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ECOCEAN's Brad Norman wins Rolex Awards for Enterprise October 26, 2006

Marking three decades since the inception of its international awards programme, Rolex today named the winners of the 12th Rolex Awards for Enterprise. The Laureates – three women and two men – hail from Australia, France, India, Thailand and the United Kingdom. They join the 55 Laureates who, since 1976, have been singled out by the Swiss watchmaker for their innovative projects to change the world and make it a better place to live.

Each Laureate will receive a cash prize and a personally inscribed gold Rolex chronometer on the 26th October)\ at a ceremony at the Esplanade performing arts centre in Singapore. The five winners – selected by an independent panel of experts from nearly 1,700 applicants from 117 countries – will be recognized for their contributions to science, technology, the environment, exploration and cultural heritage.

The new Laureates are: Alexandra Lavrillier, a French ethnologist establishing a mobile school to preserve Siberian nomads’ cultural heritage; Brad Norman, an Australian environmentalist implementing a global photo-identification database for whale shark conservation; Pilai Poonswad, a Thai microbiology professor saving hornbills threatened by poaching and deforestation in southern Thailand; Chanda Shroff, an Indian woman setting up a mobile resource centre to showcase Kutchi embroidery and teach a new generation of artisans about this tradition; and Rory Wilson, a British zoologist testing a revolutionary energy-expenditure measuring device to help conserve wildlife.

“The Laureates demonstrate the unwavering spirit of enterprise that has underpinned the Rolex Awards since their beginning 30 years ago,” said Patrick Heiniger, Chief Executive Officer of Rolex SA and Chairman of the Awards Selection Committee. “We at Rolex are gratified that we have been able to support these brave individuals who dare to do things differently to improve the human condition.”

Brad Norman added “I thank all the team of dedicated volunteers worldwide who have contributed to the global success of the ECOCEAN global whale shark photo-identification program, with special thanks in particular to Jason Holmberg and Zaven Arzoumanian”.

Comments»

1. Freund Factory - October 27, 2006

Dear Brad,

Finally we can talk about it! Congratulations. It’s about bloody time!
We added our own congratulatory note in our “what’s new” portion of our website www.freundfactory.com in case you want to check it out.

cheers,
Stella & Yogi

2. Kelly - November 10, 2006

Congratulations Brad! We are very proud of you over here in London!
Can’t wait to see you next month!

ove Kelly and Dan x