NPR Duo Wins AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award

Harris and Richards

NPR Science Correspondent RICHARD HARRIS and Editor ALISON RICHARDS have been awarded the 2010 AAAS KAVLI Science Journalism Award for the radio category by the AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.  The award, which includes $3,000 and a plaque to be awarded at the AAAS annual meeting in FEBRUARY, was given to HARRIS and RICHARDS for a series, "Follow the Science: Calculating the Amount of Oil and Gas in the GULF Oil Spill," that challenged the first estimates of the size of the oil spill in the GULF OF MEXICO.  

The series ran in MAY and has been credited with spurring the federal government to convene a panel to review and revise the official estimates.  PURDUE UNIVERSITY scientist STEVEN WERELEY, whose methods of estimating the flow of oil from the broken well formed the basis for the series, was a member of the federal panel.

"To get this story, I found several scientists who were willing to drop what they were doing and take up the challenge I presented them," HARRIS said. "With the able help of my editor, we quickly put this information out to the public. Though we initially met with resistance, facts are stubborn things, and ultimately the analysis was proven correct." HARRIS previously won the radio award in 1988 and 1995.

CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA noncommercial News-Talk WBEZ/CHICAGO reporter GABRIEL SPITZER was given a Certificate of Merit for his SEPTEMBER 2009 report on how music rewires the brain.

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