AAAS announces winners of 2007 AAAS Science Journal...( An inquiry into mysterious elk death...)

An inquiry into mysterious elk deaths in Wyoming, a profile of a largely unknown black chemist who was a pioneer in the synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants, and a look at the merits of telling children they are smart are among the winners of the 2007 AAAS Science Journalism Awards from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Independent panels of science journalists chose the winners of the awards, which honor excellence in science reporting for print, radio, television and online categories. The awards, established in 1945, also include a prize for coverage of science news for children that is open to journalists worldwide. The judges awarded a special Certificate of Merit in the childrens category this year as well.

There is no higher recognition than the AAAS awards, said Po Bronson, co-author of the prize-winning effort in the magazine category. Bronson and Ashley Merryman won for their piece in New York magazine on the science of praising children. The scientists we interview often titter amusedly, Well, your works not peer-reviewed, Bronson said. Now we can tell them, It kinda has been.

Jennifer Frazer, a winner for her stories on elk deaths in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, said the subject gripped her from the outset. It had the allure of a detective story and an unlikely culprit: a small green lichen that most people wouldnt notice even if they walked right over it, Frazer said.

Katie Alvord, a freelance reporter who won in the online category for her stories on the changing environment of Michigans Upper Peninsula, said the award makes the intense work I did to write this online article series even more worthwhile. She added, Especially for a small-town freelancer like me, its a real boost to get this kind of recognition.

The winners included Kenneth Weiss and Usha Lee McFarling of the Los Angeles Times for an ambitious series that examined the profound disturbances
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