NSF PR 03-54 (NSB 03-71) - May 12, 2003
Former Astronaut, Radio Show, Science Writing Group Earn National Science Board's Annual Public Service Award
Arlington, Va.—The National Science Board (NSB) today announced
former astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan, radio show "Earth & Sky,"
and the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing as its
selection for the 2003 NSB Public Service Awards.
The awards honor those persons and organizations selected by the
board as the year's top advocates of public understanding of
science and engineering.
Sullivan is president and chief executive officer of Columbus,
Ohio's Center of Science and Industry, one of the nation's
foremost private science education outreach organizations. In
this role she has guided the greatest period of growth in the
center's 39-year history while maintaining focus on its principal
mission of educating through quality hands-on learning.
"Earth & Sky" and the Council for the Advancement of Science
Writing were named for the board's group award.
Austin, Texas' Earth & Sky, Inc. is a non-profit radio program
production company that provides the science radio program "Earth
& Sky" to nearly 1,000 United States and Canada-based media
outlets that garner worldwide coverage. "Earth & Sky," led by
the on-air team of science writer Deborah Byrd and broadcaster
Joel Block, tackles in plain language the science behind broad
topics that range from global climate change to astronomy—and
even mummies.
The Council for the Advancement of Science Writing is a nonprofit
educational foundation composed of journalists and scientists who
seek to improve the quality of mass media science reporting. The
council develops and funds programs to help journalists,
universities and corporations report science and medical news
accurately and in non-technical language.
"The awardees have consistently made extraordinary
accomplishments toward ensuring our nation's citizens understand
that science and engineering is the stuff of everyday life, and
for some, the possible career of choice" said the National
Science Board Chair (Dr.) Warren M. Washington. "It is with
great pleasure that the board points out the fact that all of
this year's awardees bear the common thread whereby their efforts
directly impact the lives of non-scientists daily. They make
science understandable to children and adults listening to
radios, reading newspapers, watching news broadcasts, and taking
part in hands-on activities."
The awards will be presented in a formal ceremony at the State
Department May 21.
Web Resources:
Center of Science and Industry: www.cosi.org
Earth & Sky: www.earthsky.com or www.earthsky.org
Council for the Advancement of Science Writing: http://nasw.org/users/casw/
NSF is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering, with an annual budget of nearly $5 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 30,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 10,000 new funding awards. NSF also awards over $200 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
Receive official NSF news electronically through the e-mail delivery system, NSFnews. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to join-nsfnews@lists.nsf.gov. In the body of the message, type "subscribe nsfnews" and then type your name. (Ex.: "subscribe nsfnews John Smith")
Useful Web Sites:
NSF Home Page: http://www.nsf.gov
News Highlights: http://www.nsf.gov/home/news.html
Newsroom: http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/media/start.htm
Science Statistics: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/stats.htm
Awards Searches: http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a6/A6Start.htm
|