2006 Press Releases

For the past decade, the editors of High Country News, like many in the media business, have struggled with the telling of what may be the biggest story in the world: The warming of our planet. How, we wondered, could a journalist take a mind-numbing matrix of immense data bases, complex scientific models and, to date, very little political action, and turn it into a logical and compelling narrative?

PAONIA, COLORADO — Michelle Nijhuis (pronounced ni-house), contributing editor of High Country News, has won the 2006 Science Journalism Award — small newspaper category — from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Nijhuis is being recognized for an in-depth series on the impact of climate change in the American West. The award honors excellence in science reporting for print, radio, television and online categories and is considered one of the top science journalism awards in the country. Nijhuis will receive a plaque and $3,000.

PAONIA, COLORADO —Michelle Nijhuis of High Country News has won the 2006 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism—Features. Awarded by the American Geophysical Union, Nijhuis is being recognized for a three-part series with the overall title, "Hot Times: Global Warming in the West," front-paged in High Country News on 24 January, 18 April, and 17 October 2005.

PAONIA, COLORADO — High Country News correspondent Matt Jenkins (former associate editor) has won the 2006 James V. Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism. Awarded by Stanford University, Jenkins is being recognized for his story "Squeezing Water from a Stone," front-paged in High Country News on September 19, 2005.