Greenwald, Starkman and Cane Win Top Communications Award From CASE

Photo courtesy of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

The three CASE award winners: From left to right: Webmaster Christopher Cane (with the PPPL website on view behind him), science writer John Greenwald and photographer Elle Starkman.

John Greenwald, Elle Starkman and Christopher Cane, of PPPL's Office of Communications, learned last week that they will receive top honors from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education District II for their work aimed at communicating the Lab's cutting-edge research to the public.

Science Writer Greenwald won a gold medal Accolades Award for science and research writing, photographer Starkman won a gold medal for color photography, and Webmaster Cane won a silver medal for "best institutional homepage."

"Obviously, I'm extremely proud of our Communications team and the accolades they have accumulated," said Adam Cohen, deputy director for operations. "I also believe that the recognition is a testament to the team's strength in the varying communications mechanisms (writing, photography and web design) we have endeavored to grow and exploit."

Greenwald won the award for his article on PPPL's new nanolaboratory, which is focused on studying and optimizing the use of plasma for producing nanomaterials. Greenwald came to PPPL in January of 2012. He was a senior writer at Time magazine, where he worked for nearly 20 years. He then spent five years as managing editor of NJBiz, a weekly business magazine in New Jersey, which won some two dozen awards under his leadership. He is the editor of PPPL's Quest magazine, which launched this year, and is chair of the Colloquium Committee.

Starkman was honored for her striking "Iron Lotus" photo, which was one of several images published last year in the Russian journal "Science Firsthand" in a photo essay called "Science in Pictures." Starkman took the photos in 2011 of a liquid metal called a ferrofluid responding to a magnet and transforming from a liquid into a lotus-like shape. The photo was also displayed in the 2011 Art of Science exhibit. Starkman has been a PPPL photographer for 16 years and previously worked for Rockefeller University in New York. She and Andrew Zwicker won first place in the Art of Science Exhibit in 2005 for their photo of a dusty plasma.

Cane came to PPPL in 2009 after more than 20 years of experience in software and website development at Dow Jones, Merrill Lynch and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He won his award for heading the redesign of the PPPL website, which marked the !rst anniversary of its launch on Nov. 20. The judges said, "The website clearly meets its objective of informing people about fusion and plasma research," and the "layout and color palette is aesthetically pleasing." They praised the "clever and simple design" of the "Spotlight" at the center of the page and the inclusion of the PPPL blog and "PPPL in the News" link. Cane is now heading the redesign of the Laboratory's internal website.

CASE District II is the largest regional chapter of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), a professional association of communications, marketing and alumni relations professionals. The chapter represents 675 universities, colleges and private schools in six states, as well as Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Ontario. The awards will be presented at a ceremony on Feb. 10 in Baltimore.