Lisa Dabek appointed at 2025 Dehaan finalist for the world’s leading animal preservation award for her decades of work with threatened wooden wings

Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communication

The Indianapolis award has appointed six distinguished preservatives for the Dehaan finalists for the 2025 prize, and Woodland Park Zoo is proud to announce that Lisa Dabek, PhD, senior protection researcher at the Zoo and founder of Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program in Papua New Guinea, is among the six finalists.

Lisa Dabek, Ph.D., in Papua New Guinea with a Matschies Trægenenguru. Photo by Jonathan Byers.

The acclaimed Biennal Prize recognizes animal protection men who have achieved great victories of saving an animal species or group of species. Dehaan finalists will each receive a price of $ 50,000 to continue their efforts. The Indianapolis prize celebrates its 20 -year anniversary and is the world’s leading prize for animal preservation who honor people who are at the forefront of species protection and research.

Almost 30 years ago, Dabek traveled to the remote Huon Peninsula in Papua New Guinea in search of the evasive Matschie’s wooden angel, a marsupial that had never been examined before in nature. What began as a conservation study study of the threatened Matschie’s wooden angaroo has flourished in a holistic program: Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program (TKCP), which focuses on protecting wooden wardens – and a host of endemic wildlife and Papua New Guinea’s rainforests – and empowering people who share the forest. As a signature program for Woodland Park Zoo, TKCP is working to benefit local communities by supporting education, health and livelihood programs.

Tree Kangaroo Joey in 2021 at Woodland Park Zoo. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo

“I am honored to work with the local landowners and communities in YUS (Yopno-Uruwa-AS) and the local staff of the Tree Kangaroo Conservation program on behalf of wooden ward, people and the environment. This is an award for everyone involved in our efforts, ”said Lisa Dabek, PhD, senior protection researcher at Woodland Park Zoo and founder of the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program.

Under Dabek’s leadership, TKCP helped establish Papua New Guinea’s first nationally recognized, socially controlled conservation area that protects more than 187,000 hectares of forest and 50 villages against logging, mining and over hunting and extends from mountain sky forests to lowland rainforests to coral refreshs.

Papua New Guinea’s forests are one of the most pristine and biodiverse regions in the world and is home to Matschie’s wooden angaroo, paradise birds and other unique and endemic wildlife.

The Dehaan finalists in 2025 were chosen from a group of 44 nominees based on the measurable results of their work, the quality of science used for their efforts and a demonstrated spirit of cooperation.

“These six extraordinary preservatives have achieved concrete results in protecting endangered species across the globe. Through the Indianapolis award, we are proud to shine a light on these conservation heroes whose work gives us hope for the future of our planet’s vulnerable species, ”Dr. Rob Shumaker, President and CEO of Indianapoli’s Zoological Society.

The winner of the 2025 Indianapolis price will be announced in May and will receive a price of $ 250,000. The winner and Dehaan finalists will be honored in the Indianapolis Prize Gala on September 27, 2025, presented by Cummins Inc., in the center of Indianapolis.