AND THE WINNERS ARE…
The award ceremony itself was held at the Dolby Theatre, home to such events as the Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, and more. The prominence of the Rolex Awards was made abundantly clear as the busy Hollywood Boulevard was closed to traffic, and on hand to present the accolades were big names, including filmmaker and explorer James Cameron (who was also the moderator for the evening), Chris Pine, Don Cheadle, Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan. The laureates took to the stage with video presentations and speeches on their respective projects. There was nary a dry eye in the house as ophthalmologist Andrew Bastawrous recounted the success story of curing the eyesight of a blind grandmother and her grandson in a remote village in Kenya. Then there was marine conservation biologist Forsberg’s unbridled enthusiasm—she was beyond thrilled to be receiving the award from her personal hero, marine biologist Sylvia Earle. Explorer of the Chilean Patagonia, Vreni Häussermann, extolled the beauty found at the bottom of the fjords, while engineer Sonam Wangchuk made it known that he chose the Rolex Awards to fund his ice stupa project in Ladakh. Mechanical and biomedical engineer Conor Walsh explained how stroke sufferers could walk again with the help of an “exosuit”. Earlier that day, we had the opportunity for one-on-one chats with the 2016 laureates and discovered first-hand their indomitable spirits. There were the tales of human sacrifice, resilience in the light of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, unprecedented scientific discoveries and ingenious feats of engineering; these were underlined by passion for not just fellow humans, but also planet earth and its bountiful wonders. These individuals, who have continuously defied all odds to tackle social, environmental and scientific problems, are the real heroes of mankind. Whatever sense of pessimism I had felt before this year’s Rolex Awards ceremony dissipated as I was introduced to these people who had dedicated their lives to noble causes. As jury member, mathematician and science communicator Marcus du Sautoy said, “In such a bleak time, it is exciting to see this range of people doing what they are doing. The process [of selection has] renewed my faith in humanity.”