Awards are the closest thing to peer review in journalism. Judged by panels of editors and reporters, they serve to recognize distinguished achievement and reinforce the highest and evolving standards of the profession. Here’s a running list of honors our journalists have received.
2023 Izzy Award
To: Liza Gross
2023: Covering Climate Now
Category: Audio – Long-Form
To: Tracy Wholf, Dan Gearino, Jen Newman, and Vika Aronson
For: The Energy Transition Runs Into a Ditch in Rural Ohio
2023: Society of Environmental Journalists 22nd Annual Awards for Reporting on the Environment
Category: Outstanding Explanatory Reporting, Small
First Place
To: Nicholas Kusnetz
For: Pipe Dreams: Is Carbon Capture a Climate Solution or a Dangerous Distraction?
“Occidental Is Eyeing California’s Clean Fuels Market To Fund Texas Carbon Removal Plant“
“Carbon Removal Is Coming to Fossil Fuel Country. Can It Bring Jobs and Climate Action?“
2023: Society of Environmental Journalists 22nd Annual Awards for Reporting on the Environment
Category: Outstanding Feature Story, Small
First Place
To: Anne Marshall-Chalmers
2023: Society of Environmental Journalists 22nd Annual Awards for Reporting on the Environment
Category: Kevin Carmody Award for Outstanding Investigative Reporting, Small
First Honorable Mention
To: Liza Gross, Peter Aldhous and Anne Marshall-Chalmers
For: “A California Water Board Assures the Public That Oil Wastewater Is Safe for Irrigation, But Experts Say the Evidence Is Scant” (Anne Marshall-Chalmers, UC Berkeley fellow, contributed reporting)
“When an Oil Well Is Your Neighbor“
“Drought-Wracked California Allows Oil Companies To Use High-Quality Water. But Regulators’ Error-Strewn Records Make Accurate Accounting Nearly Impossible” (co-byline: Peter Aldhous, freelance reporter)
2023: Society of Environmental Journalists 22nd Annual Awards for Reporting on the Environment
Category: Outstanding Explanatory Reporting, Small
Third Place
To: Anne Marshall-Chalmers
2023: Society of Environmental Journalists 22nd Annual Awards for Reporting on the Environment
Category: Outstanding Student Reporting
First Place
To: Aydali Campa, Jimmy Cloutier, Sarah Hunt, Mollie Jamison, Isabel Koyama, Laura Kraegel, Maya Leachman, Michael McDaniel, Andrew Onodera, Kenneth Quayle, Nicole Sadek, Isaac Simonelli, Rachel Stapholz, Sarah Suwalsky, Zoha Tunio, Zachary Van Arsdale and Alexis Young, Arizona State University Cronkite School of Journalism, published by Cronkite News/AZPBS
For:
How Greenhouse Gases Released by the Oil and Gas Industry Far Exceed What Regulators Think They Know
How One Native American Tribe is Battling for Control Over Flaring
2022 SABEW Best in Business Awards
Category: Health & Science, Small Division
Winner
To: Liza Gross and Anne Marshall-Chalmers
2022 Shaufler Prize in Journalism
First Place
To: Aydali Campa
2022 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award
Category: Science Reporting – Small Outlet
Silver Award
To: Liza Gross and Anne Marshall-Chalmers
2022: Society of Environmental Journalism Annual Awards for Reporting on the Environment
Category: Outstanding Beat Reporting, Small Market
First Honorable Mention
To: Katie Surma
For:
- “Does Nature Have Rights? A Burgeoning Legal Movement Says Rivers, Forests and Wildlife Have Standing, Too“
- “To Stop Line 3 Across Minnesota, an Indigenous Tribe Is Asserting the Legal Rights of Wild Rice“
- “Indigenous Women in Peru Seek To Turn the Tables on Big Oil, Asserting ‘Rights of Nature’ to Fight Epic Spills“
- “Ecuador’s High Court Affirms Constitutional Protections for the Rights of Nature in a Landmark Decision“
- “In the Latest Rights of Nature Case, a Tribe Is Suing Seattle on Behalf of Salmon in the Skagit River“
2022: Society of Environmental Journalism Annual Awards for Reporting on the Environment
Category: Outstanding Beat Reporting, Small Market
Third Honorable Mention
To: Phil McKenna and James Bruggers
For:
