M.A. student Fuchs wins regional SPJ award

Graduate student Laura Fuchs captured a Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence regional award in general news reporting for a story on "Tucson’s ubiquitous shopping cart.”

National winners are expected to be announced in April.

Arizona Sonora News/El Inde published the story, which originated in Prof. William Schmidt's features class from an assignment to write about an ordinary object and bring it to life.

Fuchs has a B.S. in Biology and an M.S. in Genetics from the University of Arizona.

"My goal is to become a science journalist and break down the jargon," says Fuchs, who supervised a clinical lab in cytogenetics in University Medical Center's pathology department.

• Fuchs' bio