AMS Award Winner: Lois Parshley on Telling the Human Stories Behind Climate Science

Lois Parshley is an unbiased journalist whose reporting focuses on local weather change, environmental science, international well being, and human rights. Her work has appeared in quite a few nationwide and worldwide publications, the place she combines science reporting with human storytelling.

Through reporting from weak and sometimes underrepresented communities, Parshley helps readers perceive how climate, local weather, and environmental change form individuals’s lives round the world. She obtained the 2026 AMS Award for Distinguished Science Journalism in the Atmospheric and Related Sciences for translating complicated Earth system science into compelling journalism that illuminates local weather impacts on weak populations.

The Award for Distinguished Science Journalism in the Atmospheric and Related Sciences acknowledges excellent journalism that makes atmospheric and associated sciences accessible, participating, and significant to the public throughout all media platforms. The award honors reporting that locations scientific discoveries and occasions into broader context whereas demonstrating excellence in speaking the relevance of climate, water, and local weather science to society.

AMS Headlines spoke with Parshley about the significance of her work and what the award means to her.

Congratulations on receiving the 2026 AMS Award for Distinguished Science Journalism in the Atmospheric and Related Sciences. What was your response while you realized you had been chosen?

I used to be deeply honored and genuinely stunned. An award like this appears like recognition of the significance of explaining how science impacts individuals’s lives on daily basis.

The award acknowledges your capacity to translate Earth system science into impactful reporting. What attracts you to tales at the intersection of science and other people’s lived experiences?

My hope is all the time to elucidate how science impacts individuals’s day by day realities. As the Trump administration dismisses specialists, cuts analysis funding, and ignores profiles, I see journalism’s job as holding leaders accountable and centering the individuals these insurance policies go away behind.

Your reporting usually highlights communities which might be underrepresented in mainstream protection. Why is it vital to raise these voices when protecting climate, local weather, and environmental change?

Climate change is affecting everybody, however the communities experiencing the earliest or most extreme impacts are sometimes the identical which have traditionally obtained the least consideration or sources—and contributed the least to emissions. People residing on the entrance traces of environmental change are additionally usually the first to note shifts in seasons, wildlife, water availability, or climate patterns. Their experiences may help information higher questions and higher science.

Science journalism requires balancing technical accuracy with compelling storytelling. How do you method making complicated scientific matters accessible with out oversimplifying them?

I attempt to begin by asking what does somebody have to know to know why this analysis is vital?

You’ve reported on local weather impacts in many various areas. Was there one story or reporting expertise that basically modified your understanding of local weather change?

Even in the comparatively quick span of my profession, I’ve witnessed local weather impacts turn into extra frequent and extra extreme. Yet I nonetheless usually hear local weather change inaccurately framed as a future drawback. The actuality is that in lots of locations, these impacts are already speedy points.

How do you construct belief with scientists and the communities you report on, notably when protecting delicate or tough matters?

Trust begins with listening. Scientists and communities are each specialists in several methods, and good reporting requires respecting each types of data. I feel it is vital to keep in mind that individuals I converse to as a journalist aren’t merely sources—they’re individuals whose lives are being affected, typically in traumatic methods. That means spending time to ensure I’m treating them the approach I’d wish to be handled, and that the ultimate story displays their experiences and emotions precisely.

Climate reporting can typically go away audiences feeling overwhelmed. How do you try to tell readers whereas additionally serving to them keep engaged with these points?

I feel individuals want honesty about the scale of challenges, however in addition they want context. Climate change is a significant drawback, and readers deserve to know the dangers, however in addition they deserve to know the selections nonetheless out there, and to have a file of who’s making them.

What position do you imagine science journalists play in strengthening public understanding of climate, water, and local weather science?

In a time when misinformation can unfold rapidly, cautious rationalization issues. Public understanding of science is not only about figuring out info—it’s about understanding how we all know what we all know.

What recommendation would you provide to early-career journalists who wish to pursue science and environmental reporting?

Spend time reporting regionally. Some of the most vital environmental tales are taking place in communities that don’t normally obtain nationwide consideration.

Is there the rest you need AMS members to find out about the significance of science journalism in at present’s quickly altering world?

Science journalism issues as a result of the questions we ask as a society rely on the info we have now out there. The work of scientists and the work of journalists are deeply linked. Scientists assist us perceive what is occurring; Journalists ideally assist be certain that data reaches the individuals who want it.