- “A Single Chemical Plant in Louisville Emits a Super-Pollutant That Does More Climate Damage Than Every Car in the City“
- “Louisville’s Super-Polluting Chemical Plant Emits Not One, But Two Potent Greenhouse Gases“
- “Chemours Says It Will Dramatically Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Aiming for Net Zero by 2050“
- “The EPA Proposes a Ban on HFC-23, the Most Potent Greenhouse Gas Among Hydrofluorocarbons, by October 2022“
- “Chemours’ Process for Curtailing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Could Produce Hazardous Air Pollutants in Louisville“
2022: Society of Environmental Journalism Annual Awards for Reporting on the Environment
Category: Outstanding Beat Reporting, Large Market
Second Honorable Mention
To: Hal Bernton, The Seattle Times, and Judy Fahys and James Bruggers, Inside Climate News
For:
- “It Was an Old Apple Orchard. Now It Could Be the Future of Clean Hydrogen Energy in Washington State“
- “Solar Farms Are Booming in Washington State, But Where Should They Go?“
- “A Proposed $1.7 Billion Wind and Solar Project Generates Hopes and Fears in South Central Washington State“
- “This Next-Generation Nuclear Power Plant Is Pitched for Washington State. Can It ‘Change The World’?“
- “Bill Gates’ Vision for Next-Generation Nuclear Power in Wyoming Coal Country“
2022: Society of Environmental Journalism Annual Awards for Reporting on the Environment
Category: Outstanding Student Reporting
Second Honorable Mention
To: Nicholas Portuondo, Northwestern University, published by Inside Climate News
2022 North American Agricultural Journalists Glenn Cunningham Writer of the Year
To: Georgina Gustin
Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists
Category: Climate/Environment Single Story
Winner
To: James Bruggers, Amy Green, Phil McKenna, and Robert Benincasa
For: EPA Struggles to Track Methane Emissions From Landfills. Here’s Why It Matters
2022 North American Agricultural Journalists Writing Contest
Category: Feature
First Place
To: Georgina Gustin
EPPY Awards 2021
Category: Best collaborative investigative/enterprise reporting (1 million or more unique visitors)
Finalist
To: NBC News, Inside Climate News and the Texas Observer
For: Super Threats
San Diego Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards 2021
Category: Online and daily newspapers: Environment
First Place
To: David Hasemyer, Michael Kodas
For: Fueled By Climate Change, Wildfires Threaten Toxic Superfund Sites
San Diego Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards 2021
Category: Online and daily newspapers: Series
Second Place
To: David Hasemyer, Lisa Olsen
For: Super Threats
2021: San Francisco Press Club
Category: Digital Media: Environment/Nature Report
Second
To: Liza Gross
For: “Harnessing Rice Fields to Resurrect California’s Endangered Salmon“
2021 Green Eyeshade Awards
Category: Politics Reporting/Online
First Place
To: James Bruggers
For: Faith, Environmental Justice and Climate in the Southeast’s Pivotal Senate Races
2021 Best in Business Awards Honorees
Category: Explanatory: Small Division
Honorable Mention
To: Feng Hao, Katrina Northrop, Lili Pike and Phil McKenna
For: Hot Molecules
2021: Society of Professional Journalists NYC Deadline Club
Category: Science, Technology, Medical or Environmental Reporting
Finalist
To: Feng Hao, Katrina Northrop, Lili Pike and Phil McKenna
For: Hot Molecules
2020: New York Press Club Awards
Category: Consumer Reporting (Online)
Winner
To: Sabrina Shankman
2020: Society of Professional Journalists, Deadline Club (NY)
Category: Reporting by Independent Digital Media
Winner
To: Anna Belle Peevey, Neela Banerjee and Adrian Briscoe
For: American Climate
2020: Society of Environmental Journalists
Category: Outstanding Beat Reporting
First Place
To James Bruggers
For: “Holding the Powerful to Account for the Environment”
2020: Headliner Awards
Category: Digital Presentation of a Single News Topic
Third Place
To Anna Belle Peevey, Neela Banerjee, Adrian Briscoe
For: American Climate
