Two students receive Swicegood Grant
(From left) Sofia Moraga, Amaris Encinas and Jane Swicegood
The two winners of this year’s Jane Swicegood Student Exploration Grant are Sofia Moraga and Amaris Encinas.
Moraga’s project will take her to a dozen western national parks this summer to photograph the diversity of visitors and staff. Moraga wants to shoot portraits using black-and-white film, create a website and publish a book. Prof. Michael McKisson is her mentor.
Encinas is writing a longform profile about what led up to the election of Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly as the first Native American to hold a countywide office this year. She plans to produce a fully packaged feature story ready for publication before the end of the spring semester. Prof. Susan Knight is her mentor.
Swicegood, a University of Arizona alumna, started funding the grants a few years ago to help aspiring journalists broaden the scope of their professional portfolio.
The funding helps defray the expenses for compelling journalistic projects at both local and offsite locations. Examples of projects include investigative reports, longform narratives, podcasts, photo projects, documentaries or anything else that gets students into the field and engaged in the community or beyond.