Science Writer

 Sci/Why science blog is proud to announce that one of our own, science writer Joan Marie Galat, has been given an award for her writing by the Edmonton Arts Council! She wrote about this award on Facebook:

As a writer, I spend many hours alone to create works that I hope will resonate with others. I’ve always felt supported by our incredible local arts community, and now as a just announced recipient of the Edmonton Artists' Trust Fund award, I can share that being recognized in my own community means so much to me. Thanks to all of you who support me on my writing journey, and to the Edmonton Arts Council. Huge congratulations to my fellow recipients. I’m thrilled to be in your amazing company.

The Boreal Forest wins an award!

Terrific news about our own L.E. Carmichael! A fine book by this author and her illustrator Josée Bisaillon has won a national award.

Kids Can Press is the publisher of their book, The Boreal Forest: A Year in the World's Largest Land Biome.

 

The word went out on Twitter from Kids Can Press, saying:

THE BOREAL FOREST by @LE_Carmichael & illustrated by @joseebis

has won the 2021 Children’s Literature Roundtables of Canada’s Information Book Award!

 

Read all about the Information Book Award, and Children's Literature Roundtables of Canada at this link. It's hard to go wrong, reading any of the books on the award's shortlist!

Canadian Student Wins International Competition

 by Paula Johanson

A high school student from Fort MacMurray, Alberta, has just won an international science competition called Breakthrough Junior Challenge. Maryam Tsegaye has won a $500,000 award which includes a scholarship, a new science lab for her school, and a prize for her teacher. The challenge was to submit a video that explains a scientific principle.

Maryam explained quantum tunnelling, in a three-minute video.

If you haven't gotten around to learning new science during quarantine and winning an award with over 5,000 competitors, don't blame the pandemic -- just celebrate this student's victory!

Here's a link to an article about this student and her amazing video which is well worth seeing: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/fort-mcmurray-maryam-tsegaye-khan-1.5829840

Nominated for the People's Choice Award: Canada's Favourite Science Blog

Good news, science fans! Actually, three pieces of good news. 

• It's Science Literacy Week here in Canada. 
• Our own Sci/Why writer Simon Shapiro is receiving an award on Wednesday Sept 20th, 10:30 am at the Ontario Science Centre for his book Higher, Faster, Smarter. Hurray for Simon!
•  And, hurray for all us Sci/Why writers, because our blog Sci/Why has been named to the Top 12 Short List for People’s Choice Award: Canada's Favourite Science Blog.

Starting today, Tuesday September 19th, Science Borealis website is hosting the voting, allowing people who love to read about science online to vote for the sites they like the best. Voters will be asked to select their THREE favourite science blogs and science sites (so 6 votes total). The site and the blog with the most votes will each win People’s Choice: Canada’s Favourite Science Online!

Publication of the short list and voting will take place on the Science Borealis website here:  http://blog.scienceborealis.ca/news/canscifavs/ ‎

Between September 19th and close of voting on October 14th, Science Borealis and the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada will promote the nominees across their social media channels. Look for the Twitter hashtag #CdnSciFav and for #scilit17 during Science Literacy Week.

After the close of voting, 3 finalists for each category will be announced via social media during the week of October 23. Winners will be announced at the Canadian Science Policy Conference (Nov 1-3) and simultaneously via social media.

It looks like a great way to celebrate Science Literacy Week and Sci/Why's writers is to vote for the People's Choice Awards.

Get Inspired for 2016!

Post by Helaine Becker

What better way to start the New Year off here at Sci-Why than with some inspiration?

I recently had the happy occasion to meet Filipe Deandrade, a nature filmmaker, while he was gathering footage for a new project with National Geographic. DeAndrade had won the 2015 Wild to Inspire film award, sponsored by the American Wildlife Foundation, National Geographic and the Sun Valley Film Festival for his short film, "Adapt." I think you'll like it, and hope we all find as much inspiration in our own work/lives in 2016!

 Happy New Year, everybody!

Books! Books! Books!

By Claire Eamer

Claire Eamer photo

A few months ago, we at Sci/Why put together a list of kids' science books by Canadian writers - ourselves and others. It's a work in progress, which we plan to update as often as we can manage, but it's already pretty lengthy.

The list is organized so that you can find books by topic and see immediately what grade level they're suitable for. That was for the convenience of teachers and librarians. But it's awfully convenient for people who might be looking for presents for their favourite kids at this time of year. Right?

So we thought we'd just mention again that we offer, for your consideration, our list of Science-Themed Books for Children. Just follow the link to a lot of science a lot of fun, and a lot of great ideas!

CSWA 2014 Book Awards Short List Announced!

Post by Helaine Becker

We here at Sci-Why are pleased to interrupt our regular publishing schedule (which is normally on every Friday) to post the short list for this year's:

CSWA 2014 Book Awards

And yes, I'm pleased as punch to point out that my own book, Zoobots, is on the Children's Book Short List. 

Best of luck to all the nominees! If you are a reader, you won't need luck to pick a winner from these lists - are all guaranteed to inform and delight. 

Short List for the 2014 Science in Society Children/ Middle Grades Book Award competition:

Zoobots by Helaine Becker, Kids Can Press.