2020: Headliner Awards
Category: Best Blog
First Place
To Sabrina Shankman
2020: North American Agricultural Journalists Awards
Category: Best Feature Writing
First Place
To Georgina Gustin
For: Ravaged by Drought, a Honduran Village Faces a Choice: Pray for Rain or Migrate
2020: Health Care Research and Journalism Awards
Category: Digital Media
Finalist
To David Hasemyer and Paul Horn with NBC News Digital
For: Military Fights a Deadly Enemy: Heat
2019: AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards
Category: Online
Silver Award
To Nicholas Kusnetz
For: The Impossibly Cute Pika’s Survival May Say Something About Our Own Future
2019: Editor & Publisher EPPY Award
Category: Best Collaborative Investigative/Enterprise Feature
Finalist
To David Hasemyer with NBC News Digital
For: Military Fights a Deadly Enemy: Heat
2019: John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism
Winner
To Georgina Gustin, Neela Banerjee, John H. Cushman Jr. and Paul Horn
For: Harvesting Peril
2019: Sigma Delta Chi Awards, The Society of Professional Journalists
Category: Online Column Writing (Independent)
Winner
To Sabrina Shankman
For: The Fumes in South Portland
2019: Sigma Delta Chi Awards, The Society of Professional Journalists
Category: Informational Graphics (Newspaper Circulation 1-100,000, Regional Magazine, Non-Daily Publication or Online Independent)
Winner
To Paul Horn and staff
For: Harvesting Peril
2019: Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism (American Geophysical Union)
Category: Features
Finalist
To Georgina Gustin, Neela Banerjee, John H. Cushman Jr.
For: Harvesting Peril
2019: New York Press Club
Category: Special Event Reporting – Internet
Winner
To James Bruggers, Dan Gearino and ICN Staff
For: Environment Reporting Network
2019: North American Agricultural Journalists Association
Category: The Glenn Cunningham Ag Journalist of the Year Award
Winner
To Georgina Gustin, Neela Banerjee, John H. Cushman Jr.
For: Harvesting Peril
2019: Deadline Club, NYC Chapter of The Society of Professional Journalists
Category: Science, Technology, Medical or Environmental Reporting
Finalist
To Georgina Gustin, Neela Banerjee, John H. Cushman Jr., Paul Horn and Anna Belle Peevey
For: Harvesting Peril
2019: Society of American Business Editors and Writers Awards
Category: Explanatory (small)
Winner
To Georgina Gustin, Neela Banerjee, John H. Cushman Jr., Paul Horn, Anna Belle Peevey
For: Harvesting Peril
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Category: Government (small)
Winner
To Neela Banerjee, Sabrina Shankman, Nicholas Kusnetz, Paul Horn and Anna Belle Peevey
—————————————
Category: Health/Science (small)
Honorable Mention
To Sabrina Shankman
For: Surrounded by Oil Fields, an Alaska Village Fears for Its Health
2019: North American Agricultural Journalists Association
Category: Best Series
First Place
To Georgina Gustin, Neela Banerjee, John H. Cushman Jr.
For: Harvesting Peril
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Category: Best Feature
First Place
To Georgina Gustin, Neela Banerjee, John H. Cushman Jr.
For: Harvesting Peril
2018: Editor & Publisher EPPY Award
Category: Best News or Event Feature with under 1 million unique monthly visitors
Finalist
To ICN’s staff
For: Choke Hold
2018: San Diego Press Club Awards
Category: Online and Daily newspapers, General News
First Place
To David Hasemyer
For: It Took This Coal Miner 14 Years to Secure Black Lung Benefits. How Come? (Part of Choke Hold)
Category: Online and Daily newspapers, Investigative Reporting
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Second Place
To David Hasemyer
For: Instrument of Power: How Fossil Fuel Donors Shaped the Anti-Climate Agenda of a Powerful Congressional Committe (Part of Choke Hold)
Category: Online and Daily newspapers, Environment
—————————————
Second Place
To David Hasemyer
For: This Tiny California Beach Town Is Suing Big Oil. It Sees This as a Fight for Survival.
