Cosmos
Cosmos is a quarterly science magazine. We aim to inspire curiosity in ‘The Science of Everything’ and make the world of science accessible to everyone.
By Cosmos
A journey to the top of one of the world’s mightiest eucalypts has delivered an Australian first for Adelaide-based writer Lauren Fuge. Her experiences climbing Tasmania’s giant Eucalyptus globulus, published in Cosmos’s March 2023 Issue 98, claimed an international science journalism award on November 9.
The story, ‘Point of View’ won the Gold Award in the magazine category of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 2023 Kavli Science Journalism Awards. The awards recognise distinguished science reporting for a general audience. The program, endowed by the Kavli Foundation and open to journalists worldwide, drew entries from a record 74 countries this year.
It is the first time an Australian magazine has received this accolade, which was last year won by MIT Tech Review.
“Climbing into the canopy was an intensely profound experience for me,” Fuge says. “It’s gratifying to see that experience resonating across continents – especially in this time of crisis when we must recognise our interconnections with each other and with all the beings we share a world with.”
On Thursday night, Cosmos regular Amalyah Hart’s feature ‘Model or Monster?’ – an exploration of a bold and controversial project that seeks to genetically engineer corroboree frogs to save them from extinction – was named as a runner-up in the UNSW Press Bragg Prize for Science Writing. The story was published in our June 2022 edition. (Congratulations to the Bragg Prize winner, Nicky Phillips, and Jo Chandler, the other runner up.)
Amalyah’s article was one of 2 Cosmos stories shortlisted for the Bragg, along with Lauren’s ‘Point of View’.
Both stories feature in UNSW Press’s Best Australian Science Writing 2023, an anthology of the year’s best science journalism published by an Australian across all platforms and lengths, from news to long-form. This year it also includes 4 other Cosmos pieces:
- Cosmos editor-at-large Elizabeth Finkel’s piece on the current state of knowledge about the brain (Issue 99)
- Cosmos newsroom journalist Jacinta Bowler’s feature about her journey remote WA to explore the possibilities of the SKA radio telescope (Issue 98)
- Medical ethicist and Cosmos regular Paul Biegler’s piece on the science of isolation (Issue 95)
- Astrophysicist Sara Webb’s explanation of the horizons opened by the James Webb Space Telescope (Issue 98).
“It has been a stellar year for Cosmos writers, and it’s impossible not to feel immense pride at their achievements,” says the magazine’s editor, Gail MacCallum. “Cosmos recently celebrated its 100th issue, with the theme ‘Reasons to Hope’.
“Working with great writers to communicate the science that’s crucial to all of our futures is not just a privilege, it’s also the most fun you can have in a working day: learning about interesting people doing amazing things in exciting environments.
“And it matters – really matters. At a time when understanding the complex science we’re going to rely on in the future has never been more urgent, Australia’s access to Australian information about it has never been more diminished. Cosmos is Australia’s last print science magazine, so we’re delighted by this further recognition for our writers.”
Cosmos is produced by the not-for-profit Royal Institution of Australia. RiAus Executive Director Will Berryman notes that the quality journalism being produced by Lauren, Amalyah and their colleagues is not something to be left to chance: “We must have an Australian voice on science, as exemplified by the magazine’s brilliant articles and the work that we produce online each day. We can’t let that voice be lost.”
