Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization

Updated on Nov 20, 2024

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The Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization is an annual $5,000 award presented by Wonderfest, the San Francisco Bay Area Beacon of Science, to a scientist who has "contributed mightily to the public understanding and appreciation of science."

The scientist receiving the prize must be a resident of one of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties, and have "a history of accomplishment in scientific research." Though administered by nonprofit Wonderfest, the Sagan Prize was funded by Google in 2015, and by Annual Reviews in 2002 through 2010. (Lack of funding inhibited presentation of the Prize in the intervening years, 2011-2014.)

Sagan Prize recipients

The following have received the Carl Sagan Prize:

2015 — Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer and Director, Center for SETI Research, SETI Institute

2010 — Donald Kennedy, Emeritus President and Professor of Environmental Science, Stanford University

2009 — Geoff Marcy, Professor of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley

2008 — Robert Sapolsky, Professor of Biology and Neurology, Stanford University

2007 — Keith Devlin, Executive Director, Human-Sciences and Technologies Advanced Research Institute, Stanford

2006 — Paul Berg, Professor of Biochemistry, Stanford University

2005 — Jill Tarter, Director, Center for SETI Research, SETI Institute

2004 — Alex Filippenko, Professor of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley

2003 — Kevin Padian, Professor of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley

2002 — Andrew Fraknoi, Professor of Astronomy, Foothill College

Wonderfest's Sagan Prize Selection Committee recommends each year's recipient to Wonderfest's Board of Directors, and the Board then formally confirms (or rejects) the recommendation. Wonderfest's long-term goal in presenting the Sagan Prize is to encourage science researchers to make science insights accessible to the general public — thereby promoting the scientific outlook and enlarging the concept of "scientific community."

References

Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization Wikipedia

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