By HENRY OWINO
Science Africa, a small media house based in Nairobi, Kenya, East Africa has trounced major media houses in the prestigious AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards.
Geoffrey Kamadi is among this year’s winners of Kavli Awards, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The winners were announced on Wednesday, 11 November, 2020 by the organizers.
Kamadi, a freelance Science Journalist based in Nairobi, wins a Gold award worth US$5,000 in the category Science Reporting—Small Outlet. His article, ‘Tana River Basin under threat’, appeared on the Science Africa website in September 2019.
https://scienceafrica.co.ke/development-tana-river-basin-under-threat/(Story Link)
Commenting on his win, Kamadi said he felt “extremely humbled”. He added: “It just goes to show that you need not be associated with, or work for, a big media organization for your work to be recognized.”
Kamadi is the first Kenyan to win a Kavli award, which is open to journalists all over the world. Sarah Wild from South Africa was the first African to win a Kavli, in 2017, for her investigation into Johannesburg’s unidentified dead bodies.
Kamadi,is the InfoNile regional representative in Kenya. He investigated the environmental challenges around Lake Tana’s threatened river ecosystem.
He was the first award winner in Kenya and was awarded along with journalists from the Washington Post, the Atlantic and other top international media houses. His story was supported by InfoNile/Water Journalists Africa and published in Science Africa.
A total of thirty-nine journalists have been named the winners of the 2020 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards. The awards, administered by AAAS recognize distinguished science reporting for a general audience.
The AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards are an internationally recognized measure of excellence in science journalism and are awarded annually to individuals rather than institutions, publishers or employers for coverage of the sciences, engineering and mathematics.
The program is endowed by The Kavli Foundation and opened to journalists worldwide and entries are accepted in all categories. The Kavli Foundation is also celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, 2020.
