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Meet the 2025 EDGE Fellows
EDGE of Existence
July 14, 2025
What does it take to protect a species few people have heard of?
For 12 conservationists from across Asia, the answers are enthusiasm, dedication, resilience, and a little support from their peers.
This month, we welcome the 2025 EDGE Fellows, a new cohort working to safeguard some of the most unique and overlooked species on Earth. One of the new fellows shares their reflections from their first training course, and we take you behind the scenes for a few updates from project visits in Mexico, India, and Sri Lanka. Finally, we issue a reminder - applications for the 2026 EDGE Fellowship close soon!
Let’s do this.
Table of Contents
Announcing the New 2025 EDGE Fellows
We are excited to introduce the new 2025 cohort of EDGE Fellows!
Over the next two years, these 12 inspiring conservation leaders will work to safeguard some of the world’s most unique and overlooked plants and animals, from mammals and birds to trees, amphibians, reptiles, and sharks.
Each and every one of them brings unmatched enthusiasm and a passion for the places and people where they work. We are honoured to share their journey over the next two years and tell all of our followers about what they will be up to.
📸 We’ll be sharing more about each of their projects in the weeks ahead.
New Voices - Reflections from Thailand
“I arrived eager to study plants, but left with a wider lens and a deeper sense of wonder.”
John Altomonte, a 2025 EDGE Fellow working on Pandanus species in the Philippines, recently shared a vivid reflection from the EDGE Conservation Tools Course in Thailand.
For one month, EDGE Fellows from around the world gathered to live and learn in Chaloem Rattanakosin National Park, a place of towering dipterocarps, caves, and unexpected lessons.
In his beautifully crafted blog, John reflects on what it means to pay attention, to exchange knowledge across cultures, and to experience conservation not just as science, but as an emerging story of empathy and connection.
📝 Read the full blog on John’s SubStack: Plant Visions → Field Notes: Kanchanaburi, Thailand
EDGE in Action - From the Yucatán Peninsula to Sri Lanka
Over the past month, our Regional Managers, Jyoti and Davi, along with Conservation Scientist Trisha, visited EDGE Fellows at their project sites — a fundamental part of the EDGE Fellowship, designed to strengthen support, deepen partnerships, and better understand how to assist Fellows in their local contexts.
🇲🇽 In Mexico
Happy Shark Awareness Day!
On a recent visit to the Yucatán Peninsula, EDGE Regional Manager Dr Davi Teles joined EDGE Fellow Ilse Martínez along the coastlines of the Yucatán Peninsula on the look out for sharks. Ilse has recently completed an expedition across the Peninsula to identify key nursery grounds for the Lemon Shark. With the help of local fishers, her team have recorded.
The first official records for Yucatán, including a pregnant female and her pups
BRUVS footage of healthy juveniles at Arrecife Alacranes (Scorpian Reef ✨)
Underwater videos featuring four shark species and two species of rays
📸 A network of fishers and scientists is now growing across the region, including a newly formed NGO and a fisher-led group called the Guardians of the K’anxook, raising awareness about this extraordinary shark.
Check out Ilse’s shark awareness day message on →
🇮🇳 🇱🇰 In India and Sri Lanka
Jyoti and Trisha visited EDEG Fellows in three very different but special places:
Raktima (centre) making sure Jyoti (right) and Trisha (left) dont get lost!
Final call - 2026 EDGE Fellowship applications close in one week - 21 July
Are you an early-career conservationist working on an EDGE species — or do you know someone who is?
First stage applications for the 2026 EDGE Fellowship close on 21 July.
📣 Know someone who should apply? Forward this newsletter.