The award recognizes “courageous, values-driven climate leadership,” and will be presented at CLEO’s 15th Anniversary Celebration — 15 & Fearless on Thursday at the W South Beach in Miami.

The CLEO Institute on Thursday is honoring NBC6 hurricane specialist John Morales and the entire First Alert Weather team, along with Telemundo 51’s meteorologists, with its highest recognition, the Dr. F. Lynn Leverett Circle of Change Award.

“At a time when climate coverage faces unprecedented political pressure and censorship, John and the duopoly team of NBC6 and Telemundo 51 continue to lead with science-driven facts and courage,” Yoca Arditi-Rocha, CEO of The CLEO Institute, said on the institute’s website. “They inform without distortion, educate without sensationalism, and stand firm in the belief that the public deserves truth—especially when that truth is about their safety and their future.”

The award recognizes “courageous, values-driven climate leadership,” and will be presented at CLEO’s 15th Anniversary Celebration — 15 & Fearless on Thursday at the W South Beach in Miami Beach.

John Morales is the longest tenured broadcast meteorologist in South Florida, serving as a reassuring television presence for nearly three decades. In 2009 Morales became Chief Meteorologist for NBC’s Miami station WTVJ / NBC6, where he still serves today. Most recently, he led our coverage of Hurricane Melissa’s landfall in Jamaica as the most powerful storm to strike the island, along with its path of destruction in Cuba and Haiti.

Meanwhile, the First Alert Weather team is South Florida’s most accurate for 12 years in a row, according to WeatheRate. It is comprised of meteorologists Llarisa Abreu, Chelsea Ambriz, Adam Berg, Steve MacLaughlin and Ryan Phillips.

The CLEO Institute describes itself as Florida’s only nonprofit exclusively dedicated to climate science education, advocacy, and engagement. The Circle of Change Award is named for the institute’s founding board president “and tireless advocate for science,” Dr. F. Lynn Leverett.