Katie AlvordAlvord said the award "makes the intense work I did to write this online article series even more worthwhile." She added, "Especially for a small-town freelancer like me, it's a real boost to get this kind of recognition."
Independent panels of science journalists chose the winners of the awards, which honor excellence in science reporting for print, radio, television and online categories. The awards, established in 1945, also include a prize for coverage of science news for children that is open to journalists worldwide. The judges awarded a special Certificate of Merit in the children's category this year as well.
The Press Release for the awards mentioned Keweenaw Now as the publisher of Alvord's three articles, stating, "In a solid example of localized science reporting for a community-based Web site, freelance writer Alvord described the potential local impacts of global warming on a local Michigan community."
Kathy Sawyer, a freelance science writer formerly with The Washington Post, said Alvord's "well-crafted and enterprising online package 'zooms in' to capture the effects of global climate change" on Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula.
"The writing, supplemented by telling photos, provides specific, graphic detail for an audience that might not get from any other medium such extensive information about what's happening in their environs," Sawyer said.
Bryn Nelson, a freelance science writer, said Alvord delivered a "compelling, accessible and well-reported analysis of how a global phenomenon could be intensely local for a community in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, including its possible impacts on winter recreation, tourism, Lake Superior's water levels and even the moose population on Isle Royale National Park. Alvord also included the necessary nuances to balance the potential dangers against the remaining uncertainties."
The winners of the AAAS Journalism awards also included Kenneth Weiss and Usha Lee McFarling of the Los Angeles Times for an ambitious series that examined the profound disturbances that have been occurring in the ecology of the world's oceans.
Other winning articles included an inquiry into mysterious elk deaths in Wyoming, a profile of a largely unknown Black chemist who was a pioneer in the synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants and a look at the merits of telling children they are smart.
The AAAS Science Journalism Awards are sponsored by Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, L.L.C. The winners will receive $3,000 and a plaque at the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston in February.
"Informed reporting is essential if the public is to remain engaged with the crucial science issues of the day," said Alan I. Leshner, AAAS Chief Executive Officer and Executive Publisher of the journal Science. "The awards this year honor truly excellent work, both in national media and in some enterprising local outlets."**
* Editor's Notes: Katie Alvord's articles, still available on Keweenaw Now's archived site, www.keweenawnow.com, are titled as follows (click on link to go directly to the article):
"Lake Superior warming fast: Researchers surprised by strong trends," May 3, 2007; "Lake Superior Basin feeling heat: Part 2," June 3, 2007; and "Businesses feel the heat: Lake Superior warms up, part 3," June 30, 2007.
** To read the complete press release on the awards, visit the AAAS Web site.
Katie Alvord is the author of a book about transportation reform, Divorce Your Car! Ending the Love Affair with the Automobile. Over the last 20 years her articles and essays have appeared in a variety of publications, including the Boston Globe, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Sonoma Index-Tribune, Upper Peninsula Post, E Magazine, Northern Lights, Orion Afield, Silent Sports, Sonoma Business, The Urban Ecologist, Utne Reader, Wild Earth and Wine Country Magazine. Read her contributor profile on Keweenaw Now.
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