2007 Online

Katie Alvord, a freelance reporter who won in the online categeory for her stories on the changing environment of Michigan’s Upper Pennisula, 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.”

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 freelanc 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.”