Derrick Z. Jackson is a national award-winning journalist, author, and photographer. He is co-author and photographer, with Stephen Kress, of Project Puffin: The Improbable Quest to Bring a Beloved Seabird Back to Egg Rock (Yale University Press); and The Puffin Plan: Restoring Seabirds to Egg Rock and Beyond (Tumblehome Books). In 2021, The Puffin Plan won first-prize in teen nonfiction from the Independent Book Publishers Association. Jackson’s wildlife photography has most recently earned awards in: 2026: 92nd National Headliner Awards: Third Place for both Feature Photo & Photo Portfolio; 2026: Nominee for both puffin and heron photography in the 12th Fine Art Photography Awards; 2026: A Nature winner for Single Image and Series of Images of great blue herons in the Applied Arts Awards; 2026: A winner in the ViewPoint Gallery International Photography Competition in Halifax, Nova Scotia 2025: 91st National Headliner Awards (Second Place, Portfolio); 2025: A winner in the ViewPoint Gallery International Photography Competition in Halifax, Nova Scotia. 2025: Outdoor Writers Association of America (Second Place for both Photo Essay and Fauna & Third Place for Outdoor Adventure); 2024: 90th National Headliner Awards (First Place, Feature Photo); 2024: Outdoor Writers Association of America (First Place for both Photo Essay and Action Photography); 2023: Outdoor Writers Association of America (First & President's Choice for all Photography & Second Place for Action and First Place for Fauna). 2023: First Place, Feature Photo, Maine Press Association; Photography is Jackson's hobby, often accompanying his writing. His images of President Barack Obama, taken while covering his presidential campaigns, were exhibited at Boston’s Museum of African American History and Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. Jackson is a former sportswriter for the Kansas City Star, a former sportswriter and news reporter at Newsday, a former columnist, op-ed writer and associate editor at the Boston Globe, and former fellow with the Union of Concerned Scientists in climate and energy and at the Center for Science and Democracy. A 2001 Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2001, Jackson has won many national writing prizes. He is: A 14-time winner from the National Association of Black Journalists (most recently in 2024); A 6-time winner from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists (most recently in 2025); A 3-time winner from the American Society of Journalists and Authors (most recently in 2026); 2022 Winner for Column Writing from the Outdoor Writers Association of America; 2021 Scripps Howard Winner for Excellence in Opinion Writing. Jackson's writing awards go back to the 1980s and 90s when he was co-winner of Columbia University’s Meyer Berger Award, a two-tme winner from the Education Writers Association and winner for Commentary from the Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists. He was a 2016 Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, publishing a paper on the national media’s failures in the Flint Water Crisis. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Jackson is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. He was a 1984 Nieman Fellow in Journalism at Harvard University. He holds three honorary degrees and the UW-Milwaukee Distinguished Alumni Community Service award.