10-Year Anniversary Symposium | Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award
Celebrating a decade of impact of one of the most prestigious environmental prizes in the world for innovators under 40.
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UCLA Luskin Conference Center
Centennial Ballroom
We are excited to welcome you to UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability symposium marking the 10th anniversary of the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award.
The Symposium brings together past Pritzker Award winners and finalists, UCLA faculty, students, and cross-sector partners for substantive dialogue on the defining environmental challenges of our time.
Below is the day’s agenda. Each panel discussion will include an audience question-and-answer session.
The program begins at 10 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks
Alex Hall, Director of the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
Opening Remarks
Marta A. Segura, MPH; Center Director, UCLA Center for Healthy Climate Solutions, Fielding School of Public Health; Former Chief Heat Officer, City of Los Angeles
Panel 1: Conservation as resilience in the face of a changing climate
10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Moderated by NPR’s Science Desk Correspondent Nathan Rott.
Featuring:
2023 Pritzker Prize Winner Iroro Tanshi, Director of Research Programs and Co-founder of Small Mammal Conservation Organization (SMACON)
Professor Thomas Smith, Distinguished Research Professor, Founder and Co-Director, Center for Tropical Research; Founding Co-Director, Congo Basin Institute
Professor Elsa Ordway, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Co-Director, Center for Tropical Research and Congo Basin Institute
Restoration Ecologist Andy Kleinhesselink, Managing Director of UCLA’s Sage Hill
Lunch
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Lunch will be provided.
Panel 2: Energy transition and economic development from a global perspective
1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
Moderated by Los Angeles Times Climate and Energy Reporter Blanca Begert.
Featuring:
2022 Pritzker Prize Winner Dysmus Kisilu, Founder of Solar Freeze
Professor William Boyd, Faculty Co-Director of the UCLA Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment
Sebastián Solarte-Caicedo, Fulbright Scholar and PhD Candidate at the IoES
Break
2:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Panel 3: A conversation with 2026’s Pritzker Prize finalists
2:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Learn more about the 2026’s Pritzker Prize finalists.
Moderated by Nurit Katz, UCLA Chief Sustainability Officer
Featuring:
Zuzana Buřivalová, Principal Investigator of the Sound Forest Lab and Professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison
Doris Njagi, Founder of Forest Restored
Suzanne Pierre, Founder and Executive Director of Critical Ecology Lab
Closing Remarks
3:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Hosted Reception
4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Thank you for participating in today’s symposium. The IoES team is proud to be able convene this gathering and provide an opportunity to engage in dialogue with some of the world’s most compelling environmental minds at a critical moment for the planet.
We hope you take a moment to learn more about the work we do at the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, including our robust research and impactful undergraduate and graduate academic programs.