Award-winning photo by Derrick Jackson
Here are the awards Derrick Jackson was blessed to receive this awards season:
Jackson was named the Writing & Photography winner respectively for Blog & Action from the Outdoor Writers Association of America.The image was also the President’s Choice among all categories of Photography.
Both the writing & photography were for his photo essays on the restoration of puffins in Maine and the young adults who toil on isolated islands to protect them.
Here are the links to the list of winners: https://owaa.org/2026-eic-photography-winners/ and https://owaa.org/2026-eic-award-winners/
He was also the winner for OpEd/Opinion from the American Society of Journalists and Authors for essays on the current administration’s attack on environmental protections & public health services. Here is the link & citation: https://www.asja.org/what-we-do/awards/2026-writing-award-winners/
Opinion/Op-Ed
Winner: “EPA Staff Stand Firm as Administration Lobs Cuts, Baseless Accusations and Cruelty,” “A Cruel Tradeoff Building the ‘Amazon of Deportation’ While Tearing Down Health and Human Services” and “President Trump’s Cabinet of Polluters, Frackers and Climate Crisis Deniers Rushes to Gut Protections” by Derrick Z. Jackson in the Union of Concerned Scientists’ The Equation
Judges comments: The judges were impressed by these powerful opinion/op-ed pieces, especially the “Amazon of Deportation” one. In that column, the judges said, from the first paragraph to the last, readers are taken on a profound emotional journey, from anger to confusion, hopelessness to rage. They were struck by how much ground Jackson covers, laying out the facts and stepping back, trusting the reader to feel their full weight. He also builds the narrative in such a beautiful and easy to follow language.
Finally, my images of great blue herons to illustrate photo essays on the benefits of clean water and wetlands were among the winners for single image and series of images in the Applied Arts Awards in Canada.
https://www.appliedartsmag.com/winners/photography/heron-harpoon-w73/?year=2026
https://www.appliedartsmag.com/winners/photography/heron-harpoon-w66/?year=2026
