2025 Prize Winner Dr. Krithi K. Karanth Featured in The American Bazaar

"In India, where 1.4 billion people share their future with some of the world’s richest forests and most extraordinary wildlife, conservation is not just a necessity, but an opportunity for vision and innovation. Few embody this balance as powerfully as Dr. Krithi K. Karanth, CEO of the Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS). With nearly three decades of experience in the field, Dr. Karanth has pioneered programs that extend far beyond protecting animals, empowering communities, and reimagining conservation as collaboration rather than conflict.

Dr. Karanth’s initiatives — Wild Seve, Wild Shaale, Wild Surakshe, and Wild Carbon — have reached thousands of villages, students, farmers, and frontline workers, blending science with social equity. This model of resilience and coexistence recently earned CWS the prestigious John P. McNulty Prize, making her the first wildlife leader worldwide to receive the honor. Established in 2008 by Anne Welsh McNulty in partnership with the Aspen Institute, the prize provides $150,000 in funding and tailored support, and has so far recognized more than 57 leaders across 25 countries for pioneering solutions to global challenges.

For Dr. Karanth, this recognition is one more in a constellation of accolades that mark her extraordinary journey, but it is not a destination. Rather, it is a spark that pushes wildlife to the center of global environmental discourse, fuels innovation at the crossroads of ecology, technology, and society, and confronts urgent threats such as illegal hunting and trade. Yet, beyond the milestones and honors lies a deeper philosophy: conservation that collaborates rather than isolates, that listens rather than imposes. In our conversation, Dr. Karanth reflected not only on the path to global recognition but also on the unfinished work ahead, and on the kind of leadership it will take to keep India’s wild heart beating strong."