The Chronicle Newspaper journalist, Jennifer Ambolley, has been selected as a winner of the 2026 Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications, an international recognition presented by the US-based National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in partnership with Schmidt Sciences.
Ambolley was selected in the Science Journalist: Local/Regional category from more than 750 entries for works published or aired in 2025, according to an announcement by the National Academies on October 26, 2026.
A total of 24 awards across eight categories were announced, comprising nine awards for science communication by research scientists, nine for science journalists and six for science communicators.
The awards recognise journalists, research scientists and science communicators whose creative and original work makes science, engineering and medicine accessible to the general public.
The official award profile describes Ambolley as a journalist whose work centres on people most affected by environmental and public-health challenges, connecting scientific evidence with the everyday experiences of communities in Ghana.
Her reporting has covered issues including air pollution, breast cancer and environmental health, highlighting the effects of these challenges on people’s lives and the importance of making scientific evidence understandable to the public.
Commenting on the 2026 recipients, Megan L. Ranney, chair of the selection committee and dean of the Yale School of Public Health, said the winners demonstrated a breadth of perspectives, creativity and approaches to science communication.
“Whether illuminating urgent public health challenges or the wonders of the universe, the awardees demonstrate exceptional skills in making scientific discovery tangible, entertaining, and useful,” she said.
Neil H. Shubin, president of the National Academy of Sciences, said the winners were connecting new audiences to science through innovative approaches that sparked imagination and expanded people’s ideas of what was possible.
Wendy Schmidt, co-founder of Schmidt Sciences, also highlighted the importance of human connection in communicating science at a time when artificial intelligence is increasingly generating content.
“This year’s science communication award winners exemplify the power of connecting person to person, of sharing knowledge and wonder, to illuminate the world around us and within us,” she said.
The winners will be honoured at an event in Washington, D.C., from November 17 to 20, 2026.
The awards aim to advance science communication by recognising outstanding work and creating opportunities for science journalists to build professional connections and pursue stories at national, regional and local levels.
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