Costa Rica
Simona Daniele, an Italian hotelier in Costa Rica, co-founded SalveMonos to protect monkeys from electrocution. What began with T-shirt sales to fund wildlife bridges grew into a conservation organization that rescued thousands of animals and pushed for safer electrical infrastructure.
2026
Carolina Joana da Silva spent her career studying the Pantanal’s floods and the forces reshaping the vast Brazilian wetland. She helped train generations of local researchers and argued that conservation must include the riverside communities whose lives depend on its waters.
Trinidad and Tobago
As a boy in Port of Spain, John Agard made toys from parts salvaged from old radios and household appliances. His family did not own a television until he was about 17, so he built engines, model planes, boats, and circuit boards. He also read and spent time outdoors. On