2025 SEJ Awards: How To Enter SEJ's Student Awards for Reporting on the Environment

DEADLINE TO ENTER: September 2, 2025

LATE DEADLINE: September 16, 2025. Late fees apply.

Outstanding Student Reporting

Recognizes an environmental story or series produced by a student or group of students enrolled in a university, college or high school at the time of production.

This category is part of the SEJ Awards for Reporting on the Environment. The first-place winner is automatically considered for the Nina Mason Pulliam Award, which includes a $10,000 monetary prize, a trophy and up to $2,500 toward travel, lodging and registration for SEJ’s annual conference.

Entry Requirements

You may submit multiple entries, though each one requires a separate payment and entry form. A unique invoice number or PayPal transaction ID number is required for each entry.

What to Prepare and Submit

Entry summary letter: Brief background on the work’s significance, challenges, or impact
Contributor info: Name, email, and role for each reporter, photographer, editor or contributor
Stories: Up to five; same-day sidebars count as one
- Feature Story: One file only
- Upload PDFs or include direct URLs (no general links)
- Include credentials valid through February 2026 for access if behind a paywall
Full transcripts: Required for all audio/video.
Maximum combined runtime: 60 minutes

For additional support, view the How To Prepare Your Entry Guide.

Next Steps

To enter the SEJ Awards, all participants must complete both the online entry and online payment forms. Entries without a corresponding payment and completed entry form will not be forwarded to judges.

Before You Submit

Review the full SEJ Awards Rules before entering. While key disqualifying factors are listed on the form, familiarity with the complete rules will help ensure your entry is eligible.

How to Submit

Pay First: Use the SEJ Awards Payment Form. Make note of your invoice number for your submission.
Submit Entry: You’ll be automatically redirected to the entry form via Submittable. If not, use the link in your payment confirmation email. The contest site is Submittable.com. If you've entered SEJ’s awards before, you already have a profile. If not, you will be asked to register for free on the site before you can proceed.
Confirmation: You’ll get a Submittable email confirming your submission. You can revise your entry before the deadline and monitor your entry status.

Didn’t get a confirmation? Check your spam folder and add awards@sej.org to your contacts.

After Submission

Judging will conclude in January 2026. Winners will be notified directly and a public announcement will follow in the spring ahead of SEJ’s annual conference in Chicago, April 15-18, 2026.

Eligibility

All audio, television, print and online content published or aired by the original media outlet are eligible, including campus media and journalism produced during internships and student-held, part-time jobs.
The following are not eligible:
- Class assignments that were not published, broadcast or made publicly accessible
- Work produced by SEJ
- Stories with bylines shared by nonstudents
- Work completed during a post-graduate internship
- Republished or rebroadcasted work
- Online stories edited after July 31, 2025

Entry Fees

Students (Members): Free (Standard), $25 (Late)
Students (Nonmembers): $25 (Standard), $50 (Late)

Group entries follow the same fee schedule. Accepted: Visa, Mastercard, AmEx, PayPal (USD only).

Want the member rate? To qualify for the member rate, a current SEJ member in good standing must have a byline or hold a significant role in the entry. Apply for membership before entering. If declined, dues will be refunded and the entry will get upcharged. Check your membership status.

Need help? SEJ members may request a fee waiver via the Members in Need Fund. You can also donate to support others.

Go to the Payment Form

Back to the main Awards page.

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