Two Women From the Academic World Are Finalists for the $250,000 Indianapolis Prize

The Indianapolis Prize is awarded every two years by the Indianapolis Zoo to individuals who have made significant contributions to the conservation of animal species. The award comes with a $250,000 cash prize that is funded by the Lilly Foundation. The winner also receives the Lilly Medal.

Six scientists have been chosen as finalists from a field of 28 nominees for the Indianapolis Prize. Each of the finalists will receive a $10,000 award. The winner and the other five finalists will be honored in Indianapolis in October. Two of the six finalists are women academics.

Amanda Vincent holds the Canada Research Chair in Marine Conservation in the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia in Canada. In 1996, she co-founded the first seahorse conservation program, Project Seahorse, which she still directs. She taught at McGill University in Montreal before joining the faculty at the University of British Columbia. Professor Vincent is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario and earned a Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in England.

P. Dee Boersma holds the Wadsworth Endowed Chair in Conservation Science and is a professor of biology at the University of Washington. She is the first scientist from the University of Washington to be named a finalist for the Indianapolis Prize. For more than three decades, Dr. Boersma has worked to protect the habitat of penguins in South America, particularly Magellanic penguins in Argentina. Professor Boersma has been a member of the faculty at the University of Washington since 1974. She holds a Ph.D. from Ohio State University.