The Genesis Awards are awarded annually to individuals in the major news and entertainment media for producing outstanding works which raise public awareness of animal issues. Presented by The Humane Society of the United States, the awards show takes place every March in California. The awards have honored such well-known personalities as Anderson Cooper, Peter Gabriel, Ellen DeGeneres, Jane Goodall, Michael Jackson, David E. Kelley, Sir Paul McCartney, Arthur Miller, Stephen Colbert, Oprah Winfrey, Prince, and Jacques Cousteau, as well as journalists, film and documentary writers and producers, print and broadcast news outlets in the United States.

Honorary awards include the Sid Caesar Award for television comedy, the Doris Day Award for music, the Brigitte Bardot International Award for non-American media, and the Gretchen Wyler Award for a celebrity using their fame to bring attention to animal issues.

The Genesis Awards were founded as an annual event in 1986 by the Broadway actress and animal advocate Gretchen Wyler, under the aegis of The Fund For Animals. Wyler believed that rewarding members of the media encouraged them to spotlight more animal issues, thus increasing public awareness and compassion toward animals. The first event, a luncheon, drew 140 attendees, and in subsequent years it grew into a large gala averaging 800 guests.

Pritish Nandy (born 15 January 1951) is a Indian poet, painter, journalist, politician, media and television personality, animal activist and film producer. He is Bengali by ethnicity. He was member of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament representing Maharashtra based party Shiv Sena. He has published a number of poetry books in English and translated poems by other writers from Bengali and Urdu into English.

Nandy was born in Bhagalpur in the state of Bihar in eastern India to a Bengali Christian family. He is the son of Satish Chandra Nandy and Prafulla Nalini Nandy, and brother of Ashis Nandy and Manish Nandy. He was educated at La Martiniere College and, briefly at Presidency College in Kolkata. Nandy's mother was a teacher at La Martiniere Calcutta and subsequently became the school's first Indian vice principal.

Nandy's first book of poems Of gods and olives was published in 1967. Three further volumes followed in the 1960s and a further 14 volumes were published in the 1970s. In July 1981 Nandy was nominated as a Poet Laureate by the World Academy of Arts and Culture at the Fifth World Congress of Poets in San Francisco.

Emily Erin Deschanel ( /deɪʃəˈnɛl/; born October 11, 1976) is an American actress, television and film producer who plays Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan in the comedy-crime drama Bones.

Deschanel was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Academy Award–nominated cinematographer and director Caleb Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Deschanel (née Weir). She has one younger sister: actress, model, songwriter, and musician Zooey Deschanel. She is of French (from her paternal grandfather) and Irish descent. She was raised as a Catholic, but does not currently practice any religion.

Deschanel made her feature film debut in 1994's It Could Happen to You. Her next notable role was in Stephen King's Rose Red in 2002. She then appeared in Cold Mountain, The Alamo, and Glory Road and was named one of "six actresses to watch" by Interview Magazine in 2004.

After starring in 2005's Boogeyman, Deschanel landed the role of Dr. Temperance Brennan on Fox's Bones, a series based on the real-life forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs. She has been playing this role in Bones for six years; season 7 premiered on November 3, 2011. For her performance she received a 2006 Satellite Award nomination and a 2007 Teen Choice Award nomination. Deschanel has served as co-producer since the start of the show's third season, and as producer since the middle of the show's fourth season along with co-star David Boreanaz.

Ian Joseph Somerhalder (born December 8, 1978) is an American actor and model, best known for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama Lost and Damon Salvatore in the TV drama The Vampire Diaries.

Somerhalder was born and raised in Covington, Louisiana, the son of Edna, a massage therapist, and Robert Somerhalder, an independent building contractor. Raised Catholic, he attended St. Paul's, a private Catholic school in Covington. He embarked on a modeling career from age 10 to 13, and by the age of 17 he decided to go into acting.

In the summer of 2000, Somerhalder starred in the short-lived WB series Young Americans, a spin-off of Dawson's Creek. He played Hamilton Fleming, the son of the dean of a prestigious boarding school. In 2002, Somerhalder played bisexual character Paul Denton in Roger Avary's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel, The Rules of Attraction, alongside James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, and Jessica Biel.

In 2004, Somerhalder scored his breakthrough role when he played Boone Carlyle in the hit TV show Lost. Despite his character's death in the twentieth episode of the first season, Somerhalder returned to the role of Boone for seven more episodes between 2005 and 2010, including the series finale. Somerhalder was the first actor to be cast in a role for the series and the first character to die.

Leilani Münter (born on February 18, 1976) is an American race car driver and environmental activist. She drives in the ARCA Racing Series, and previously drove in the Firestone Indy Lights, the development league of IndyCar. Prior to her debut in open wheel racing, she was a stock car driver in the NASCAR Elite division. She was born and raised in Rochester, Minnesota, earned a degree in Biology in San Diego, California, and currently lives in Cornelius, North Carolina.

Prior to becoming a race car driver, Münter earned a bachelor's degree in biology, specializing in ecology, behavior, and evolution from the University of California, San Diego. During her college years, Münter was also a volunteer at a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center. She is also a long time vegetarian. She once worked as a photo double for Catherine Zeta-Jones. On March 17, 2009 Münter married Craig Davidson in a seaside wedding on New Zealand's Cathedral Cove beach.