ABSW Awards 2022: The winners

Lifetime Achievement Award

Judith Hann, Broadcaster & Writer

Judith Hann was a Tomorrow's World presenter for 20 years. In 1967, she won the ABSW's regional award while working as science correspondent and feature writer for the Northern Echo in Darlington. She won another ABSW award in 1974, the year she started work on Tomorrow's World. 

Judith has also written and presented programmes and series of her own for TV and radio on healthy food, the science of ageing, renewable energy. Judith has always carried on her writing career alongside broadcasting work and has written seven books to-date including her new book HERBS, plus several books on science, medicine, health and food, and How Science Works, which has been translated into twenty languages and has sold over one million copies worldwide. She also worked for the Royal Society for 12 years, training hundreds of the world’s leading scientists how to explain their work in an exciting way to the public. She also runs a media training and communications skills company, teaching individuals how to make the most of themselves, and companies how to make the most of the media. Durham University awarded Judith Hann an Honorary Doctorate of Civil Law for what the citation described as her “outstanding contribution to science journalism”.

The ABSW considered Judith to have an exemplary record as a science journalist, mainstream science communicator and media trainer, and she was therefore awarded the ABSW's highest honour, the Lifetime Achievement Award.

British Science Journalist of the Year

Clive Cookson, Financial Times 

Carlo Rovelli and the physics of lockdown: 'Not moving is paradise'

Global Covid surge creates fertile grounds for more dangerous variants

How widespread is Covid in animals and what are the risks to humans?

Judges Quote: A selection of pieces replete with style and authoritative sources.

With thanks to the ABPI who support this award

Editor of the Year

Joint Winners

Helen Pearson, Nature (pictured left)

‘I hope you die’: how the COVID pandemic unleashed attacks on scientists

Starting up in science: Two researchers. Three years. One pandemic.

Origins of SARS-CoV-2: window is closing for key scientific studies

Sequence three million genomes across Africa

How Nature’s COVID coverage has made a difference

Judges Quote: Impressive fight to maintain free access to Nature’s news, and innovative multi-part feature tracking the real lives of a pair of young scientists in their struggle for funding.

Sarah Richardson, Research Professional News (pictured right)

UKRI to cut support for aid-funded research projects

When trust is gone

MRC Chief apologises to staff after bullying probe

Myanmar: 'People are taken away at night, or now even in day'

Research funding: Forgotten promises

Judges Quote: On top of the professional success demonstrated, she also showed a unique and impressive integrity in investigative reporting.

With thanks to IBM Research Europe who support this award.

Feature of the Year - General

Zoe Flood, Inside the Botswana lab that discovered Omicron, Al Jazeera Digital

Judges Quote: An accessible feature that shines a light on the unknown scientists who identified Omicron at a time when countries were being stigmatised for detecting new Covid variants.

Feature of the Year - Specialist

Kerri Smith (pictured left), Heidi Ledford & Richard Van Noorden (pictured right), Starting up in Science: Two researchers. Three years. One pandemic. Nature

Judges Quote: A powerful and intimate look at the struggles of two researchers as they navigate the pandemic, try to secure funding and raise a young family, presented in a stunning parallax design. It was a really innovative and compelling piece of journalism.

News Analysis or Explanatory Reporting

Alok Jha, Surface to air, The Economist 

Judges Quote: A fascinating deconstruction of the first super-spreader event of the pandemic, this story managed to make the science of ventilation and aerosols crystal clear and accessible.

News Item of the Year

Robin Bisson (pictured left) & Sophie Inge (pictured right), UKRI to cut support for aid-funded research projects,  Research Professional News 

Judges Quote: A genuine scoop based on original reporting from contacts that started out in trade publications but was then picked up the nationals and beyond, was cited in parliament, and led to resignations.

Royal Society Audio Award

Anand Jagatia (pictured), & Caroline Steel, If a tree falls in a forest… does it make a sound? BBC World Service

Judges Quote: An original story idea told creatively with plenty of good science and audio texture along the way.  This World Service strand is a jewel in the crown of radio science.

With thanks to the Royal Society who support this award.

Video of the Year Award 

Richard Hollingham (pictured left), & Jamie Partridge (pictured right), LEO: The Story of the World's First Business Computer, YouTube (The Centre for Computing History) 

Judges Quote: An absorbing and textured piece with excellent evocative archive footage and good use of graphics.

Stephen White award for reporting of science in a non-science context

Helen McArdle, Variant has made herd immunity through vaccination 'mathematically impossible' in Scotland, Herald on Sunday (PDF of article available below)

Judges Quote: This excellent piece makes the maths of the pandemic easy to digest.  It is reported in detail and concerns a subject of great public interest and importance, highlighting the serious challenge face in seeking to attain ‘herd immunity’.

Opinion Piece or Editorial of the Year

Philip Ball, The big idea: Should scientists run the country? The Guardian 

Judges Quote: It’s a vital time to discuss the role of scientific advice in our country’s politics, and Philip does so in a very rigorous and impactful way.

Research Policy or Funding Story of the Year

Sophie Inge, Research funding: Forgotten promises, Research Professional News

Judges Quote: Important piece that expertly dug into the impact policy can have on key research.

The Dr Katharine Giles Award for best popular article written by a scientist or engineer

Bonnie Waring, Imperial College London, There aren’t enough trees in the world to offset society’s carbon emissions – and there never will be, The Conversation 

Judges Quote: A well written piece about a complex and important topic.

With thanks to the Dr Katharine Giles Fund that supports this award.

Podcast of the Year - New Award for 2022

Alok Jha (pictured), Jason Hosken, Hannah Marinho & Nico Raufast, Goodbye darkness, my old friend—satellite constellations are alarming astronomers, Babbage Podcast, The Economist

Judges Quote: Slick production, really well written and paced.  A topical programme that explored the implications of the SpaceX launches.

Newcomer of the Year 

Rosa Furneaux, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism 

How Covax failed on its promise to vaccinate the world

'Held to ransom': Pfizer demands Governments gamble with state assets to secure vaccine deal

The next Covid crisis: A vaccine apartheid endangering us all

Judges Quote: Impressive investigative work with international impact.