Environmental themes dominated the National Academies' 2006 Communications Awards, with five of the nine prizes going to work on environmental subjects.

The prizes, announced Sept. 29, "recognize excellence in reporting and communicating science, engineering, and medicine to the general public."

The top winner in the Newspaper/Magazine/Internet category was Elizabeth Kolbert, a staff writer for The New Yorker, for her three-part series on global warming, "The Climate of Man."

The two finalists in the same category were Michelle Nijhuis, a writer for High Country News, for her series "Hot Times: Global Warming in the West," and Anthony Wood, a reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer, for the series "A Mighty Stream," about changes in the Gulf Stream.

Los Angeles Times reporter Marla Cone was a finalist in the book category for "Silent Snow: The Slow Poisoning of the Arctic."

Producer Clayton Sandell and co-producers Bill Blakemore and Jay Lamonica shared a finalist award in the TV/Radio category for their report, "Global Warming and Extinction."