Award Winners

Millions depend on the banana to stay alive. With diseases threatening many banana varieties, scientists are searching for new hybrids. In a lively account, Canine described the research effort and the ingenious methods being used to breed a better banana. “This was such an evocative piece that I had to go home and eat a banana,” said Seth Borenstein of the Associated Press. “This article had everything you look for—depth, detail, significance and science. Truly an enjoyable read.” Canine said he hopes his story brought "wider attention to the pressing scientific need to breed new, disease…

Geiger won praise from the judges for explaining the basics of natural selection and evolution to children in a story about the changing color of lizards in the New Mexico desert. “Kids who don’t really give a flip about the debate over evolution that surrounds their classrooms relate to lizards,” said Jeff Nesmith of Cox Newspapers. Laura Helmuth of Smithsonian magazine said Geiger used “clear, amusing, colorful language” in describing natural selection, speciation and the geology of sand dunes. “The explanation of the process of science was non-intimidating,” Helmuth said, “and true to field…

The judges were impressed by Burling’s use of a single case study about the life and death of an Alzheimer's patient to explore the current scientific understanding of the disease and its human impact. Andrew Revkin of The New York Times called Burling’s story “a superb route into a harrowing subject” that illuminates aspects of science “with rare clarity.” Guy Gugliotta, a freelance science writer who was formerly with The Washington Post, said Burling’s story elegantly juxtaposed “the science of the disease with the consequences, not only for the patient but for the patient’s family.” "I am…

In stories on climate change in the West, Nijhuis described the work of contemporary scientists who are using pioneering field work in Yosemite by biologist Joseph Grinnell nearly a century ago to better understand the changes now occurring in animal populations of the Sierra range; the efforts by Aspen, Colorado and other western towns to grapple with changing climate; and the impact of airborne dust, from drought-stricken grazing lands and other sources, on snow pack in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Peter Spotts of The Christian Science Monitor called her series “a nice blend of…

Geneticists wanted to make an ordinary purple petunia more purple. Instead they got white flowers. Why? Quite by accident, the researchers found a secret defense system in living cells, a gene-silencing mechanism called RNA interference. It has become one of the hottest topics in biology and was the subject of the recently awarded 2006 Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology. In addition to the RNAi segment, the NOVA scienceNOW program, presented by Robert Krulwich, also featured a humorous description of the chemistry of fuel cells, complete with electrons attached to the posteriors of “Car…

Public Radio International's "Living on Earth" program took a clear-headed look at the ongoing efforts to understand and tame nuclear fusion, a field in which overly optimistic projections have led some critics to joke that fusion is the energy source for the future and always will be. Kathy Sawyer, a freelance science writer formerly with The Washington Post, called the winning program “a well-produced overview that not only informs listeners about the science, but also about the process of learning the science, with all its uncertainties and controversies.” A segment on cold fusion explored…

The judges praised the use of Web technology and the overall excellence of the Online NewsHour’s site about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the state of earthquake research. “This very nice package included two interactive graphics, a slide show, and general stories of a length appropriate to the Internet,” said Mary Knudson, a freelance editor and writer who also teaches science writing at Johns Hopkins University. Neil Munro of the National Journal called the site “a very promising example of what the Web can become—easy to read and understand, short enough to be attractive.” Larisa…