As Editor-in-Chief, I have the distinct privilege of presenting the ENR Award of Excellence each year in New York City and helping to make a video about the winner. But the real work of writing the cover story and co-producing the video this year was done by Pam McFarland, ENR’s senior environmental and labor news editor in Washington, DC.
McFarland already had a very productive 2023 by moving away from his primary focus on politics and traveling to Turkey to write and shoot videos about a dam project. When, unexpectedly, a major earthquake struck eastern Turkey, he added a tour of that area to his itinerary.
Photo by Pam McFarland/ENR
It was during his coverage of the earthquake disaster that McFarland first met this year’s Award of Excellence winner, Kit Miyamoto, the engineer who for more than a decade has headed to areas of disaster to collect information on damage and prevention. She was impressed enough to nominate Miyamoto for the Award of Excellence, which involves winning an editors’ vote in support of the award. Then, in no time, he prepared a story and a video. To do this, McFarland’s team included Assistant Editor Jeff Rubenstone; Kit Miyamoto’s daughter Mimi, who joined Pam in parts of California to capture images; Drew Lockwood, BNP Media Director of Video Production and skilled editor; ENR Art Director Scott Hilling, who created the print story layout and shared video tips; and I.
McFarland already had a background in journalism when he first joined ENR in 2007. He majored in print journalism at American University, and one of his first jobs was as an editor for Associated Builders and Contractors, which provided his first experiences with construction. and labor issues. A lifelong student, she earned a master’s degree in creative writing in 2018 and, as a lover of good stories, has written several that have been published in literary magazines.
The Award for Excellence story tests all ENR editors and writers in a way that few other ENR assignments do, and Pam has passed them all with flying colors.
Scott Blair
Chief Editor
