Wild About Wildlife Honors Richard Louv with Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award at Nature Renaissance Luncheon

Bestselling author headlines afternoon at The Ben as guests answer the Call of the Wild for South Florida youth conservation programs

WEST PALM BEACH, FL, UNITED STATES, October 15, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Wild About Wildlife, a fundraising and awareness initiative benefiting the National Wildlife Refuge Association’s South Florida programs, welcomed bestselling author Richard Louv to The Ben, Autograph Collection, on Monday, Oct. 12, for Nature Renaissance with Richard Louv, presented by Doane & Doane, PA.

Louv coined the term “nature-deficit disorder” in his 2005 bestseller Last Child in the Woods, which helped launch an international movement to reconnect children and families with the outdoors. His keynote, sponsored by The Everglades Foundation, drew on his newest book, Noticing: Intimate Encounters with the Natural World. In it he looks at how new research on animal communication, wildlife sentience and the human senses is changing the way people relate to other living things.

Chair Dianne Bernstein opened the program with a welcome, and Wild About Wildlife Co-Founder Nancy Marshall introduced Louv. After the keynote, Louv joined Natalie Balaguer, South Florida Regional Partnership Specialist for the Refuge Association, for a conversation about how that message plays out locally. Through Conservation Ranger Camp, Pocket Refuges and Floating Wetlands, the Refuge Association’s South Florida programs put students on wildlife refuges and bring nature to their schools.

Bernstein and Desirée Sorenson-Groves, President and CEO of the Refuge Association, then presented Louv with the first-ever Wild About Wildlife Lifetime Achievement Award. The organization created the award to recognize his career-long work reconnecting children with nature. Louv put a name to a problem parents and teachers already saw, and he helped build a global movement that changed policy, schools and family life.

“Richard’s work changed how a whole generation of parents and teachers think about kids and the outdoors,” said Dianne Bernstein, Chair of Wild About Wildlife. “He has spent decades making the case that every child deserves time in nature, and that commitment has moved schools, families and lawmakers to act. We’re proud to make him our first Lifetime Achievement honoree.”

The afternoon closed with Call of the Wild, a live appeal led by Bernstein in support of the Refuge Association’s South Florida youth programs. Guests gave to open more chances for youth to explore the outdoors, learn about wildlife conservation and work alongside refuge rangers.

Nature Renaissance was made possible by Presenting Sponsor Doane & Doane, PA; Keynote Sponsor The Everglades Foundation; Environmental Partner FPL; and Table Sponsor West Palm Beach Library Foundation.

About Wild About Wildlife
Wild About Wildlife (WAW) is a Palm Beach–based fundraising and awareness initiative benefiting the National Wildlife Refuge Association's South Florida Urban Wildlife Refuge Project. Through community events and philanthropic engagement, WAW brings together conservation leaders, civic stakeholders, and residents in support of the Refuge Association's programs serving Palm Beach County and the greater South Florida region. Led by environmental advocates Nancy Marshall and Dianne Bernstein, WAW supports conservation education, habitat restoration, and access to nature by advancing awareness and funding for the Refuge Association's South Florida programs, including Pocket Refuges, Conservation Ranger Camp, and Floating Wetlands—connecting students and families to local ecosystems while fostering environmental stewardship and long-term community resilience. To learn more, visit wildaboutwildlife.org.

Melissa Perlman
BlueIvy Communications
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