Announcing the 2022 Ken Burns American Heritage Prize Recipient

Via Press Release from Alison Fox, CEO of American Prairie || 

2022 Ken Burns American Heritage Prize Recipient Announcement

American Prairie is proud to announce that Academy® Award-winning filmmaker, Jimmy Chin, has been named the recipient of the 2022 Ken Burns American Heritage Prize for his ability as a filmmaker to combine his artistic eye with his love of adventure, and his authentic and unique perspective to his storytelling.

About Jimmy Chin
Jimmy Chin is an Academy® Award-winning filmmaker, National Geographic photographer, and professional mountain sports athlete. He has led or participated in cutting-edge expeditions around the world for over 20 years. He made the coveted first ascent of the Shark’s Fin on Mount Meru and is one of the only people to ski Mount Everest from the summit. His photographs have graced the covers of National Geographic Magazine and The New York Times Magazine.

“The nation’s landscapes and mountains have provided me with much of my inspiration both in life and in my work. I try as a filmmaker and photographer to capture and share what I experience in the natural world. My hope is that I can help foster a sense of responsibility to protect and preserve these places, both for future generations to enjoy and for their intrinsic value. The mission of American Prairie, to create the largest nature reserve in the contiguous United States and restore a complete and fully functioning prairie ecosystem, pushes up against the limits of what we think is possible in the world of conservation. Much of what I do is in pursuit of exploring the limitlessness of the human spirit and potential. I’ve seen the impossible achieved over and over again. I am honored to receive a prize bearing the name of the inimitable Ken Burns, from an institution whose work is achieving the impossible.” – Jimmy Chin

About the Ken Burns American Heritage Prize
Named in honor of America’s most revered visual historian and documentary filmmaker, the Ken Burns American Heritage Prize recognizes individuals whose achievements have advanced our collective understanding of America’s heritage and the indomitable American spirit of our people.

“How do Americans routinely accomplish what others don’t even attempt? I think we can trace it back to our innovative and optimistic spirit. To our improvisatory can-do attitude. Jimmy Chin has dedicated his life’s work to exploring, documenting, and preserving a variety of landscapes around the world and his personal and professional accomplishments reinforce the nation’s understanding of all that is possible.” – Ken Burns

Read the entire press release.
Read more on the Ken Burns American Heritage Prize website.