SCIENCE science.org2021 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism
Award winners
Read a full description of the winning entries at https://sjawards.aaas.org.
Science Reporting, Large Outlet
Gold Award: Mariano Zafra and Javier Salas, El País (Spain), “A room, a bar
and a classroom: How the coronavirus is spread through the air,” Oct. 29, 2020
Silver Award: Roxanne Khamsi, Elemental (from Medium), “The Mystery
Of Why Some People Keep Testing Positive For Covid-19,” July 28, 2020
Science Reporting, Small Outlet
Gold Award: Aathira Perinchery, FiftyTwo (India), “Succession,” Jan. 29, 2021
Silver Award: Tony Bartelme, The Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.),
“Ghost Bird,” Sept. 13, 2020
Science Reporting – In-Depth (more than 5,000 words)
Gold Award: Noah Gallagher Shannon, The New York Times Magazine, “What’s
Going on Inside the Fearsome Thunderstorms of Córdoba Province?,” July 22,
2020
Silver Award: Maartje Bakker, De Volkskrant (The Netherlands), “Hoe Chips
en Dip stierven voor een vaccin” (How Chips and Dip died for a vaccine),
July 10, 2021
Magazine
Gold Award: Megan Molteni, Wired, “The 60-Year-Old Scientifi c Screwup That
Helped Covid Kill,” May 13, 2021
Silver Award: Richard Van Noorden, Nature, “The ethical questions that haunt
facial-recognition research,” Nov. 18, 2020
Video
Spot News/Feature Reporting (20 minutes or less)
Gold Award: Michael Werner, Joe Hanson, Rachel Raney, and Brandon Arolfo,
PBS, “How Bison Are Saving America’s Lost Prairie”, Jan. 14, 2021, “Inside the
Fight to Save an Ancient Forest (and the Secrets it Holds),” July 1, 2021
Silver Award: Arlo Pérez Esquivel, NOVA/GBH for PBS, “Mexico’s COVID Cases
and Deaths are Underreported—Why?,” April 2, 2021
In-Depth Reporting (more than 20 minutes)
Gold Award: Sharon Shattuck, Ian Cheney, Manette Pottle, and Amy Brand,
A NOVA Production by Uprising LLC for GBH Boston, “Picture a Scientist,”
April 14, 2021
Silver Award: Adam Bolt, Regina Sobel, Elliot Kirschner, Sarah Goodwin, and
Meredith DeSalazar, A NOVA Production by the Wonder Collaborative for GBH
Boston, “Human Nature,” Sept. 9, 2020
Audio
Gold Award: Amanda Buckiewicz and Nicole Mortillaro, CBC/Radio-Canada,
“Quirks & Quarks: Black in Science special,” Feb. 27, 2021
Silver Award: Fiona Broom, Charles Pensulo, Jubiel Zulu, Brook Abdu, and Har-
rison Lewis, SciDev.Net (United Kingdom), “Rising COVID-19 cases and vaccine
doubt”, Feb. 3, 2021, “Debunking COVID-19 myths and remedies,” Feb. 10, 2021
“Science and you: Africa’s COVID-19 vaccines,” Feb. 17, 2021
Children’s Science News
Gold Award: Bridgett Henwood, Estelle Caswell, Kimberly Mas, and Elizabeth
Scheltens, Vox, “Why bird nests aren’t covered in poop,” Sept. 2, 2020,
“The secret history of dirt”, Sept. 3, 2020, “How to be a Cloud Detective,”
Sept. 4, 2020
Silver Award: Stephen Ornes, Science News for Students, “Whales get a second
life as deep-sea bu ets,” Oct. 15, 2020
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