News Release

AAAS and EurekAlert! announce winners of the 2006 Fellowships for Reporters from Developing Regions

Grant and Award Announcement

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

EurekAlert!, the premier global science-news source, in cooperation with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), today announced winners of the prestigious 2006 Fellowships for Reporters from Developing Countries.

Three promising young science reporters from Latin America were selected by the program's recruitment committee to attend and report on the 2006 AAAS Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri. Annual Meeting coverage by each 2006 Fellowship recipient will be published in their native languages on EurekAlert!'s multi-language portal (www.eurekalert.org/language).

Winners of the 2006 competition are:

  • Lorena Guzmán, El Mercurio (Chile) -- Lorena has been working as a science and technology freelance reporter for the past four years. She has specialized in astronomy and physics. Her stories appear online, in magazines and in newspapers, especially in El Mercurio. By participating in the AAAS Annual Meeting, Lorena says that she hopes to "strengthen the link between Chile and the world of science."

  • Roberta Jansen, O Globo (Brazil) – Roberta has studied journalism at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. She also worked as a reporter for O Estado de S. Paulo in Rio for eight years, from 1993 until 2001. For the past four years, she has been writing about health and environmental issues, particularly for O Globo.

  • Rosalía Servín Magaña, El Financiero (Mexico) -- Rosalia began working for the prestigious El Financiero in 1996, while pursuing a journalism degree at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Her early reporting focused on the entertainment business and drew upon her experiences as a gymnast for 10 years. Following travels in Europe and further study, Rosalia was then promoted by El Financiero in 1998 and currently covers topics such as health and education for the newspaper's Society section.

These winners will receive full support to attend and cover the 2006 AAAS Annual Meeting, America's largest general science conference, which will take place 16-20 February in St. Louis. Airfare, hotel costs, meals and other travel expenses will be fully covered by the AAAS Fellowships, sponsored this year by EurekAlert! and AAAS.

EurekAlert! and AAAS will celebrate this year's winners during a party -- for Annual Meeting press registrants only -- to be co-hosted by the International Science Writers Association and the World Federation of Science Journalists, on Saturday, 18 February. For general or press registration, go to www.aaasmeeting.org.

Some 1,000 press registrants from around the world are expected to cover the AAAS Meeting this year. The AAAS Fellowships for Reporters from Developing Regions, a program now in its third year, is intended to encourage outstanding young science reporters.

Fellowships to support promising young science reporters from developing regions of the world were first established by AAAS thanks to a generous seed grant from the William T. Golden Endowment Fund for Program Innovation. (See www.aaas.org/news/press_room/reporterfellowship.shtml.) During its first year, the program brought 10 young Chinese reporters, as well as one from South Africa, and another from Brazil to cover the 2004 AAAS Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington.

A second year of the program -- administered by AAAS and its editorially independent Web site for reporters, EurekAlert! -- was made possible through the generosity of The Global Alliance for Vaccines & Immunization (GAVI), The Vaccine Fund and the Rotavirus Vaccine Program (RVP), an affiliate of PATH. Reporters from Africa participated in the 2005 AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

2004 Program

Ten outstanding young Chinese reporters received the first-ever AAAS Fellowships for Reporters in Developing Regions:

  • Li Hujun, Freelancer (Sina.com and Nanfang Zhoumo)
  • Yimin Ding, China Features
  • Xinyu Zhou, China Youth Daily
  • Yan Liang, Xinhua News
  • Lei Du, Freelancer (Nanfang Zhoumo)
  • He Sheng, China Daily
  • Yan Yan, Reuters TV Beijing
  • Liu Li, Science and Technology Daily
  • Zhang Bin, Jiefang Daily Group
  • Lu Yi (Luo Yanning), Lifeweek

Winning entries chronicled researchers' frantic efforts to combat the SARS virus; the return of talented, established Chinese scientists to the mainland; Chinese stem-cell research; nanotechnology advances; and more. Reports by the winning Fellowship recipients were disseminated by such diverse media outlets as Reuters Television of Beijing; Nanfang Zhoumo; China Youth Daily; and Xinhua News, among others.

The Fellowships competition was open this year to young Chinese reporters submitting original print or broadcast stories on science or technology issues. Winners were invited to attend and cover the 2004 AAAS Annual Meeting in Seattle, with room, lodging and meal costs covered by AAAS.

Judging the 2004 year entries were:

  • Anthony Kuhn, reporter for Newsweek's Beijing Bureau;
  • Benjamin Read, assistant professor within the Department of Political Science at the University of Iowa;
  • and Tai Zixue, a member of the communication faculty at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.
2005 Program

The winners of the 2005 Fellowships for Reporters from Africa were:

  • Celeste Tema, South African Broadcasting Corporation Tema has worked as a radio reporter for the past seven years, and has specialized in science for the past two years. Her stories are translated into South Africa's eleven official languages and broadcast throughout the country.
  • Mzati Nkolokosa, The Nation, Malawi Nkolokosa, who has three years of experience as a reporter, aspires to specialize in health reporting, especially in the area of HIV/AIDS. He cites "lack of resources and training" as one of the greatest challenges to his career.
  • Zablon Odhiambro, Biosafety News, Kenya Odhiambro, who has been working as a science reporter for the past five years, hopes that he can help to "alleviate global problems" by responsibly reporting science and technology developments throughout Africa.
  • Nurat Miquidade, Radio Mozambique Miquidade has worked as a radio reporter for nine years. Her stories are broadcast in Portuguese throughout Mozambique.
  • Pape Sambe Boubacar, Jeune Afrique Economie, Senegal Boubacar writes for the French-language magazine Jeune Afrique Economie, where he covers science and health, among other topics.
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Sponsorship Opportunity

AAAS is currently seeking a four-year commitment to support 10 fellowship recipients per year, but we also welcome offers of support for one or more recipients per year. For further details, including inspiring testimonials from fellowship recipients, please contact Ginger Pinholster in the AAAS Office of Public Programs, via e-mail, gpinhols@aaas.org, or telephone at (202) 326-6421.

About AAAS

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science (www.sciencemag.org). AAAS was founded in 1848, and serves some 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, reaching 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of 1 million. The nonprofit AAAS (www.aaas.org) is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!, www.eurekalert.org, the premier science-news Web site, a service of AAAS.


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