2018: Edward R. Murrow Awards Regional, RTDNA
Category: Hard News (Small Digital News Organization)
Winner
To ICN’s staff
For: Choke Hold
2018: Sigma Delta Chi Awards, The Society of Professional Journalists
Category: Informational Graphics (Newspaper Circulation 1-100,000, Regional Magazine, Non-Daily Publication or Online Independent)
Winner
To ICN’s Paul Horn and staff
For: Choke Hold
2018: Excellence in Financial Journalism Awards, NYSSCPA
Category: Video (Large)
Winner
To The Weather Channel Digital and InsideClimate News
For: Killing Clean
2018: Deadline Club, NYC Chapter of The Society of Professional Journalists
Category: Independent Digital Media
Finalist
To ICN’s Neela Banerjee, David Hasemyer, Marianne Lavelle and freelancers Robert McClure and Clark Hoyt (editor)
For: Choke Hold
2018: National Headliner Awards
Category: Online Beat Coverage (news organization not connected to print or broadcast)
Second Place
To ICN’s staff
For: Choke Hold
2018: Society of American Business Editors and Writers Awards
Category: Health/Science (small)
Winner
To ICN’s Neela Banerjee, David Hasemyer, Marianne Lavelle and freelancers Robert McClure, Brad Wieners and Clark Hoyt (editor)
For: Choke Hold
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Category: Government (small)
Winner
To ICN’s Nicholas Kusnetz
For: Industry Lawsuits Try to Paint Environmental Activism as Illegal Racket
—————————————
Category: Explanatory (small)
Honorable Mention
To ICN’s Neela Banerjee, David Hasemyer, Marianne Lavelle and freelancers Robert McClure, Brad Wieners and Clark Hoyt (editor)
For: Choke Hold
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Category: Investigative (small)
Honorable Mention
To Sabrina Shankman
For: As Hilcorp Plans to Drill in Arctic Waters, a Troubling Trail of Violations Surfaces
2018: Scripps Howard Awards
Category: Topic of the Year, “Divided America”
Finalist
To Meera Subramanian
For: Finding Middle Ground: Conversations Across America
2017: San Diego Press Club
Category: Online and Daily newspapers, Environment
Winner
To ICN’s David Hasemyer
For: With Bare Knuckles and Big Dollars, Exxon Fights Climate Probe to a Legal Stalemate (Part of Choke Hold investigative series)
2017: San Diego Press Club
Category: Online and Daily newspapers, Politics/Government
Winner
To ICN’s David Hasemyer
For: In California Clean Air Fight, Environmental Justice Takes a Leading Role
2016: EPPY Award
Category: Best Redesign/Relaunch with under 1 million unique monthly visitors
Winner
For: InsideClimate News’ website
2016: Online Journalism Association
Category: Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award, Small Market
Winner
To: ICN’s Neela Banerjee, John H. Cushman Jr., David Hasemyer, and Lisa Song
For: Exxon: The Road Not Taken
2016: Society of Environmental Journalists
Category: Kevin Carmody Award for Outstanding In-depth Reporting, Small Market
Winner
To ICN’s Neela Banerjee, John H. Cushman Jr., David Hasemyer, and Lisa Song
For: Exxon: The Road Not Taken
2016: John B. Oakes Award
Winner
To ICN’s Neela Banerjee, John H. Cushman Jr., David Hasemyer, and Lisa Song
For: Exxon: The Road Not Taken
2016: Pulitzer Prize
Category: Public Service
Finalist
To ICN’s Neela Banerjee, John H. Cushman Jr., David Hasemyer, and Lisa Song
For: Exxon: The Road Not Taken
2016: Robert F. Kennedy Award
Category: New Media Winner
Winner
To ICN’s Neela Banerjee, John H. Cushman Jr., David Hasemyer, and Lisa Song
For: Exxon: The Road Not Taken
2016: White House Correspondents’ Association
Category: Edgar A. Poe Award for news coverage of regional or national importance
Winner
To ICN’s Neela Banerjee, John H. Cushman Jr., David Hasemyer, and Lisa Song
For: Exxon: The Road Not Taken
2016: Society of Professional Journalists
Category: Sigma Delta Chi Award for Informational Graphics
Winner
To ICN’s Paul Horn
For: Exxon: The Road Not Taken
2016: Society of American Business Editors and Writers Awards
Category: Digitial Investigative, Division I
Co-Winner
To ICN’s Neela Banerjee, John H. Cushman Jr., David Hasemyer, and Lisa Song
