The Knight-Risser Prize
for Western Environmental Journalism
The Knight-Risser Prize and Symposium are being reimagined to better encourage coverage of important environmental issues affecting the West. Please follow @JSKstanford on Twitter for more information and announcements.

Winners of the Knight-Risser Prize

The Knight-Risser prize places a premium on stories that expose undiscovered or covered-up problems, explain complex solutions in ways that can be put to use, and help readers understand the broader significance of the issues, beyond the immediate details of the stories at hand.

A look at the stories honored during the prize’s first decade bears this out — projects on water-use issues, an examination of the impact of uranium mining on the Navajo Nation, the specifics of global warming along the Gulf Coast, and more projects dealing with timber harvesting and over-harvesting. And winning entries that address broader issues like global climate change and groundwater overuse, also carefully detail their impact on a specific area of the West.

2017 Winner: “Hell and High Water”
Neena Satija, Ryan Murphy, and Kiah Collier, The Texas Tribune, Al Shaw, and Jeff Larson, ProPublica
A report looking at the city of Houston and the threat posed to it by hurricanes.
2016 Winner: “Pumped Dry: The Global Crisis of Vanishing Groundwater”
Ian James, The Desert Sun, Steve Elfers, and Steve Reilly, USA Today
An investigation into the dire consequences of groundwater depletion in the western United States and around the world.
2015 Winner: “Big Oil, Bad Air: Fracking the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas”
Jim Morris, Lisa Song, David Hasemyer, Susan White, and Greg Gilderman
The Center for Public Integrity, InsideClimate News, and The Weather Channel
A 20-month joint reporting project exploring the tension between cheap energy and air quality in one of the most active oil and gas fields in the United States.
2014 Winner: "Sea Change: The Pacific’s Perilous Turn"
Steve Ringman and Craig Welch, The Seattle Times
A series examining and illuminating ocean acidification, the lesser-known twin of global warming.
2013 Winner: "The Killing Agency"
Tom Knudson, The Sacramento Bee
An investigative series exposing brutal methods used by a little known government agency that are leaving a trail of animal death.
2012 Winner: "Perilous Passages"
Emilene Ostlind and Joe Riis, High Country News
A report that gave readers a close-up view of migration of the pronghorn antelope along a 120-mile route that is the first designated for protection by the U.S. Forest Service.
2011 Winner: "Dry Times"
Patrick Doyle and Natasha Gardner, 5280 Magazine
Explanatory reporting on Denver's water challenges through engaging text and imaginative graphics. It was selected for its clear and compelling presentation of a many-layered story of geography, history, land use and policy.
2010 Winner: "Chain Saw Scouting"
Lewis Kamb, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
A three-part series revealing how Boy Scout councils across America–whose mandate is to preserve and protect the environment–have logged or sold forestland.
2009 Winner: "Logging and Landslides: What Went Wrong?"
Hal Bernton, Justin Mayo and Steve Ringman, The Seattle Times
A two-part series demonstrating how heavy logging caused a significant proportion of landslides in southwestern Washington.
2008 Winner: "Climate Change Hits Home"
Anton Caputo, San Antonio Express-News
A five-part series describing how global warming is affecting the Gulf Coast and South Texas.
2007 Winner: "Blighted Homeland"
Judy Pasternak, The Los Angeles Times
A four-part series documenting the poisonous legacy of military uranium mining on Navajo lands.
2006 Winner: "Squeezing Water from a Stone"
Matt Jenkins, High Country News
An article describing Las Vegas' efforts to acquire more water to feed its exploding growth.
2005 Winner: "The Last Drop"
Todd Hartman, Jerd Smith and Ken Papaleo, The Rocky Mountain News
A five-part series outlining the threat to Rocky Mountain rivers posed by urban development on Colorado's Front Range.

 

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WINNERS OF THE KNIGHT-RISSER PRIZE
2017
Hell and High Water
Texas Tribune, ProPublica
2016
Pumped Dry
The Desert Sun and USA Today
2015
Big Oil, Bad Air
CPI, InsideClimate News, The Weather Channel
2014
Sea Change
The Seattle Times
2013
The Killing Agency
The Sacramento Bee
2012
Perilous Passages
High Country News
2011
Dry Times
5280 Magazine
2010
Chain Saw Scouting
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
2009
Logging and Landslides:
What Went Wrong?
The Seattle Times
2008
Climate Change Hits Home
San Antonio Express-News
2007
Blighted Homeland
The Los Angeles Times
2006
Squeezing Water from a Stone
High Country News