It is with great sadness that the Foundation acknowledges the death of Dom Phillips, who was researching solutions to protect the Amazon under his Alicia Patterson fellowship. The remains of Dom, 57, and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, were discovered June 15 by Brazilian authorities. Two brothers have been arrested under suspicion of murder.
Dom was researching solutions to climate change issues in the Amazon when he disappeared. A British journalist who wrote for The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post and other outlets, he had lived in Brazil with his wife, Alessandra Sampaio, since 2007. He was named a Cissy Patterson fellow of our foundation, an honor awarded to fellows whose work involve science and the environment. Journalism groups and diplomats worldwide joined efforts to find the whereabouts of the two men in the ten days they were missing while on a reporting trip. Journalists gathering in Washington, D.C. for a pre-planned conference of the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting gathered under a banner on June 10th, asking for help in finding the two men.
