Lucy Jakub, an incoming MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing student, has been awarded a Guy P. Gannett Scholarship from the Maine Community Foundation. Lucy, an essayist and editor from Blue Hill, Maine, was selected based on her demonstrated writing skills and professional goals by a committee of journalists from across Maine.

“Lucy impressed us with the fascinating science articles she has written for NYR Daily, the online platform of The New York Review of Books,” said Andrea Nemitz, a committee member and communications manager at the Maine Community Foundation. “She weaves wonderful stories with lively, colorful writing.”

The Guy P. Gannett Scholarship was established in 2000 to provide renewable support for Maine students who major in journalism or a related field. The scholarship honors Guy P. Gannett who established the Portland (Maine) Press Herald in 1921. Guy Gannett Communications owned three Maine newspapers and several television stations until they were sold in 1998.

Lucy comes to MIT after completing an undergraduate degree in nonfiction writing at Columbia University and working at The New York Review of Books where she has written about subjects ranging from the work of naturalist Walton Ford to the strange world of speculative biology. During her year in the Graduate Program in Science Writing, she plans to focus on longform journalism in biology and general sciences. We are thrilled to see what kinds of exciting work Lucy and the entire GPSW Class of 2020 produces. Congratulations, Lucy!