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NEW YORK - The ���Ĵ�ý celebrated the legacy of female leadership in conservation yesterday, by presenting two conservation champions with the Rachel Carson Award at The Plaza Hotel in New York, NY. The prestigious ���Ĵ�ý award recognizes visionary women whose dedication, talent and energy have advanced environmental and conservation positive change locally and on a global scale.

“���Ĵ�ý New York is proud to honor Warrie Price and Flo Stone as the 2015 Rachel Carson Award recipients,” says ���Ĵ�ý New York Executive Director Erin Crotty.  “We thank them for their bold vision, entrepreneurial spirit and persistence. We also congratulate the dozens of women being honored for using their journalistic talents to inform and catalyze change for a more protected planet. “

This year ���Ĵ�ý also recognized a special group of women with the “Women Greening  Journalism” special recognition. This recognition celebrates the efforts of American women whose work has advanced environmental journalism by using “the power of the pen” to inform citizens, spark debate and ignite change for conservation. Recipients included Emily Atkin (ThinkProgress), Jennifer Bogo (Popular Science), Rene Ebersole (���Ĵ�ý magazine), Suzanne Goldenberg (The Guardian), Lisa Friedman (ClimateWire), Kate Sheppard (Huffington Post), Amy Westervelt (The Guardian UK and Wall Street Journal) among others.

Allison Whipple Rockefeller, the founding chair of the Rachel Carson Awards Council, spoke at the ceremony with a nod to the award’s namesake and honorees. As guests dined on a locally sourced vegetarian menu for this event catered by Liz Neumark, owner of Great Performances and member of the ���Ĵ�ý Women in Conservation Council, emcee NBC Chief Environmental Affairs Correspondent Anne Thompson, remarked on the historical legacy of American women in conservation and challenges female environmental reporters face.

“Women helped start ���Ĵ�ý more than a hundred years ago and have played a leading role in conservation ever since. That’s what we’re celebrating today – women who have truly made a difference.” said ���Ĵ�ý President and CEO David Yarnold (). “And we hope that by honoring their example, we’ll inspire the next generation of women and girls to aim high. Women understand that we all need clean air, clean water and healthy natural spaces, and they're willing to do something about it.”

Guests included:  Warrie Price, Founder & President, The Battery Conservancy; Flo Stone, Founder & President Emerita, Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital; Anne Thompson, Chief Environmental Affairs Correspondent for NBC News; Allison Rockefeller, Founding Chair of Women in Conservation Luncheon; Erin Crotty, ���Ĵ�ý New York Executive Director; Katie Carpenter, 2015 Special Recognition Chair, Rachel Carson Awards Council, Jane Alexander, Jayni Chase, Marian Heiskell, Diedre Imus, Fernanda Kellogg, Elizabeth Titus Putnam. Special Recognition category-- Lindsay Abrams, Writer at Salon; Emily Atkin, Deputy Editor at ThinkProgress; Katherine Bagley, Reporter for InsideClimate News; Sara Bernard; Jeanne Blaisdell,  Founder and Publisher of TheGreenSamaritan.com; Jennifer Bogo, Executive Editor at Popular Science; Rene Ebersole, Features Editor at ���Ĵ�ý Magazine; Lisa Friedman, Deputy Editor of ClimateWire; Suzanne Goldenberg, US Environment Correspondent at The Guardian; Rona Kobell, Reporter at Chesapeake Bay Journal; Celeste LeCompte; Elizabeth Royte, Author, Writer and Contributing Editor at Food and Environment Reporting Network, OnEarth Magazine, and Smithsonian; Kate Sheppard, Senior Reporter  at The Huffington Post; Bonnie Lane Webber, Environmental Chair for Carnegie Hall Neighbors and Chair of the Sierra Club NYC Group Sustainability Series; Amy Westervelt reporter at The Guardian UK and The Wall Street Journal.

Mission: To recognize outstanding women leaders in today's conservation movement; to support environmental opportunities for girls and young women; and to educate women on important issues related to conservation and the environment. Since its inception, ���Ĵ�ý’s Rachel Carson Award has raised more than $1 million to support ���Ĵ�ý New York’s programs to protect birds and their habitats as well as ���Ĵ�ý’s Women in Conservation Program. For more information visit,

ABOUT AUDUBON: The ���Ĵ�ý saves birds and their habitats throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education and on-the-ground conservation. ���Ĵ�ý's state programs, nature centers, chapters and partners have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire and unite diverse communities in conservation action. Since 1905, ���Ĵ�ý's vision has been a world in which people and wildlife thrive. ���Ĵ�ý is a nonprofit conservation organization. Learn more at  and .

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