News Release

AGU Journalism Awards won by Margaret Munro and Dr. Richard Smith

Grant and Award Announcement

American Geophysical Union

WASHINGTON – Margaret Munro and Dr. Richard Smith have won the American Geophysical Union’s 2008 journalism awards:

  • Munro will receive the David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism—News for her article on the biggest breakup in northern Canada in 30 years of an ice shelf – suspected to be a victim of global warming. The winning article, entitled "Ice Shelf Collapse Sends Chill", appeared in The Gazette, the largest English-language daily newspaper in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

  • Smith will receive the Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism—Features for his documentary film “Crude.” Smith, a marine biologist turned filmmaker, directed “Crude” for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The film examines oil's ancient origins and the geology of its formation, the prodigious use by industrial society of the substance as fuel and raw material, and potential consequences of that massive consumption.

The Perlman Award recognizes work published with deadline pressure of one week or less. In choosing Munro’s The Gazette article about the ice-shelf collapse, the Perlman Award selection committee said,

“Munro’s article chronicles that event and its belated discovery from satellite images in a graceful and clear manner. The story is well balanced in terms of the science. Her writing captures the excitement of the scientific discovery in pulling together the evidence: from the first hints of detection through earthquake tremors, to identification of the large ice island, to the environmental consequences.”

Munro’s winning article, which was published on 28 December, 2006 may be read at http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=e4c99314-a71a-4418-a246-eea457e8b873&k=82636. Munro writes for CanWest News Service and is based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Sullivan Award recognizes work published with lead time of more than one week. Regarding the film “Crude,” the Sullivan Award selection committee said it

“represents magnificent film making, compellingly led and narrated by a scientist. Interviews with other scientists and thinkers are crisp and thoughtful; computer animations are riveting. Linking solid science with societal issues, the film demonstrates how journalism can elevate public scientific literacy and awareness, as well as lead public opinion on critical scientific, environmental, and societal issues.”

The 90-minute documentary may be viewed at http://www.abc.net.au/science/crude/. The first broadcast of the film took place on 24 May 2007 on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s ABC-TV.

The AGU journalism awards will be presented during Honors Evening at the Joint Assembly of AGU and 13 U.S. and Latin American scientific societies in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, 27-30 May, http://www.agu.org/meetings/ja08/.

AGU’s Sullivan and Perlman Awards are named for Walter Sullivan, late science editor of The New York Times, and David Perlman, science editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, respectively. Each award consists of a plaque and a $2,000 stipend.

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AGU is the largest organization of Earth and space scientists, with more than 50,000 members worldwide. One of its objectives is to encourage excellence in reporting science news to the general public through journalism awards, mass media fellowships, communications workshops for scientists, and other programs.

Nominations for the 2009 Sullivan and Perlman Awards are welcome from all news media, except books, from any country, and in any language (with English translation). For information and the official statement of rules, see http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/sci_awards.html#sullivan. The deadline for receipt of entries for the 2009 awards is 15 November 2008.


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