WASHINGTON, D.C. -- David Sington, writer and producer of the eight-part television series, "Earth Story," has been selected for the 1999 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism. Sington is the first broadcaster and first nonAmerican to win the award in its 11 year history.
The Sullivan Award is presented annually by the American Geophysical Union for reporting that makes geophysical science accessible and interesting to the general public. It is named for its first winner, the late Walter Sullivan of The New York Times.
"Earth Story," a co-production of the BBC and The Learning Channel, was aired in late 1998 on BBC-2 in the United Kingdom and on TLC in the United States. It is scheduled for 1999 release in Europe, South Africa, and Australia.
The series was filmed around the world over a 30 month period. Its main thrust is an exploration of the fundamental processes that shape the Earth and how they interact. An introductory program discusses the concept of geologic time and how geologists read rocks to uncover the past. Four programs then explore the Earth's rocky material: plate tectonics, mantle convection, and the behavior of the crust. Three final episodes examine the relationship between these processes and climate and evolution, including a comparison of Earth with Venus and Mars. Only the first four programs were entered in the Sullivan Award competition. A follow-up series is currently in development for the BBC, according to Sington.
Sington has been making science programs, first for radio and later TV, since 1983. He studied natural science at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating in 1981. Among his previous films are "Traces of Guilt," about science in the fight against crime; "The Man Who Made Up his Mind," on Gerald Edelman's theory of the brain; and "The Man Who Moved the Mountains," about a New Zealand geologist who revolutionized our understanding of earthquakes.
A book, "Earth Story: The Shaping of our World," by Sington with Simon Lamb, was published by BBC Books to accompany the TV series and was a Sunday Times best seller in the U.K. It was published in the U.S. by Princeton University Press.
The Sullivan Award, consisting of a plaque and a check for $2,000, will be presented to Sington by AGU President John Knauss at the Honors Ceremony during Spring Meeting on June 2 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.
Contact information for David Sington:
Email to david.sington@tvdox.com
Phone (in U.K.): 44-7887-705-424