From the Nominator

"We wanted to feature Chemical Biologist Carolyn Bertozzi before she became Nobel Prize Winner Carolyn Bertozzi. We beat our goal by seven months—and we did it with a short, 45-minute interview with Bertozzi herself. (Her calendar was packed even before she became Nobel Prize Winner Carolyn Bertozzi.) "Life Is Sweet" weaves background reporting together with her interview to create a portrait of a groundbreaking researcher whose work is transforming human health. Online readers spent more than 16 minutes with the story. And readers in any form—print or online—raved about it. Their comments included: 

"Revelatory, lucid, well-written. Excellent arsenal of metaphors and similes for us non-STEM-ers." 

"You made the importance of her discoveries understandable to a mere mortal such as myself, then expanded your story beyond the science and into a personal profile – a wonderful combination that made reading your story a pleasure."

"You have given me a wonderfully written few pages on a wondrous person with whom I fully sympathize in her battles against prejudices and give so many thanks for all that she is doing for the world."

"You brought Carolyn Bertozzi to life for me. Your storytelling is as rich as the subject material. And like a symphony, it builds to the crescendo of Grace's story."

Last but not least, after Bertozzi won the Nobel Prize, we dropped a mention of the award, along with a photo and QR code to the original story, into the next issue for anyone who had missed it the first time around."

From the Judges

This was an outstanding piece. It was clever, creative, and engaging all the way through. The research was explained well, and without overdoing it, the writer made the concepts accessible by revisiting the "sweet" metaphor again and again.