Wild About Wildlife Announces 2027 Conservation Honorees

From the waters of the Bahamas to classrooms across the Everglades, two extraordinary conservationists are recognized as a new season of impact begins

WEST PALM BEACH, FL, UNITED STATES, July 9, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Wild About Wildlife, a local initiative benefiting the National Wildlife Refuge Association, today announced the recipients of its 2027 Conservation Awards. Dr. Denise Herzing and Jennifer Diaz will be formally celebrated at the organization's Awards Dinner & Gala on February 5, 2027, at The Ben in West Palm Beach.

Each year, Wild About Wildlife's Conservation Awards honor individuals whose work embodies the spirit of stewardship and discovery that connects Palm Beach County to the natural world.

Dr. Denise Herzing, Founder and Research Director of the Wild Dolphin Project, will receive the Conservationist of the Year Award. For nearly four decades, she has lived among and studied a community of wild Atlantic spotted dolphins in the Bahamas, building one of the most significant long-term studies of marine mammal behavior in the world. A 2008 Guggenheim Fellow and affiliate faculty member at Florida Atlantic University, her work has been chronicled by National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, and PBS, and introduced to a global audience through her 2013 TED Talk.

Jennifer Diaz, Vice President of Education at The Everglades Foundation, will receive the Next Generation Award, recognizing leadership in connecting young people to conservation. Since joining the Foundation in 2014, she has built the Everglades Literacy Program into one of the most far-reaching environmental education efforts in the state, now active across 32 school districts and reaching more than 300,000 students and families each year. A former classroom teacher and NASA Endeavor Fellow, Diaz has spent her career deepening the bond between South Florida's young people and the Everglades.

"Denise and Jennifer have each spent their careers in service of the natural world, one in the field, the other in the classroom," said Nancy Marshall, co-founder of Wild About Wildlife. "Their work captures exactly what Wild About Wildlife was built to celebrate."

"It is a privilege to honor two individuals whose work has had such a profound and lasting impact, on the natural world and on the people fortunate enough to learn from them," said Dianne Bernstein, Chair of Wild About Wildlife. "Their stories will inspire our community at the gala, and I hope everyone joins us in celebrating all they've accomplished."

Wild About Wildlife's season begins this fall with The Nature Renaissance on October 12, featuring renowned author Richard Louv, whose books helped launch an international movement connecting children, families and communities to nature. The season culminates February 5, 2027, at The Ben, where Dr. Herzing and Ms. Diaz will be formally celebrated at the organization's Awards Dinner & Gala.

Tickets to the 2027 Awards Dinner & Gala, along with information on The Nature Renaissance and other upcoming season events, are available at wildaboutwildlife.org or by emailing wildaboutwildlife@refugeassociation.org.

About Wild About Wildlife
Wild About Wildlife (WAW) is a Palm Beach–based fundraising and awareness initiative benefiting the National Wildlife Refuge Association (Refuge Association) and its South Florida Urban Wildlife Refuge Project. Through community events and philanthropic engagement, WAW brings together conservation leaders, civic stakeholders, and residents in support of the Refuge Association's programs serving Palm Beach County and the greater South Florida region. Led by environmental advocates Nancy Marshall and Dianne Bernstein, WAW supports conservation education, habitat restoration, and access to nature by advancing awareness and funding for the Refuge Association's South Florida programs, including Pocket Refuges, Conservation Ranger Camp, and Floating Wetlands—connecting students and families to local ecosystems while fostering environmental stewardship and long-term community resilience. To learn more, visit wildaboutwildlife.org.

Melissa Perlman
BlueIvy Communications
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