Indianapolis Prize Deliberations Begin

Nominations are now closed for the 2010 Indianapolis Prize, so the nominating committee (which narrows the field to six) and the jury (which selects the winner) are set to get to work.

Members of the nominating committee are:

•Devra G. Kleiman, Ph.D., zoologist and consultant on conservation projects worldwide who serves as Adjunct Professor for the Department of Biology at the University of Maryland and as Senior Scientist Emeritus for the Smithsonian Institution.

•Robert Lacy, Ph.D., population geneticist in the Conservation Biology department of the Chicago Zoological Society and faculty member on the Committee on Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago.

•Georgina Mace, Ph.D., director of the National Environment Research Council Centre for Population (Imperial College London); Fellow of the Royal Society; and former director of Science at the Zoological Society of London.

•James Murtaugh, program director of The Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation since 1991 and former curator at two of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s facilities - the Central Park Zoo and the Wildlife Survival Center on St. Catherine’s Island, Georgia.

•George Rabb, Ph.D., president emeritus of the Chicago Zoological Society; a spokesman on wildlife conservation issues worldwide; and former director (1976-2003) of the Brookfield Zoo.

•George B. Schaller, Ph.D., senior conservationist of the Wildlife Conservation Society and recipient of the 2008 Indianapolis Prize; a field biologist who studies wildlife throughout Africa, Asia and South America.

•Beth Cate, associate general counsel of Indiana University, where she also serves as adjunct faculty in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, and a member of the Indianapolis Zoo Board of Trustees.

•Myrta J. Pulliam, director of special projects for the Indianapolis Star; past president of the Board of Trustees for the Indianapolis Zoological Society, Inc.; chair of the Indianapolis Prize; writer, reporter and editor, who also serves as a jury member.

•Jan C. Ramer, DVM, associate veterinarian at the Indianapolis Zoo and affiliated with the American Veterinary Medical Association, American Association of Zoo Veterinarians, International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine, Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians, and the Association of Avian Veterinarians.

•Denise L. Solso, active in community affairs, including the Indianapolis Zoo and Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Southwestern Art.

Members of the jury are:

•David Ehrenfeld, M.D., Ph.D., professor of biology at Rutgers Cook College; founding editor of Conservation Biology, and author of a number of books.

•John Flicker, Ph.D., president of the National Audubon Society, who has overseen the addition of more than two dozen Audubon Centers, including 10 in urban areas.

•David W. Macdonald, who heads the wildlife conservation research unit at Oxford University.

•Carter S. Roberts, president of the World Wildlife Fund.

•John W. Terborgh, Ph.D., research professor and co-director of the Center for Tropical Conservation at Duke University.

•Jeff Trandahl, executive director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

•William W. Chin, M.D., vice president of discovery research and clinical investigation at Eli Lilly and Company; a molecular endocrinologist and author/co-author of more than 270 papers, chapters and books.

•Christel DeHaan, philanthropist, founder of Christel House International and the Christel DeHaan Family Foundation; President and CEO of CD Enterprises, who is also an honorary chair of the 2010 prize.

•Paul Grayson, deputy director and senior vice president of science and conservation programs at the Indianapolis Zoo.

•Myrta J. Pulliam, who also serves as a nominating committee member.

The third biennial $100,000 Indianapolis Prize will be awarded in September 2010. It is the largest individual monetary award for animal conservation in the world. The Indianapolis Prize was initiated by the Indianapolis Zoo as a significant component of its mission to empower people and communities, both locally and globally, to advance animal conservation. It was first awarded in 2006 to Dr. George Archibald, the co-founder of the International Crane Foundation. In 2008, the Indianapolis Prize went to Dr. George Schaller, a field biologist and vice president of science and exploration for the World Conservation Society.

The Eli Lilly and Company Foundation has provided funding for the Indianapolis Prize since 2006.

The Honorary Chairs for the 2010 Indianapolis Prize are:

Cristal DeHaan (who also serves on the prize jury), actor Harrison Ford, writer Carl Hiaasen, Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R.-Ind.), businessman Roger W. Sant and Bren Simon, businesswoman and civic activist.