Reef ecologist Kylie Smith has received the 2026 Dr. Nancy Foster Habitat Conservation Award, presented by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in partnership with the American Fisheries Society. The award was presented at a summit on coastal areas and estuaries in San Francisco.
In 2019 Smith co-founded I.CARE, an organisation in Islamorada that links restoration science with community participation. The project has already trained more than 5,000 recreational divers in restoration techniques and planted thousands of reef-building corals along the Florida Keys.
She also created a paid internship programme and, during her PhD at Clemson University, mentored more than 40 students. According to those who nominated her, Smith has turned community members from passive observers of reef decline into active guardians of one of the world’s most threatened marine ecosystems.
