiffany & Company. The Rachel Carson Awards Council was founded by Allison Whipple Rockefeller in 2004.

The award is presented to honorees each May at the Rachel Carson Award Luncheon, held annually at New York City's Plaza Hotel. Proceeds from the luncheon support Audubon's Long Island Sound Campaign, the Sound having undergone unprecedented pollution, habitat loss, and ecosystem disruption in recent years.

Audubon's Women in Conservation Program, in conjunction with Audubon's Rachel Carson Awards Council, supports a website which connects women to leaders in the environmental movement and to pressing environmental issues. Audubon's Women in Conservation also supports an internship program and hosts an educational school panel in which past Rachel Carson Award honorees speak at a local all-girls school.

Award recipients 2004 to 2009 YearNameRole2004Jayni Chase Environmental activist, philanthropistLynn ChaseWildlife artist, philanthropistMaria RodaleRodale Publishing, chairmanPeggy M. ShepardWest Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. executive directorAlice WatersChef, author, restaurateur2005Kay Kelley ArnoldEntergy Corporation, vice president of public affairsBernadette CastroNew York State Parks, recreation and historic preservation, former commissioner Mae Jemison BioSentient Corporation, founderMargaret Wittenberg Whole Foods Market, vice president of global communications and quality standards2006Kathleen BaderNatureWorks LLC, former president and CEO Margie RuddickEnvironmental designer, founder of Margie Ruddick Landscape2007Frances BeineckePresident of the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC)Majora CarterSustainable South Bronx, founder and executive director Laurie DavidGlobal warming activist, producer, authorDeirdre ImusNational Audubon Society press release May 22, 2007.Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology, founder and president2008Jean Clark, Norma Dana, Marguerite Purnell, Phyllis Cerf Wagner, and Elizabeth Barlow RogersCentral Park ConservancyTeresa Heinz Kerry PhilanthropistBette Midler New York Restoration Project, founder2009Dr. Sylvia EarleNational Geographic 'Explorer in Residence'; Deep Search Foundation, founderSally JewellSecretary of the InteriorElizabeth Cushman Titus Putnam Student Conservation Association, founding presidentElizabeth Colleton, Jane Evans and Susan HaspelNBC Universal's Green is Universal Initiative

2010 to 2019 YearNameRole2010Suzanne LewisYellowstone National Park, superintendentIsabella RosselliniActress, director, writer and environmental activistDr. Beth Stevens Disney World Wide Services, Environmental Affairs, senior vice president Fernanda M. KelloggTiffany & Co. Foundation, president2011Maya LinArtist, architect and environmentalistSigourney WeaverActress and environmental activist2012Sally Bingham The Regeneration Project/Interfaith Power and Light, presidentL. Hunter LovinsNatural Capitalism Solutions, president Janette Sadik-KhanNew York City Department of Transportation, commissioner 2013Marian HeiskellConservationist and philanthropistLady Bird JohnsonFirst Lady and environmental pioneer2014Ellen FutterAmerican Museum of Natural History, presidentKaiulani Lee"A Sense of Wonder" playwright and performerNell NewmanNewman’s Own Organics, co-founder and president2015Warrie PriceBattery Park Conservancy, president and founder Flo Stone Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital, president and founder 2016Dominique BrowningMoms Clean Air Force, co-founder and director Rebecca MooreGoogle Earth Outreach, founder and director Dr. Kathryn SullivanOceans and Atmosphere, under secretary of commerce; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, administrator2017Jamie Rappaport ClarkDefenders of Wildlife, president and CEO Dr Heidi CullenClimate Central, chief scientistAnne ThompsonNBC News, chief environmental affairs correspondent2018Gina McCarthyPublic Health Practice, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, former EPA administrator and professor Mary PowellVermont Green Mountain Power, president and CEO Dorceta TaylorUniversity of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, director of diversity, equity and inclusion and James E. Crowfoot collegiate professor2019Rose H. HarveyGarden Club of America

2020 onwards YearNameRole2021Lisa P. JacksonApple, Environment, policy, and social initiatives, vice president Fern Shepard,Rachel's Network, presidentKristine McDivitt TompkinsTompkins Conservation, co-founder and president2022Abigail DillenEarthjustice, president2023Susanne DurstMcEnroe Organic FarmKathleen FinlayGlynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming, president; Pleiades, founderLaura O'DonohueSnow Hill Farm, founder and CEO

See also

List of environmental awards

References