UCLA Marks 10 Years of the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award and Names Zuzana Buřivalová as 2026 Winner of $100,000 Prize

AS ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES MOUNT, UCLA BETS ON THE LEADERS WHO COULD CHANGE WHAT COMES NEXT

UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (IoES) celebrates a decade of identifying and supporting young environmental leaders whose work is shaping the future of the planet

Download Image HERE

LOS ANGELES, October 09, 2026--The need for bold, innovative thinkers capable of addressing the world's most pressing environmental challenges has never been greater. For the past decade, through the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award, the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (IoES) has identified those changemakers early in their careers, giving them recognition, resources and a platform to advance their work. Tonight, UCLA celebrated the award's 10th anniversary, recognizing Zuzana Buřivalová with a $100,000 prize as its 2026 recipient. Established by the Anthony Pritzker Family Foundation and administered by UCLA IoES to recognize exceptional environmental innovators under 40, Zuzana Buřivalová joins a distinguished community of prior awardees and emerging leaders working across conservation, climate science, environmental justice, clean energy, Indigenous stewardship and sustainable technology.

Buřivalová's award honors her tropical forest conservation work giving biodiversity a voice through bioacoustic tracking and reporting.

"My sincere thanks to the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and the Anthony Pritzker Family Foundation for this honor," said winner Zuzana Buřivalová. "This award will enable me to bring our soundscapes from the Sound Forest Lab to new ears, pushing the conservational impact of our work to new heights."

"We are so impressed by all three of the finalists that the award process has highlighted, and we certainly are proud of Zuzana Buřivalová and her accomplishments," said Tony Pritzker. "It is incredibly rewarding to look back on the cumulative impact of awarding this prize for the past 10 years and see the ongoing accomplishments that past recipients have gone on to make around the world. Each year, choosing one winner becomes more difficult, and this year is no exception."

"Congratulations to Zuzana Buřivalová, and to all three of this year's finalists whose work reflects the kind of bold thinking and meaningful action the planet needs right now," said Alex Hall, Director, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. "For 10 years, the Pritzker Award has allowed UCLA to recognize emerging environmental leaders from around the world and give their work a broader platform. We are incredibly grateful to the Anthony Pritzker Family Foundation for supporting this process and the remarkable changemakers who promise to advance the ideas and solutions that will shape our environmental future."