Scientists worldwide line up for the $1.1 million Frontiers Planet Prize as Ms Mia Strand is named 2024 National Champion for South Africa

Ms Mia Strand, Nelson Mandela University South Africa has been announced as the national winner of the Frontiers Plant Prize in her country. The recognition is based on her work onReimagining Ocean Stewardship: Arts-Based Methods to ‘Hear’ and ‘See’ Indigenous and Local Knowledge in Ocean Management. 22 other national champions were named and drawn from scientific research teams on six continents in the second year of the global competition.

The award recognizes scientists whose research helps accelerate solutions that keep humanity safely within the boundaries of Earth’s ecosystem. The National Champions will now advance to the final round of the competition, where three International Champions will each receive CHF 1 million to support their research. Launched by the Frontiers Research Foundation on Earth Day 2022, the Frontiers Planet Prize aims to mobilize science for a global green renaissance.

The prize rewards and promotes breakthroughs in sustainability science that show the greatest potential to prevent the planet from crossing the nine planetary boundaries, a framework put forward by Prof. Johan Rockström. The National Champions are selected by the independent jury of 100, a group of renowned experts in the field of sustainability and planetary health chaired by Prof. Rockström.

These national champions will undergo a second round of voting, where the jury will select the three international champions who will each receive one million Swiss francs to further support their research.

Now in its second edition, the award has collaborated with 20 academies of science and 475 leading universities and research institutions from 43 countries to showcase transformational and globally scalable research in planetary science, with a focus on enabling healthy lives on a healthy planet.

This year’s 23 National Champions represent a diverse group of researchers at different stages of their academic careers, each of whom has published groundbreaking papers that advance unique, transformative solutions.

As National Champions, each researcher will have the opportunity to share their award-winning research through national and international conferences to facilitate the systemic change needed to protect the health of our planet. This is made possible by the support of the prize’s strategic partners, including Future Earth, the Potsdam Institute of Climate Research Impact, the International Science Council and the Villars Institute.

The Frontiers Planet Prize award ceremony will take place on June 26, 2024 during the Villars Symposium in Villar-sur-Ollon, Switzerland. Led by the Villars Institute, an international nonprofit organization committed to accelerating the transition to net-zero emissions, the Villars Symposium brings together thought leaders from policy, practice and philanthropy.

Each champion will present their research and engage with key figures in planetary health from academia, policy, industry and non-governmental agencies, all of whom have the power to shape policy and advance civil society. to influence.

The symposium will also include a global cohort of systems and solutions-oriented high school students from schools around the world, which will provide an additional opportunity to foster intergenerational collaboration and prepare the next generation to fight climate change.

Commenting on the Frontiers Planet Prize 2024, Jean-Claude Burgelman, Director of the Frontiers Planet Prize, said: “We are facing an environmental crisis on a planetary scale, creating a real threat to humanity. The ambition of the Frontiers Planet Prize is to directly address this crisis by mobilizing scientists engaged in groundbreaking research. We congratulate the National Champions and thank all nominees for their valuable research and continued commitment to saving our planet.”