UCLA Announces Finalists for Tenth Annual Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award
Zuzana Buřivalová, Doris Njagi and Suzanne Pierre named 2026 Pritzker Award Finalists Ahead of October 8 award ceremony.
Marking a decade of impact, the $100,000 prize honors rising environmental innovators under 40 whose work is advancing bold, scalable solutions to urgent planetary challenges
LOS ANGELES, July 29, 2026 – Today, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability announced Zuzana Buřivalová, Doris Njagi and Suzanne Pierre as the finalists for the 2026 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award, one of the environmental field’s most prestigious honors recognizing innovators under 40 whose strong solutions to global challenges have the power to revolutionize the future. As the award celebrates its 10th anniversary, one finalist will receive the award’s $100,000 prize at a ceremony at UCLA on October 8.
By transforming research and grassroots work into actionable policy and change, this year’s class of finalists, selected by a panel of eight environmental experts, highlight the pressing need for ecological activism, agricultural equity, and bold conservation communication.
Zuzana Buřivalová is a tropical forest conservation scientist whose work is dedicated to giving biodiversity a voice in the decisions that shape its future. As an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the principal investigator of the Sound Forest Lab, she develops bioacoustic methods to measure the health of tropical forests in places and at scales where traditional approaches fail. She co-founded and leads the “Conservation Effectiveness” initiative with Mongabay, bringing evidence on what works and what doesn’t in forest conservation closer to decision-makers.
Doris Njagi grew up on the slopes of Mount Kenya, watching smallholder farmers toil on land that her own family knew intimately, but the forests that once ringed its base are receding under illegal deforestation. Today, she is working to restore the very forests she watched as a child by building a scalable solution at the intersection of climate action, sustainable design and inclusive economic growth. Forest Restored is a social enterprise restoring degraded land across East Africa by making it pay for smallholder farmers to grow native trees. For Doris, restoring an ecosystem and lifting a household out of poverty are the same act.
Suzanne Pierre is a microbial ecologist and biogeochemist working in soil. Her technical expertise includes nutrient and carbon cycling in plant and microbial systems experiencing climate change. She is also the founder and lead investigator of the Critical Ecology Lab, a nonprofit organization researching the intersection of global ecological change, social justice, and liberation of oppressed peoples.Through her research, Pierre strives to explain the phenomena of global ecological change as responses to systems of global colonialism and capitalism.
As the Pritzker Award marks its 10th year, the 2026 finalists continue a legacy of honoring innovators whose ideas are already producing real-world impact and whose leadership has the potential to shape the next decade of environmental progress.
The finalists, selected from 15 candidates, will next be presented to a panel of judges: Ah-Hyung “Alissa” Park, dean of UCLA’s Samueli School of Engineering; Andrew Steer, former CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund; and Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, dean of UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs; Audrey Choi, chair of the Generation Foundation; Christina A. Christie, dean of UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies. The winner will be announced during an October 8 ceremony at UCLA.
About the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award:
The Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award provides $100,000 to a scientist, entrepreneur, engineer, activist or artist under 40 who is poised to make a game-changing environmental difference. Since 2017, the award has recognized 9 winners, 21 finalists and 133 nominees from around the world — including TIME 100 honorees, Earthshot Prize winners and leaders whose work spans six continents.
About UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (IoES):
The UCLA IoES is an interdisciplinary research center that supports sustainability and addresses global environmental challenges. Their goal is to translate science into real-world action at the front lines of environmental progress.
Media Contact:
SMITHHOUSE Strategy for UCLA Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award
ucla@smithhousestrategy.com
Emily Bisno, Associate Director of Development, Physical Sciences, UCLA
ebisno@support.ucla.edu