Jackson Wild is committed to amplify and elevate emerging leaders in nature, conservation and science media. Our Rising Star award recipient exemplifies outstanding achievement alongside extended impact.
2020 Rising Star Award:
Sponsored this year, by Ample Nature
Gunjan Menon
Gunjan Menon is an independent natural history filmmaker and writer from India. She specializes in conservation and human interest stories and has won multiple accolades with 37 International awards and nominations across 14 countries so far for her work.
Gunjan holds an MA in Wildlife Filmmaking from the University of West of England, Bristol. Her keen interest in anthropology and endangered species took her to Nepal in 2017. She trekked 12,000 feet in the Eastern Himalayas to capture the unique bond shared between an indigenous woman and wild Red Pandas in her first independent short film, ’The Firefox Guardian’. The film is critically acclaimed and was shortlisted for a student BAFTA award. It now travels to various film festivals, schools and colleges across the world, has successfully started a dialogue on ecofeminism, and continues to raise funds for red panda conservation.
Gunjan wore multiple hats as an assistant director, researcher, second unit camerawoman and sound recordist on an eight-part conservation-adventure television series, ‘On the Brink’, produced by The Habitats Trust and The Gaia People which aired on Animal Planet and Discovery Channel. She also edited an episode for Season II of this series. She was a camerawoman-presenter on BBC Earth’s ‘Blue Planet II Live’ digital story, discussing community-driven conservation of olive ridley sea turtles in an Indian village. Gunjan also co-directed and edited an educational film, ‘Living with the King’, which was translated into local Indian languages to mitigate human-king cobra conflicts in sensitive rural areas. She is the author of a book on the Habitats Trust Grants which highlights the work of grassroots conservationists and frontline warriors in India.
Gunjan holds an MA in Wildlife Filmmaking from the University of West of England, Bristol. Her keen interest in anthropology and endangered species took her to Nepal in 2017. She trekked 12,000 feet in the Eastern Himalayas to capture the unique bond shared between an indigenous woman and wild Red Pandas in her first independent short film, ’The Firefox Guardian’. The film is critically acclaimed and was shortlisted for a student BAFTA award. It now travels to various film festivals, schools and colleges across the world, has successfully started a dialogue on ecofeminism, and continues to raise funds for red panda conservation.
Gunjan wore multiple hats as an assistant director, researcher, second unit camerawoman and sound recordist on an eight-part conservation-adventure television series, ‘On the Brink’, produced by The Habitats Trust and The Gaia People which aired on Animal Planet and Discovery Channel. She also edited an episode for Season II of this series. She was a camerawoman-presenter on BBC Earth’s ‘Blue Planet II Live’ digital story, discussing community-driven conservation of olive ridley sea turtles in an Indian village. Gunjan also co-directed and edited an educational film, ‘Living with the King’, which was translated into local Indian languages to mitigate human-king cobra conflicts in sensitive rural areas. She is the author of a book on the Habitats Trust Grants which highlights the work of grassroots conservationists and frontline warriors in India.
2019 Rising Star Award:
Sally Snow
Sally Snow is a Zoologist and Filmmaker. She is an Executive Directors for the Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines the largest non- government organization dedicated to the conservation of marine megafauna and the marine environment in the Philippines. A passionate science communicator she has worked with the BBC, National Geographic, S4C and PTS in diverse roles from associate producer, undercover filmmaker, self-shooting presenter and fixer for blue-chip series. She believes in conservation filmmaking as a tool for behavioural change and delivering stories that connect both people and the environment. She is a two-time grantee of the Conservation Media Group who champion impact media.
