The winners of the Annual Go Blue Awards hosted by Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC) were announced publicly on Friday, October 23, 2020. These awards recognize “individuals, youth, businesses, and nonprofit organizations who are making extraordinary contributions in ocean conservation and are on the leading edge of going "Blue!". The nominees are judged by an independent panel that included marine biologists, nonprofit professionals, acclaimed national Geographic Photographers, and explorers, not to mention, ocean explorer Fabien Cousteau.
Considering the record number of nominations this year, it was a complete surprise and honor when we found out that we had been chosen as the winners of the Blue Nonprofit of the Year Award for 2020. On behalf of the American Shark Conservancy, we would like to thank the Center and the esteemed judging panel for this distinction.
We are extremely proud of what our organization has become, the research we are conducting, the impact we are making not only for sharks but for the oceans, for science, and for conservation. None of us got into this field for the recognition, but it does feel pretty good to have our hard work and dedication acknowledged.
We would like to congratulate the incredible nonprofits that were also finalists in this category and encourage everyone to follow and support their efforts. They are all doing such great things for our planet.
We would like to thank the amazing members of our ASC shark squad, the research assistants that have stuck it out through rough seas and rough outreach events, the interns that have to organize terabytes of footage and piles of data books, and our funders, especially the Save Our Seas Foundation for supporting our keystone project on hammerheads.
Thank you to our board of directors and our advisors, especially Jill Brooks for tackling huge projects with us and spending hours on video calls, even before anyone had heard of Zoom. And thank you to the incredible collaborators and advocates and communities that support us and work with us, we’d really be nothing without them.
Note from our President, Hannah Medd ~ “A very special thank you to my family, my husband, dad and brother, and dear friends, who have had to put up with me talking about and chasing sharks for a very long time, thank you for believing in ASC. This award is dedicated to my late mom, Mrs. Catherine Krumm Medd, I hope I am making ya proud mom.”
To see her full acceptance speech, please visit our YouTube page.
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This year’s Go Blue Award Judges:
Gary & Brenda Adkison - U.S. Shark Foundation, Director; Fabien Cousteau - Aquanaut, oceanographic explorer, conservationist and documentary filmmaker; Glenn Glazer - Meteorologist; Greg Marshall - Marine biologist and filmmaker. The inventor of Crittercam; Cristina Mittermeier - Contributing Photographer, Speaker, and Explorer for National Geographic; Sally Murray - Daughter of LMC Founder, Eleanor Fletcher; Susan Murray - Oceana Deputy Vice President U.S. Pacific, Granddaughter of LMC Founder, Eleanor Fletcher; Paul Nicklen - Acclaimed National Geographic Photographer, Biologist, and Conservationist; Jim Toomey - Former Mission Blue Executive Director, Creator of Sherman's Lagoon Comic Strip; and Dr. Edith Widder - Ocean Research & Conservation Association.
Former winners include:
Dr. Guy Harvey, Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation; Dr. Sylvia Earle, Mission Blue; Hardy Jones - Executive Director, Bluevoice.org; Nathaniel Reed, Everglades Foundation; Dr. Edith Widder, Ocean Research & Conservation Association; Florida Power & Light Company; Gary Adkison, U.S. Shark Foundation; International Game Fish Association; and Coral Restoration Foundation.
