Margaret Atwood and the late Graeme Gibson have been named the winners of this year’s Douglas H. Pimlott Award.

The award is named after Douglas H. Pimlott, a renowned conservationist and wildlife biologist who was a founder of the modern Canadian environmental movement. It is given by Nature Canada to someone whose contributions to conservation can serve as an example to us all.

Atwood and Gibson were recognized for their commitment to birds, having served as joint honorary presidents of Birdlife International’s Rare Bird Club and champions of Nature Canada’s Save Bird Lives campaign. Graeme Gibson was instrumental in the establishment of the Pelee Island Bird Observatory.

Gibson’s The Bedside Book of Birds: An Avian Miscellany was published in 2005.