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Sullivan Award Committee
2010–2012 term
Chair
Usha Lee McFarling, South Pasadena, California
Members
Michael Carlowicz, NASA/Wyle Information Systems, Lanham, Maryland
Cindy Clark, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
Michael Mischna, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Michelle Nijhuis, Paonia, Colorado
Estella Atekwana, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma
Staff Liaisons
Peter Weiss
Beth Paredes
Named for the renowned science writer of The New York Times, the first Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism was presented to Sullivan in 1989. Effective in 2000, it has been recast as an award for science feature writing, defined as work prepared with a deadline of more than one week. It is presented annually to a journalist for a single report in any medium except books that makes geophysical information accessible and interesting to the general public. Any member of AGU may make a nomination, as may journalists themselves.
Committee Charge
- Select the recipient of the Sullivan Award; the final decision is subject for approval of the Executive Committee.
- Interpret the scope of the award broadly and to keep in mind that as a Union award, it should reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the Earth and space sciences.
- Be especially mindful of the diversity of the community of individuals encompassed by AGU.
- Do not depend solely on unsolicited nominations but should be proactive by encouraging nominations through committee member contacts.
- State, as part of their recommendation to the Executive Committee, the number of candidates considered, how many of these were holdovers and how many were new, and whether the new candidates were nominations from general call or were actively encouraged by the committee.
- Define the process used for reaching the decision.
Work Plan for 2010–2012
In addition to selecting Sullivan Awardees,
- Review data from Sullivan Award's selection processes for the past several years to determine if the program is operating maximally in terms of the relevant goals of the Union's strategic plan.
- Work with Section and Focus Group committees to increase the number of nominations of viable candidates in underrepresented groups so that newly elected awardees reflect the diversity of the Union membership; and
- Work with the Meetings and Honors and Recognition Committees to review formats for the award ceremonies at AGU meetings and to recommend revisions to award ceremony formats as necessary.
–July 2010