The Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s Communications Team won the prestigious PR News Platinum Award! The award, in the Public Affairs category, recognizes their work on the amphibian crisis public relations campaign.This is a significant honor and acknowledgement from the public relations industry.

PR News' Platinum PR Awards salute the year’s most outstanding communications initiatives and programs in the highly competitive and dynamic field of public relations. The coveted awards set the industry benchmark for excellence across all areas of public relations. The winners of the Platinum PR Awards are from corporations, agencies and nonprofits large and small who took chances, made tremendous strides and understand the power of public relations.

The PR campaign for the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project, led by Lindsay Renick Mayer, has increased awareness of what is arguably one of the most serious conservation crises of our time, while engaging new and strategic audiences and providing individuals with options to take action. Specifics and ongoing objectives of the campaign have been to:

• Tell the story about the work the Zoo and SCBI are doing to save 20 rescue species of frogs in eastern Panama, the last stronghold for amphibian diversity, while also seeking a cure for the disease wiping them out.
• Increase web traffic to the rescue project’s website.
• Maintain a lively and diverse blog that spans a number of topics and includes a multitude of voices and formats.
• Increase followers on the project’s Facebook page and Twitter feed.
• Garner local, national and international attention for the project, science and conservation efforts both in the United States and in Panama.
• Coordinate media trips on expeditions into the rainforest to collect priority rescue species with the project’s primary researchers.
• Leverage PR efforts to bring in new funds for the rescue project and to maintain a vibrant volunteer program.

This award highlights the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s expertise in educating and mobilizing the public about an international conservation crisis.