For: Exxon: The Road Not Taken
2016: National Press Foundation
Thomas L. Stokes Award for Best Energy Writing
Winner
To ICN’s Neela Banerjee, John H. Cushman Jr., David Hasemyer, and Lisa Song
For: Exxon: The Road Not Taken
2016: The Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting
Finalist
To ICN’s Neela Banerjee, John H. Cushman Jr., David Hasemyer, and Lisa Song
For: Exxon: The Road Not Taken
2016: The Izzy Award
Winner
To ICN’s Neela Banerjee, John H. Cushman Jr., David Hasemyer, and Lisa Song
For: Exxon: The Road Not Taken
2016: Scripps Howard Awards
Category: Environmental Reporting
Winner
To ICN’s Neela Banerjee, John H. Cushman Jr., David Hasemyer, and Lisa Song
For: Exxon: The Road Not Taken
2016: The Knight-Risser Prize
Category: Western Environmental Journalism
Winner
For: Big Oil, Bad Air
2016: Society of Environmental Journalists
Category: Kevin Carmody Award for Outstanding In-depth Reporting, Large Market
Winner
For: Big Oil, Bad Air
2015: John B. Oakes Award
Finalist
To ICN’s Lisa Song, David Hasemyer, CPI’s Jim Morris and The Weather Channel’s Greg Gilderman
For: Big Oil, Bad Air
2015: Society of Environmental Journalists
Category: Outstanding Feature Story
Second Place
For: Meltdown: Terror at the Top of the World
2015: Loeb Awards
Category: Explanatory Reporting
Finalist
For: Big Oil, Bad Air
2015: Livingston Awards
Category: National Reporting
Finalist
For: Meltdown: Terror at the Top of the World
2015: Society of Professional Journalists
Sigma Delta Chi Award for Informational Graphics
Winner
To ICN’s Lisa Song and Paul Horn
For: Big Oil, Bad Air
2015: National Press Foundation
Thomas L. Stokes Award for Energy Writing
Winner
To ICN’s Lisa Song, David Hasemyer, CPI’s Jim Morris and The Weather Channel’s Greg Gilderman
For: Big Oil, Bad Air
2015: Investigative Reporters & Editors Award
Category: Large Multimedia
Finalist
To ICN’s Lisa Song, David Hasemyer, Susan White, Zahra Hirji, Paul Horn, Lance Rosenfield, Sabrina Shankman, Marcus Stern, John Bolger, Hannah Robbins
For: Big Oil, Bad Air
2015: Association of Health Care Journalists Award
Category: Large Investigation
Winner
To David Hasemyer, Lisa Song and Jim Morris
For: Big Oil, Bad Air
2015: San Diego Press Club
Category: Daily newspapers and websites, General News
Winner
To David Hasemyer
For: Fired: Texas Oil and Gas Regulators Say They Tried to Enforce Rules, Lost Jobs
2015: San Diego Press Club
Category: Daily newspapers and websites, Environment
Winner
To David Hasemyer, Zahra Hirji
For: In Fracking’s Wake: Open Pits Offer Cheap Disposal for Fracking Sludge, but Health Worries Mount
2014: Editor & Publisher EPPY Award
Category: Best Investigative/Enterprise Feature on a Wesite
Winner
To David Hasemyer, Lisa Song and Jim Morris
For: Big Oil, Bad Air
2014: Deadline Club, NYC Chapter of The Society of Professional Journalists
Category: Reporting by Independent Digital Media
Winner
To Katherine Bagley and Maria Gallucci
For: Bloomberg’s Hidden Legacy: Climate Change and the Future of New York City
2013: Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting
Winner
To Elizabeth McGowan, Lisa Song, and Dave Hasemyer
2013: Rachel Carson Environment Book Award, Society of Environmental Journalists
Winner
To Elizabeth McGowan and Lisa Song
2013: Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Pro Chapter
Category: Daily Reporting and Writing, Environmental Story
Winner
To David Hasemyer
For “Nation’s First Tar Sands Mine Stirs Water, Environmental Fears Out West“
2013: Deadline Club, NYC Chapter of The Society of Professional Journalists
Category: Reporting by Independent Digital Media
Winner
To Elizabeth McGowan and Lisa Song
2012: The Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism
Winner
To Elizabeth McGowan, Lisa Song, and Dave Hasemyer
2012: John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism
Honorable Mention
To Elizabeth McGowan, Lisa Song, and Dave Hasemyer
2012: Scripps Howard Foundation
Category: Environmental Reporting
Finalist
To Elizabeth McGowan, Lisa Song, and Dave Hasemyer