Niyonkuru (Chris) Benjamin
Niyonkuru (Chris) Benjamin is a 24-year-old from Rwanda who grew up in the Imbabazi orphanage after his parents passed away. He is a gemstone craftsman, painter and self-taught photographer. Chris is dedicated to sharing information about biodiversity and conservation with his community, and sharing biodiversity perspectives from Rwanda with the world.
“After getting a chance to work with Voices for Biodiversity I was interested in everything around me, and deeply thankful for the possibility of knowing more about conservation. I want to take care of nature within my country and share this information with my people. This opportunity has given me the possibility to ask questions about biodiversity and to ask myself these questions, and it has allowed me to know more about what is happening in my country and what is happening internationally. I am deeply happy and very appreciative to be part of this.”
National Federation of Press Women Awards Second Place for Best Feature Article to Voices for Biodiversity Managing Editor, Erika Zambello
The National Federation of Press Women has awarded second place to Erika Zambello for her article Snowy Plovers and Citizen Science along the Florida Panhandle in the annual contest’s Features category. The article was published by Voices for Biodiversity on July 8, 2016. The NFPW is a nationwide organization of women and men pursuing careers across the communications spectrum, including print and electronic journalism, freelancing, new media, books, public relations, marketing, graphic design, photography, advertising, radio and television.
Heaven’s Falling, Voices for Biodiversity’s Signature Video, Screens at the 2016 Taos Environmental Film Festival
Kimberley Rose William’s film Heaven’s Falling was screened at the September 2016 Taos Environmental Film Festival held in Taos, New Mexico. The Voices for Biodiversity team congratulates Kimberley for having her Voices for Biodiversity signature film selected for yet another film festival.
Heaven’s Falling, Voices for Biodiversity’s Signature Video, Wins Best Music Video Award at 2016 Moondance Film Festival in Boulder, CO
Kimberley Rose William’s film Heaven’s Falling was chosen as Best Music Video and Audience Favorite at the 2016 Moondance Film Festival held in Boulder, Colorado. Kimberley made this short film for Voices for Biodiversity to use as Voices for Biodiversity’s signature film for the purpose of raising awareness about the causes and adverse effects of biodiversity loss. The film also outlines what we as human beings can do to re-connect with nature in order to arrest this loss. The Voices for Biodiversity team congratulates Kimberley on her award and thanks her for making this video.
The Taos News Interviews Tara Lumpkin, Founder of Voices for Biodiversity
Te Dovalpage of The Taos News interviews Tara Waters Lumpkin in her report on how Voices for Biodiversity (V4B) is using storytelling to empower and connect people with other species and nature. In this interview Dr. Lumpkin describes V4B as “local, but globally so.”
National Federation of Press Women Awards Honorable Mention for Best Website to Voices for Biodiversity Founder, Tara Lumpkin
The National Federation of Press Women has awarded an honorable mention to Founder Tara Waters Lumpkin for the website Voices for Biodiversity being the “best website edited or managed by a nonprofit, government agency or educational organization” in its annual national communications contest. The NFPW is a nationwide organization of women and men pursuing careers across the communications spectrum, including print and electronic journalism, freelancing, new media, books, public relations, marketing, graphic design, photography, advertising, radio and television.
Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere (MAHB) Features Voices for Biodiversity
The Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere (MAHB) featured Voices for Biodiversity in its April 2016 newsletter. Based at Stanford University, MAHB connects activists, scientists, humanists and civil society to foster global change. The organization’s goal is to address that humanity has seriously reduced the ability of the planet to support civilization indefinitely. MAHB, thus, focuses on: (1) the need for a fundamental shift in how people perceive and use ecological capital and services, (2) the likelihood that current societies will not continue to exist indefinitely into the future around the globe, and (3) challenging erroneous assumptions of past thinking. V4B is proud to have been chosen as a featured member of this collaborative group.
New Mexico Press Women Awards First Place for Best Website to Voices for Biodiversity Founder, Tara Lumpkin
The New Mexico Press Women has awarded first place to Founder Tara Waters Lumpkin for the website Voices for Biodiversity being the “best website edited or managed by a nonprofit, government agency or educational organization” in its annual communications contest.
Jan Hartke of Earth Council Alliance and the Clinton Global Initiative
Jan Hartke of Earth Council Alliance and the Clinton Global Initiative says about Voices for Biodiversity: “Voices for Biodiversity is so important that if you had not invented it, somebody else would have had to . . . . Again, the life of the planet needs you.”
National Federation of Press Women Awards First Place for Best Website to Voices for Biodiversity Founder, Tara Lumpkin
The National Federation of Press Women has awarded first place to Founder Tara Waters Lumpkin for the website Voices for Biodiversity being the “best website edited or managed by a nonprofit, government agency or educational organization” in its annual communications contest. The NFPW is a nationwide organization of women and men pursuing careers across the communications spectrum, including print and electronic journalism, freelancing, new media, books, public relations, marketing, graphic design, photography, advertising, radio and television.
New Mexico Press Women Awards First Place for Best Website to Voices for Biodiversity Founder, Tara Lumpkin
The New Mexico Press Women has awarded first place to Founder Tara Waters Lumpkin for the website Voices for Biodiversity being the “best website edited or managed by a nonprofit, government agency or educational organization” in its annual communications contest.
AAA Awards Dr. Tara Waters Lumpkin the Anthropology in Media Award
The Anthropology in Media Award (AIME) was established in 1987 to recognize the successful communication of anthropology to the general public through the media. Since 2009 Dr. Lumpkin and a team of volunteers have managed the participatory conservation e-zine, Voices for Biodiversity, which shares the stories of people from around the globe. Dr. Lumpkin has spearheaded a movement, and taken full advantage of a wide spectrum of media to bridge across geographical areas and to overcome access limitations in order to reach as wide a global audience as possible in her effort to bring home the significance, implications and ramifications of biodiversity and the critical pressures exerted on it by the human species.
We're facing what may possibly be the greatest extinction of species since the birth of our planet, and human beings are the dominant force behind this sixth extinction. How can we change our human perceptions and, thus, alter our negative impact on biodiversity? Are we evolutionarily hard-wired to destroy other species? Or can we become more aware of our own "animal nature" and consciously and deliberately change our behaviors? Clearly, there is an urgent need for these questions to be widely asked—and answered. Dr. Lumpkin and her team are striving to create a group of individuals doing precisely that by using the shared medium of storytelling, an ancient human form of communication, to speak out for those species who have no voice of their own. Voices for Biodiversity’s goal is to help all species, including the human species, survive and thrive together.
