Mitchell’s book on oceans in crisis wins $75,000 Grantham Prize for environmental reporting
The winner of the $75,000 Grantham Prize for reporting on the environment is Alanna Mitchell for her book, “Sea Sick: The Global Ocean in Crisis.” “The book, published by McClelland & Stewart in Canada and by The University of Chicago Press in the U.S., is a stirring account of the threats facing the ocean,” according to the prize’s website.
“She reported this story by participant observation, joining scientists at work in nine of the global ocean’s trouble spots. Then she wove the narrative of that travel into a vivid explanation of the science and some of the personalities behind it,” the judges said.
Mitchell was the science and environment writer at Toronto’s Globe & Mail newspaper for 14 years until she left the paper to write full-time about science.
The prize has been awarded since 2006 by The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment in association with The Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting.
Three entries received $5,000 Awards of Special Merit:
- Dan Egan of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for his coverage of the Great Lakes.
- Cleo Paskal for her book, “Global Warring.”
- Hedrick Smith Productions for its PBS Frontline documentary, “Poisoned Waters.”
