Washington, D.C.— The D.C. Science Writers Association (DCSWA) is pleased to announce the winners of the second annual Science Newsbrief Award.

Most science writing awards go to complex, multipart stories, but those awards often fail to recognize one of the most challenging -- and most common -- tasks of the science writer: writing short. Done well, short, accessible, accurate pieces make an enormous contribution to the public understanding of science.

The winner of the 2010 award is Sarah Zielinski for her blog post "Rare Earth Elements Not Rare, Just Playing Hard to Get." Judges said Zielinski's well-written post showed the potential of blogs to inform while providing an interesting mix of news and science.

Zielinski, an assistant editor at Smithsonian magazine, writes the blog Surprising Science. She is a graduate of the New York University Science, Health and Environmental Writing Program and Cornell University.

The judges also chose to honor two entries with honorable mentions.

Sujata Gupta, a correspondent with New Scientist and freelance science writer, was recognized for "How Mussels Hang On," published in ScienceNOW. According to one of the judges, "in very few words, the writer worked in engaging imagery and great word choice."

Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay, a freelance science writer and editor, got an honorable mention for "Microscale Mimic Of Human Ingestion" in Chemical & Engineering News. One judge said: "From a lede that every reader could connect with, this story smoothly walks you through some complex technology."