The DOE NNSA SSGF launched its annual essay contest in 2011 to give current and former fellows an opportunity to write about their work with a broad, non-technical audience in mind.
The competition, open to fellows and alumni, encourages better communication of stewardship science priorities and their value to society. Participants write a brief essay on a topic of personal interest, such as their career path and inspiration or their research and its importance.
Winners
Winners are recognized at the DOE NNSA SSGF Annual Program Review and receive a cash prize, plus the opportunity to work with a professional science writer to critique and copy-edit their essays.
With the exception of 2015, an excerpt of each winning essay was published in Stewardship Science, the annual DOE NNSA SSGF publication. Click on any of the years listed below to access the excerpt or full text.
- 2023 — Taylor Sloop: The Power of Pores
- 2022 — Olivia Pardo: Planetary Black Rocks
- 2021 — Sophia Farrell: Into the Darkness
- 2020 — No Winner
- 2019 — Erin Good: When Physics Becomes Art
- 2018 — No Winner
- 2017 — Benjamin Galloway: Laser Science is Not Mad Science
- 2016 — Mareena Robinson Snowden: Dark Room, Bright Ideas
- 2015 — Cameron Meyers: Silly Putty World
- 2014 — Juan Manfredi: Starstruck
- 2013 — Evan Davis: Bottling the Sun
- 2012 — Christopher Yang: A Plasma State of Mind
- 2011 — Stephanie Lyons: A Science Nerd Spreads the Word, and Josh Renner: Aware of Our Surroundings