From the Nominator

The University of Richmond media team learned in 2016 that psychology professor Kelly Lambert was attempting to teach rats to drive. Knowing that, if successful, this research had the potential for major media attention, they immediately began to strategize. They were ready when the research was ready to be promoted on a broad scale in 2019. The University of Richmond media relations team used a media kit to respond to hundreds of media inquiries over the course of a few days in October 2019, and the requests have continued to trickle in. There were at least 350 unique national and international media stories, many of which were picked up multiple times. To date, the driving rats have been featured in more than 1,500 media articles in more than 40 countries. The articles resulted in more than 2.3 billion media impressions.

From the Judges

The University of Richmond presented a research story creatively. It is one that is unique, interesting, and innovative—with a good shelf life. Members of the media are always on the lookout for these types of stories! The judges loved the visual strategies (video and images, including the branded rat car). Additionally, the project showed its success as it was pitched and covered in research journals.