National Academies Communication Award

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The National Academies Communication Award was an annual prize bestowed in recognition of creative works that help the public understand topics in science, engineering or medicine. The awards were established in 2003 and administered by the Keck Futures Initiative, a project of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine that was funded by the W.M. Keck Foundation. The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative Ended in 2017 and the final report was published in 2018. The Awards continued through 2019. A $20,000 prize was awarded in each of four categories: Book, Film/Radio/TV, Magazine/Newspaper, and Online. The Online category was created in 2009.

Contents

In 2022, the National Academies launched, in partnership with Schmidt Futures, the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communication [1] to recognize and develop excellence in science communication by research scientists and by early career, local, and freelance science journalists. The program provides winners with cash awards as well as training and resources to further expand their communication skills.

List of recipients

Book

2019 Carl Zimmer She Has Her Mother’s Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity [2]

"A sweeping yet engaging examination from a personal perspective of the evolving nature of the scientific understanding of heredity across the centuries. The book debunks many of the insidious and profoundly unscientific distortions of heredity, including those that have provided faulty foundations for racism and eugenics – and illuminates the 21st century applications with the greatest promise for transforming people’s lives."

2018 Dan Egan The Death and Life of the Great Lakes [3]

"An environmental, historical, and economic analysis, thoroughly researched and compellingly told, of America's Great Lakes and the unintended consequences of short-sighted management decisions."

2017 Margot Lee Shetterly Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race [4]

"A hitherto little-known episode in the history of pioneering aerospace engineering and computing brought to light so engagingly that, along with the blockbuster movie it inspired, has had an unprecedented impact on the American public."

2016 Deborah Cramer The Narrow Edge: A Tiny Bird, an Ancient Crab, and an Epic Journey [5]

"A beautifully written natural history of an imperiled bird that embeds evolutionary biology and systematics, marine ecology, physiology, natural history, paleontology, cultural history, and immunology in an absorbing, personal narrative"

2015 Mark Miodownik Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World [6]

"A fascinating account of the extraordinary nature of the seemingly ordinary materials of modern-day life."

2014 Dan Fagin Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation [7]
"…for its masterful portrayal of the scientific process at work in a town facing environmental crisis."
2013 David George Haskell The Forest Unseen [8]
"…for his exquisite portrait of nature's universe, drawn from one tiny patch of forest."
2012 Daniel Kahneman Thinking, Fast and Slow [9]
"An outstanding and accessible book that brings to the public key scientific insights about how we think and make decisions."
2011 Rebecca Skloot The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks [10]
2010 Richard Holmes The Age of Wonder [11]
2009 Neil Shubin Your Inner Fish [12]
2008 Walter Isaacson Einstein: His Life and Universe [13]
2007 Eric Kandel In Search of Memory [14]
2006 Charles C. Mann 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus [15]
2005 John M. Barry The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Greatest Plague in History [16]
2004 Matt Ridley The Agile Gene: How Nature Turns on Nurture [17]
2003 Carl Safina Eye of the Albatross: Visions of Hope and Survival [18]

Film/Radio/TV

2013Joanne Silberner, David Baron PRI's The World "Cancer's Lonely Soldier," "Pink Ribbons to Haiti," "An Ounce of Prevention," and "The Infectious Connection" ("light on the hidden toll cancer takes in impoverished nations") [8]
2012 Paula S. Apsell, Michael Bicks, and Julia Cort WGBH-TV NOVA "Smartest Machine on Earth" [9]
2011Alexa Elliott WPBT2 "Changing Seas: Sentinels of the Seas" [10]
2010Carole and Richard Rifkind WNET Naturally Obsessed: The Making of a Scientist [11]
2009Larry Adelman, Llewellyn M. Smith, and Christine Herbes-Sommers California Newsreel and Vital Pictures Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? [12]
2008 George Butler White Mountain Films, The Kennedy/Marshall Company and The Walt Disney Company Roving Mars [13]
2007 Jad Abumrad WNYC Radiolab "Musical Language" and "Where am I?" [14]
2006Nick Young, Anna Thomson, and Bill Locke The History Channel and Lion Television "Ape to Man" [15]
2005 Thomas Levenson and Paula Apsell WGBH-TV NOVA “Origins: Back to the Beginning.” [16]
2004Sue Norton and David Clark The Science Channel "Science of the Deep: Mid-Water Mysteries." [17]
2003 Joe Palca National Public Radio "series of news stories for radio about the scientific and human dimensions of cloning." [18]

