DR. GLADYS KALEMA-ZIKUSOKA, winner of the 2022 Edinburgh Medal, is a 2021 United Nations Champion of the Earth, a National Geographic Explorer, an Ashoka Fellow and the recipient of the Sierra Club Earthcare Award. In addition to her lengthy list of accolades, she is a Fellow at the Explorers Club and Chair of the Africa Chapter. While treating the mountain gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, she founded her non­profit Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), a systems-changing policy of making human health a priority to assure the health of wildlife, and the social enterprise Gorilla Conservation Coffee to protect endangered gorillas by creating prosperity for the local human communi­ties. Dr. Gladys trained as a veterinarian at the University of London’s Royal Veterinary College. Between 1996 and 2000, she set up the first Veterinary Unit at the Uganda Wildlife Authority. From 2000 to 2003, she completed a zoological medicine residency and masters in specialized veterinary medicine at North Carolina State University and North Carolina Zoological Park. Prior to setting up CTPH she also did a certificate in nonprofit management from Duke University and in 2016, she completed an MBA in Global Business and Sustainability. She lives outside Kampala, Uganda, with her husband Lawrence and two sons.

DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT is the Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments and Centre ValBio, the world-class research campus near Ranomafana National Park in Madagascar. She received her Ph.D. from the City University of New York and was Assistant Professor at Duke University. Her work as a tropical biologist, conservationist and primatologist led to the discovery of a new species of lemur, the Golden Bamboo Lemur, the establishment of Ranomafana National Park, and the publication of over 150 articles and books. Dr. Wright’s work with lemurs in Ranomafana was featured in the films Island of Lemurs: Madagascar and Me and Isaac Newton. She has received many honors for her contributions to lemur conservation including the three medals of honor from the Malagasy government, and the prestigious Indianapolis Prize for Animal Conservation.

LAWRENCE ZIKUSOKA is Co-Founder and ICT Director at CTPH. He has more than 15 years of international cross-function experience in the telecom industry with a special focus on emerging markets in Africa, Middle East and Asia. Lawrence set up the first award-winning CTPH Telecenters in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (2006) and Queen Elizabeth National Park (2007) based on his ICT volunteer experience with United Nations Information Technology Service at UNDP Hub in Orissa, India (2003). In 2006, Lawrence was awarded the Reuters Digital Vision Fellowship Award at Stanford University. The CTPH Telecentre at Bwindi was a Finalist at the Stockholm Challenge Award (2006) and Winner at the World Summit Awards for Inclusion and Empowerment (2007). Lawrence has been interviewed by BBC on Tech for Gorillas in Bwindi, CNN Focus on the Internet at CTPH Telecentre, Bwindi (2007), BBC Focus on Africa Mobile (2012) and Urban TV Uganda on Innovate/Technology (2016). Lawrence serves as an advisor for Gorilla Conservation Coffee, a CTPH social enterprise that supports smallholder farmers around Bwindi, home to the endangered mountain gorillas. He is also the CTPH representative for One Health National Disease Communications System of Uganda. Lawrence holds a Master of Science in Telecommunications from State University of New York Institute of Technology and attended the Executive Education in Social Entrepreneurship program at INSEAD Business School,France. Lawrence has held countless prestigious programmatic positions and advisory roles globally for organizations such as the Youth Peacemaker Network with UNESCO, the Refugee Connectivity Pilot with GSMA, UNHCR, Ericsson and MTN, Uganda, World Summit Award at United Nations ITU and the UN Mission in Kosovo.

ALLISON CARDEN HANES is a wildlife conservationist, primatologist, veterinary technician and filmmaker focused on one health conservation. Since receiving her Master’s of Science in Primate Conservation at Oxford Brookes University assessing disease transmission between humans and mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda she has worked for over a decade in the nonprofit sector. She is a WINGS WorldQuest Flag Carrier and Explorers Club Fellow and serves on the Young Professionals Council at EcoHealth Alliance that are all based out of New York City. Allison’s film work crosses many disciplines including wildlife, science, technology, Indigenous rights and the arts. In 2018 she launched the women-led multimedia production company, One Health Productions, and is currently working on several films in Africa and Asia including a film on the life of Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka and in 2021 completed the film, Gorilla Trekking Film, Uganda (GTFU), in collaboration with Dr. Gladys Kalema Zikusoka and Conservation Through Public Health as well as the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP), Conservation International (CI), Re:wild based on her master’s dissertation aimed at protecting endangered mountain gorillas and mitigating future pandemics. The Ugandan government is screening GTFU to all tourists that enter the country. Her feature, The Great Call, is a three-part immersive documentary project following gibbon song and Indigenous folklore across Asia. Allison lives between Brooklyn, Philadelphia and is most happy near water, forests and wildlife in the tropics.