And the GADMC 2023 Award Winners are…

Award Winners of the Global Animals in Disasters Management Conference

The Global Animals in Disasters Management Conference (GADMC), hosted by Animal Evac New Zealand and sponsored this year by VIER PFOTEN (Four Paws) International is one of the most important events of the year for disaster management experts from all over the world.

The international award winning conference provides a platform for professionals to discuss new ways to protect animals from disasters, and this year’s winners of the GADMC Awards showcase the very best and brightest in the field.

From the Most Engaging presentation on ‘Chernobyl Dogs’ by Dr Jennifer Betz to the Most Popular ‘Wildlife Disaster’ Response by Dave Pauli, these presentations truly captured the hearts and minds of attendees.

The Most Thought Provoking presentation, ‘A Case for Aquatic Animal Evacuation’ by Christine Parker-Graham, challenged traditional thinking and highlighted new approaches to disaster management.

The Emerging Researcher category recognized the important work being done by Fredred Valdivia and his team in Nicaragua, where working with horses is a challenging task.

Meanwhile, the Best Overall Presentation award went to the international panel discussing the important issue of unofficial responses to animals. The panel consisted of international experts Gerardo Huertas, Jen Gardner, Adam Parascandola and Dr Steve Glassey.

As a Special Merit, the GADMC Awards recognized the incredible work being done by Azzedine Downes & Shannon Walajtys on ‘Meeting conflict with compassion’, as well as the inspiring stories of ‘The Drowning Community Dogs of Mumbai’ by Tarusha Mishra and ‘What could the EU do better to protect animals in disasters-Lessons learnt from Ukraine’ by Valentyna Vozna.

The GADMC Awards are a testament to the dedication, innovation, and passion of disaster management professionals around the world. We are proud to support their work and look forward to seeing more of their inspiring contributions in the years to come.

All GADMC presentations including this year’s award winners are available free to view at our recordings page.

You can support the work of Animal Evac New Zealand including their custodianship of GADMC by donating here.