Magazine/Newspaper

2013Eliot Marshall, Elizabeth Culotta, Ann Gibbons, and Greg Miller Science Special issue on human conflict (May 18, 2012): "Parsing Terrorism," "Roots of Racism," "The Ultimate Sacrifice," and "Drone Wars" [8] [19] [20]
2012Crocker Stephenson, Guy Boulton, Mark Johnson, and John Schmid Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "Empty Cradles" [9]
2011 Amy Harmon The New York Times "Target: Cancer" [10]
2010 Charles Duhigg The New York Times "Toxic Waters" [11]
2009Mark Johnson Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "Targeting the Good Cell" [12]
2008Bob Marshall, Mark Schleifstein, Dan Swenson, and Ted Jackson The Times-Picayune "Last Chance: The Fight to Save a Disappearing Coast", "an outstanding newspaper series that combines superb storytelling with the latest science in its call to action to save Louisiana's wetlands" [13]
2007 Carl Zimmer freelance writer"for his diverse and consistently interesting coverage of evolution and unexpected biology" [14]
2006 Elizabeth Kolbert The New Yorker "The Climate of Man" [15]
2005 Gareth Cook The Boston Globe “The Stem Cell Debate.” [16]
2004 Richard Lee Hotz The Los Angeles Times "Butterfly on a Bullet" [17]
2003 Andrew Revkin The New York Times "series of articles on the complex science and policy issues of global climate change" [18]

Online

2013Alison Young and Peter Eisler (reporters), John Hillkirk (content editor), and the entire team USA TODAY series "Ghost Factories" a nationwide investigation of abandoned lead factories [8] [21]
2012Daniel Engber Slate "The Mouse Trap: How One Rodent Rules the Lab" [9]
2011 Andrew Revkin The New York Times and Pace University Dot Earth blog [10]
2010 Ed Yong discovermagazine.com "Not Exactly Rocket Science" blog [11]
2009Vikki Valentine, Alison Richards, and Anne Gudenkauf NPR News for Climate Connections, a yearlong multimedia journey to explain the impacts of global climate change with well-reported stories from around the world [12]
2008 Alan Boyle MSNBC.com" for selected works from Cosmic Log and his pioneering efforts to bring daily coverage of the physical sciences, technological innovation and space sciences to broad new audiences on a popular news web site" [13]

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References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ "2019 National Academies Communication Awards Winners". www.keckfutures.org. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
  3. ↑ "2018 National Academies Communication Awards Winners". www.keckfutures.org. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  4. ↑ "National Academies Keck Futures Initiative - Communication Awards - 2017 Winners". www.keckfutures.org. Archived from Keck Futures Initiative - - Communication Awards the original on 2017-12-22. Retrieved 2018-03-25.{{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  5. ↑ "National Academies Keck Futures Initiative - - Communication Awards". www.keckfutures.org. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
  6. ↑ "National Academies Keck Futures Initiative - - Communication Awards". www.keckfutures.org. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  7. ↑ "2014 Winners and Finalists". Communication Awards. Keck Futures Initiative. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "2013 Winners and Finalists". Communication Awards. Keck Futures Initiative. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "2012 Winners and Finalists". Communication Awards. Keck Futures Initiative. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "2011 Winners and Finalists". Communication Awards. Keck Futures Initiative. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "2010 Winners and Finalists". Communication Awards. Keck Futures Initiative. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "2009 Winners and Finalists". National Academies Communication Awards. Keck Futures Initiative. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "2008 Winners and Finalists". National Academies Communication Awards. Keck Futures Initiative. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  14. 1 2 3 "2007 Winners and Finalists". National Academies Communication Awards. Keck Futures Initiative. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  15. 1 2 3 "2006 Winners and Finalists". National Academies Communication Awards. Keck Futures Initiative. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  16. 1 2 3 "2005 Winners and Finalists". National Academies Communication Awards. Keck Futures Initiative. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  17. 1 2 3 "2004 Winners and Finalists". National Academies Communication Awards. Keck Futures Initiative. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  18. 1 2 3 "2003 Winners and Finalists". National Academies Communication Awards. Keck Futures Initiative. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  19. ↑ various (18 May 2012). "Special issue on human conflict". Science . AAAS. 336 (6083): 818–879. ISSN   1095-9203 . Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  20. ↑ "Special Issue: Human Conflict". Science. AAAS. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  21. ↑ "Smelters and Lead Poisoning; Ghost Factories". USA TODAY. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
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