Each year we acknowledge achievements in natural history media, science or conservation. The highest honor recognized by JHWFF, previous honorees include: Dr. Richard Leakey, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Dr. Jane Goodall, Dr. E.O. Wilson, Dr. George Schaller, Prof. Hans Hass, Sir David Attenborough and Gil Grosvenor. This year, the JHWFF Board of Directors has chosen to honor Beverly & Dereck Joubert for their notable impact in media, and Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick, for her work in conservation.

Beverly & Dereck Joubert 
For nearly three decades, conservationists Beverly and Dereck Joubert have celebrated nature and wildlife in documentaries, books, scientific journals, photographs and magazine articles. The couple’s arresting visual work has earned them five Emmys and many other awards. The Jouberts, both National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence based in Botswana, are dedicated to understanding and preserving key species throughout the African continent. The couple is particularly interested in large predators, and lead the Big Cats Initiative, a campaign to stop dwindling populations and bolster public awareness. Beverly and Dereck are also building a new model for preservation as partners in Great Plains Conservation. Striking a balance of preservation, community and commerce, GPC aims to save endangered habitats in Africa and surrounding the Indian Ocean through low-impact tourism and the sale of carbon credits and villas or bush homes.

Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick is a Kenyan author, conservationist and expert in animal husbandry, particularly the raising and reintegrating of orphaned elephants into the wild for over 30 years. From 1955 until 1976 Sheldrick was a co-warden of Tsavo National Park with her late husband, David Sheldrick. During that time she raised and rehabilitated back into the wild, elephants, black rhinos, buffalo, zebras, elands, kudus, impalas, duikers, reedbuck, dikdiks, warthogs, civets, mongeese and birds. Queen Elizabeth II appointed her with the first Knighthood to be awarded in Kenya since the country received Independence. Dame Daphne Sheldrick has tirelessly campaigned at an International level against the abuse of captive animals. Daphne Sheldrick is recognized internationally as probably the world authority on both the African Elephant and the Black Rhinoceros, with a broad knowledge of natural history and the interlocking role of different species within the environment. Through four books, numerous articles, lectures and television appearances, she has promoted wildlife conservation worldwide. Through the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, established after the death of her husband in 1977 in his memory, she has made a further significant contribution to wildlife conservation in Kenya, supporting the Kenya Wildlife Service by meeting contingency needs during times of economic constraint.