Local Heroes 2025: Avroh Shah, Young Leader
Avroh Shah is fighting for the nature he loves.
Bay Nature Local Heroes
Local Heroes 2025: Mirella Ramos, Environmental Educator
Mirella Ramos is helping more people feel at home in nature.
Local Heroes 2025: Susan Schwartz, Community Hero
Susan Schwartz has decades of experience as a weed warrior.
Local Heroes 2025: Annie Burke, Conservation Action
Annie Burke is connecting conservation work across the Bay.
15 Years of Local Heroes
The awards grew from a desire to recognize elders who helped create a local conservation culture.
Omar Gallardo: 1975–2024
Gallardo led the transformation of a Santa Rosa garden into a thriving community space for green things and gatherings.
Local Heroes 2024: Yakuta Poonawalla, Community Hero
Yakuta Poonawalla first hiked in the Himalayas at age 15. “My mother was one of the first people in my life who, when I came back from my treks in...
Local Heroes 2024: Katharyn Boyer, Environmental Educator
At the Estuary and Ocean Science Center, students are learning alongside scientists like Boyer how to save our shorelines.
Local Heroes 2024: Kellyx Nelson, Conservation Action Hero
When she drives down the San Mateo County coast, Kellyx Nelson doesn’t see a piece of land she hasn’t touched. She sees more than 10 dams removed, 500 acres of...
Local Heroes 2024: Naji Lockett, Young Leader
Fallen oak branches, tangles of dense undergrowth, heaps of eucalyptus bark, and packed stands of fir trees cover thousands of acres of public land in the East Bay. Scrambling to...
