As part of the Planetary Embassy in Belém during the UN climate summit COP30, the Frontiers Planet Prize, in partnership with Swissnex, invites you for a conversation on how science can move from diagnosing planetary crises to becoming a driving force for real-world transformation.
The session will feature the Prize’s Latin American National Champions, whose research spans planetary health, tropical resilience, and socio-environmental justice. It will explore how to turn evidence into action, showing how scientific innovation can reshape governance, shift societal incentives, and inspire collective stewardship of Earth’s life-support systems. Ultimately, it will demonstrate why celebrating and scaling science is not just an aspiration, but an urgent necessity for planetary survival.
What’s the Frontiers Planet Prize?
The Frontiers Planet Prize, presented by the Swiss-based Frontiers Research Foundation, was created with the mission to recognize and accelerate the world’s most impactful scientific breakthroughs advancing planetary boundary science, and ensure we can thrive within Earth’s limits. It is the world’s largest science competition dedicated to planetary health and Earth system science, awarding three annual prizes of USD 1 million. It mobilizes hundreds of institutions and national academies to elevate research offering actionable pathways toward a safe and just future for all.
Attend Connected Events
This event belongs to a three-part series taking place at the Emílio Goeldi Museum on the afternoon of November 10. Guests are also invited to join Anticipating Future Science for Ecosystems from 14:00 to 15:00 and the Science & Planet Connect from 15:00 to 17:00 (separate registration required).
Bio
Gilbert De Gregorio is Associate Director of the Frontiers Planet Prize, the world’s largest science award dedicated to advancing planetary health and earth system science. He oversees the strategic deployment of the Prize and leads global partnerships with universities, academies of science, and international organisations to elevate research that safeguards Earth’s systems. Before joining the Frontiers Research Foundation, Gilbert worked across scholarly publishing, including as Head of Publishing Programs for Sustainability and Biological Sciences at Frontiers and later at F1000 (Taylor & Francis Group). Earlier in his career, he worked in innovation consulting and as a patent examiner in carbon capture and storage at the European Patent Office. Trained as a green chemist, Gilbert holds a PhD from Imperial College London, where his research focused on sustainable biofuel production using ionic liquids. He is committed to ensuring that the scientific communities striving to keep humanity within planetary boundaries are recognized, empowered, and connected to global action.
Bio
Fabiola S. Sosa-Rodriguez is a professor and researcher at the Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM) in Mexico. She was honored as the National Champion of the Frontiers Planet Prize in its 2025 edition. She received the “Academic of the Year” award from EPIC-Network and has been recognized twice with the “Women in Science Award” by the Mexican Academy of Sciences. The Government of the State of Mexico also honored her as a “Woman Defender of Water.” She leads a working group dedicated to the rescue of La Piedad Lagoon and coordinates a team of over 50 experts from the country’s top institutions to provide technical support for the cleanup of the Tula, Lerma-Santiago, and Atoyac rivers. Additionally, she is a reviewer and contributing author for the IPCC, member of the UNESCO Multisectoral Coalition of Women for Water, and part of the Mexican Delegation at the Conference of the Parties (COP).
Bio
João Campos-Silva is a conservation scientist at the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA) and the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM), and serves as President of Instituto Juruá, a civil society organization dedicated to community-based conservation in the Amazon. His research focuses on socioecological systems, bioeconomy, climate change, and community-led management of natural resources. Through Instituto Juruá, João leads collaborative projects developed in partnership with Indigenous peoples and local communities, promoting inclusive governance models that strengthen both biodiversity conservation and social well-being. His work integrates science, traditional knowledge, and policy innovation to foster resilient and equitable conservation strategies across the Amazon Basin.
Bio
Ane Alencar is Science Director at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM). She holds a degree in Geography from the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), a Master’s in Remote Sensing and GIS from Boston University, and a Ph.D. in Natural Resources Conservation from the University of Florida. For three decades, she has dedicated her career to mapping and understanding tropical forest fires and their connections with land use and climate change in the Amazon. In 2018, Fire magazine recognized her as one of the world’s leading scientists in fire research, and she has twice been a finalist for social entrepreneurship awards for developing technologies that support Indigenous territorial monitoring. She coordinates the Cerrado and Fire Monitoring initiatives within the MapBiomas Network, is a member of the Science Panel for the Amazon, and a Fulbright Amazonia Fellow. Recently, the Radiant Earth Foundation named her one of 14 global leaders in Machine Learning and Earth Observation.
From November 9 to 21, 2025, the Planetary Embassy comes to life in Belém, Brazil, on the margins of the UN climate summit COP30. Part of a series of pop-up experiences across the global Swissnex network, this edition is hosted in the zoobotanical gardens of the Goeldi Museum, a setting that blends the Amazon's biodiversity, science, ancestral wisdom, and Swiss legacy.
The Planetary Embassy is presented by Swissnex in Brazil with the support of Presence Switzerland, as part of the Road to Belém program led by the Embassy of Switzerland in Brazil.
