Science Journalism Features Research Articles

Sarah Kaplan Receives 2019 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism–Features

Sarah Kaplan was awarded the 2019 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism–Features at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held on 11 December 2019 in San Francisco, Calif. The award is given “for excellence in feature reporting about the Earth and space sciences, with a deadline of more than one week.”

Fox Receives 2018 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism–Features

Douglas Fox received the Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism–Features at the 2018 AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held 12 December in Washington, D. C. The award “is presented annually to a journalist for a feature story or series in any medium except books that makes information about the Earth and space sciences accessible and interesting to the general public.”

Tony Bartelme Receives 2017 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism–Features

Tony Bartelme received the 2017 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism–Features at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held on 13 December 2017 in New Orleans, La. The award recognizes “a journalist for a feature story or series in any medium except books that makes information about the Earth and space sciences accessible and interesting to the general public.”

Lizzie Wade Receives 2016 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism–Features

Lizzie Wade received the 2016 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism–Features at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held on 14 December 2016 in San Francisco, Calif. The award recognizes "a journalist for a feature story or series in any medium except books that makes information about the Earth and space sciences accessible and interesting to the general public."

Elizabeth Kolbert Receives 2014 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism—Features

Journalist and author Elizabeth Kolbert received the 2014 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism—Features at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held on 17 December 2014 in San Francisco, Calif. The Sullivan Award is for work published with a deadline of more than 1 week.

Stephen Hall Receives 2012 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism–Features: Citation

Stephen Hall, a freelance science writer and science‐communication teacher, received the Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism–Features at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held on 5 December 2012 in San Francisco, Calif. Hall was honored for the article “At Fault?” published 15 September 2011 in Nature. The article examines the legal, personal, and political repercussions from a 2009 earthquake in L'Aquila, Italy for seismologists who had attempted to convey seismic risk assessments to the public. The 6.3 magnitude quake devastated the medieval town and caused more than 300 deaths. Six scientists and one government official were subsequently convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to prison for inadequately assessing and mischaracterizing the risks to city residents, despite the inexact nature of seismic risk assessment. The Sullivan award is for work published with a deadline pressure of more than 1 week.

Stephen Hall Receives 2012 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism–Features: Response

The 2009 L'Aquila earthquake was, and continues to be, a tragedy of enormous proportions. It was obviously a tragedy for the 309 people who perished in the event and for their loved ones, along with the many thousands rendered homeless by the event. It continues to be a civic tragedy for this medieval jewel of a city in the heart of the Abruzzo, which is still crippled nearly four years after the event. And it has been a tragic episode for the scientific community, which has seen seven Italian colleagues convicted of manslaughter and facing serious jail time if their appeals are unsuccessful.

Roberta Kwok Receives Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism–Features

Roberta Kwok received the Walter Sullivan Award at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held on 15 December 2010 in San Francisco, Calif. Kwok was honored for “The rock that fell to Earth,” published in the journalNature, which recounts the first space‐to‐ground tracking of a tiny asteroid that struck Earth. Kwok's story brings to life the drama of the asteroid's belated detection in space, its plunge through Earth's atmosphere, and, finally, the recovery of its remnants from the desert in Sudan.

Lebans, Handman, McDonald, and Lurie Receive 2009 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism—Features

Jim Lebans, Jim Handman, Bob McDonald, and Zerah Lurie of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Radio's Quirks & Quarks program received the Walter Sullivan Award at the Joint Assembly, held 26 May 2009 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Lebans, Handman, McDonald, and Lurie were honored for “Canada 2050: Our Future in a Changing Climate,” an eight‐part, audio portrait of Canada after 4 decades of expected climate change, depicted through the words of Canadian scientists at the forefront of predicting climate, ecological, and societal transformations.

Smith Receives 2008 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism—Features

Richard Smith received the Walter Sullivan Award at the 2008 Joint Assembly Honors Ceremony, which was held on 29 May 2008 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Smith was honored for the documentary film “Crude,” which examines oil's ancient origins and the geology of its formation and explores the potential, unwelcome consequences of oil's prodigious use by industrial society as a fuel and raw material.

Kenneth R. Weiss and Usha Lee McFarling receive the 2007 AGU Walter Sullivan Award

Several 2007 AGU Awards were presented at the Joint Assembly in Acapulco, Mexico. Winners were introduced by President Tim Killeen in a formal ceremony held on 25 May 2007. An honors fiesta followed the ceremony.It is my pleasure to nominate Kenneth R. Weiss and Usha Lee McFarling of the Los Angeles Times, and their five‐part series “Altered Oceans,” for the AGU Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism—Features.

Nijhuis receives 2006 Walter Sullivan award for excellence in science journalism—Features

Michelle Nijhuis received the Walter Sullivan Award at the Joint Assembly Honors Ceremony, which was held on 25 May 2006 in Baltimore, Md. Nijhuis was honored for “Hot Times: Global Warming in the West,” which combines science, policy, and human interest in telling the story of global warming from a regional perspective.

Krajick receives 2004 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism—Features

Kevin Krajick received the Sullivan Award at the Joint Assembly Honors Ceremony, which was held 19 May 2004, in Montreal, Canada. The award honors “a single article or radio/television report that makes geophysical material accessible and interesting to the general public”

Handman and Senson receive 2003 Walter Sullivan Award For Excellence in Science Journalism—Features

Patric Senson and James Handman received the Sullivan Award at AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, which was held on 10 December 2003, in San Francisco, California. The award honors “a single article or radio/television report that makes geophysical material accessible and interesting to the general public”

Nominations sought for Sullivan and Perlman Journalism Awards

AGU members are encouraged to submit nominations for two journalism awards that recognize excellence in science reporting for the general public: the Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism—Features and the David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism—News.They are open to science writers, producers, editors, and directors for work in any medium (except books) that was first published during 2000.The difference in criteria for the two awards mainly concerns the amount of time available to produce the work: one week or less for the Perlman Award, and more than one week for the Sullivan Award.The awards consist of a plaque and $2,000, presented at AGU's Spring or Fall Meeting.

Carr named AGU's 2000 Mass Media Fellow

Matthew Carr, an atmospheric science student at the University of Washington, has begun a 10‐week stint at the Dallas Morning News as AGU's 2000 Mass Media Fellow.Under the program, organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), he is reporting and writing for the paper, which has a strong commitment to science news. In a happy coincidence, Carr's mentor is Alexandra Witze, winner of this year's 2000 Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism—Features. She received her award during Honors Evening at the Spring Meeting.