Starting from Scratch by Sarah Elton, Owl Kids Books.

It’s Catching by Jennifer Gardy, Owl Kids Books.

The Fly by Elise Gravel, Penguin Random House.

If by David J. Smith, Kids Can Press.

Short List for the 2014 Science in Society General Book Award competition:

The End of Memory by Jay Ingram, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd.

Canadian Spacewalkers: Hadfield, MacLean and Williams Remember the Ultimate High Adventure by Bob McDonald, Douglas & McIntyre.

Pain and Prejudice: What Science can Learn about Work from the People Who Do It by Karen Messing, Between the Lines (BTL).

Is that a Fact? by Dr Joe Schwarcz, ECW Press.

Bee Time by Mark L. Winston, Harvard University Press.

The winners in each category will be announced on Canada Book Day, 23 April 2015. Winners will each be presented with a plaque and $1000 cash prize during an awards dinner held in conjunction with the CSWA ‘s 44^th annual conference in Saskatoon, SK, held at the University of Saskatchewan 18-21 June 2015.

The Lane Anderson Awards for Excellence in Science Writing

Can you be just a little over the moon? No. Which is why I'm a LOT over the moon to have been named the winner of the 2012 Lane Anderson Award for Science Writing, in the Children's Books category for The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea.

The winner in the Adult category is Neil Turok for The Universe Within.

Here we are giddily clutching our plaques.  

Congrats to Neil and to everyone who participated in this great event! And a huge thanks to the Fitzhenry Family for endowing this award and highlighting the central role of science in our lives.

Here are the deets from the official announcement:

$10,000 Lane Anderson Award Winners

Celebrating the Best Science Writing in Canada

Toronto. 26^th September, 2013:  The Fitzhenry Family Foundation announced the winners of the 2012 Lane Anderson Award. Finalists and winners were feted at an intimate dinner in Toronto.

The annual Lane Anderson Award, now in its fourth year, honours excellence in Canadian science writing, by highlighting two jury-selected books – one addressed to adult readers, the other written for children and/or middle grade readers.  Authors of the winning books each receive $10,000. 

There were a total of 20 submissions for this year’s award.

“We established this award because we believe passionately that science writing, and science reporting is vitally important for every Canadian today.  Science writing, research, and knowledge impacts the ways in which we live now, the ways our children will live in future, and the ways in which our children’s children will live their lives. As Canadians, we do not pay enough attention to science. We take it for granted.  The Lane Anderson Award is dedicated towards removing that indifference, two books at a time. We thank all of the authors and publishers and judges who are helping us pass along this message. It needs to be heard and heeded.”

- Hollister Doll & Sharon Fitzhenry Directors, Fitzhenry Family Foundation  

The annual Lane Anderson Award honours two jury-selected books, in the categories of adult and young reader, published in the field of science, and written by a Canadian. The winner in each category receives $10,000.

The 2012 Lane Anderson Prize Winners are:

The Universe Within by Neil Turok (Anansi)

The most anticipated nonfiction book of the season, this year's Massey Lectures is a visionary look at the way the human mind can shape the future.  Neil Turok is one of the world’s top physicists and founder of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS). He is currently the Director of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.

Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea by Helaine Becker (Kids Can Press)

Based on the idea that knowledge is power, The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea shows how the ocean works and why this immense ecosystem needs our protection. Experiments using everyday materials help explain the scientific concepts. Helaine Becker is a bestselling writer of children’s fiction, nonfiction and verse.

The two juries meet annually to consider all the submissions to the Lane Anderson Award and comprise editors, librarians, and previous Lane Anderson winners.

The Lane Anderson designation honours the maiden names of Robert Fitzhenry’s mother, Margaret Lane, and his wife, Hilda Anderson Fitzhenry.  The Fitzhenry Family Foundation is a privately directed Canadian foundation established in 1987 by Canadian publisher Robert I. Fitzhenry (1918-2008).  The Lane Anderson Award is administered by Christopher Alam, a partner at the law firm of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP.

www.laneanderson.ca

Science Plus Kids TV Equals Fun!

Written by Helaine Becker

For the last three years, alongside my other writing projects, I've been the staff writer for a science- and environment-themed television show for children called Planet Echo (You can see it on APTN, or watch it on line.). The segment I write is called Dr. Greenie's Mad Lab. It mixes serious, science-y information with an abundance of fart jokes. Hey, what's not to like?



Dr. Greenie mixing up something gross  - and educational! - in his lab.

The Mad Lab segment has indeed proven so popular with viewers that we are spinning it off into a stand-alone show. Some sample footage from the new show was submitted recently to the Juried competition at MIP Junior, the preeminent international trade show for children's television.
And guess what! Dr. Greenie's Mad Lab has been selected as a finalist!

The awards will be given out at a chi-chi red carpet gala in Cannes on October 7. Alas, a plane ticket to attend the event is not in my pay package; I will have to get the news of the winner via a tweet from producer Chris Greaves.

In the meantime, I'm adding tweaks to the all-new webisode for the show, an exciting project that includes both a fun plot and three interactive games kids can play on their tablet or phone.

Watch this space for news of the award winners, and wish us luck!