PHOTO: ZACHARY HASLICK/AERIAL ASSOCIATES PHOTOGRAPHY, INC./NOAA GLERL/FLICKR1370 21 DECEMBER 2018 • VOL 362 ISSUE 6421 sciencemag.org SCIENCEBy Earl Lane
Stories on the long-sought pill for male contraception, the compli-
cated legacy of a sexually proficient panda, and the environmental
hazards posed by toxic algae and invasive mussels are among the
winners of the 2018 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards.
The judges also honored “Alive Inside,” a series by Houston
Chronicle reporter Mike Hixenbaugh on efforts by a local hospital
to restore patients with severe brain injuries, and “The Farthest—
Voyager in Space,” a documentary written and directed by Irish
filmmaker Emer Reynolds on NASA’s ongoing mission to the outer
planets and beyond.
The science journalism awards, administered by the American
Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) since their incep-
tion in 1945, honor distinguished reporting for a general audience.
The awards, endowed by The Kavli Foundation, are open to journalists
worldwide. There were entries this year from 54 countries.
Independent panels of science journalists select the winners. A
Gold Award ($5000) and a Silver Award ($3500) are presented in
each of eight categories.
Emily Anthes, a freelancer for Bloomberg Businessweek, won a
Gold Award in the magazine category for a story on the search for
a male contraceptive. Maggie Koerth-Baker won a Gold Award for
a lively online story for FiveThirtyEight about Pan Pan, the oldest
known male panda at the time of his death in 2016.
Silver Award winners included Tony Bartelme in the small news-
paper category for a report in The Post and Courier in Charleston,
South Carolina, on the impact of destructive algae blooms and an
audio team from Montana Public Radio for an ambitious report on
the threat of invasive zebra and quagga mussels in Montana waters.
“These awards represent the highest quality in science journal-
ism,” said Rush Holt, AAAS chief executive officer. “Congratulations
to the winners for their important and compelling stories.” The
awards will be presented at a 15 February ceremony held in conjunc-
tion with the 2019 AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
In addition to the annual awards, the AAAS Kavli program also
brings past winners to college campuses for public lectures and
workshops with journalism students. The speakers this fall were
Sarah Holt, a three-time winner in the video category, who discussed
the making of her new PBS NOVA documentary on addiction in a talk
at Arizona State University on 23 October; Llewellyn Smith, a two-
time video winner, who spoke at Howard University on 1 November
about the relevance of science journalism for social justice; and
freelancer Hillary Rosner, a two-time winner in print categories, who
spoke at Northwestern University on 8 November about the chal-
lenges of covering conservation in an era of upheaval.2018 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award winners named
AAAS NEWS & NOTES
The international competition drew entries from 54 countries
Harmful algae
bloom on Lake Erie
in August 2014.Published by AAASon December 25, 2018^http://science.sciencemag.org/Downloaded from