congratulations to the 2016 storyfest grand prize winners, who won $500 and a trip to the un headquarters in new york city:

• jesse gurney, from the george washington university, for his piece profiling dc water’s blooming biosolids 
• javier f. ponce, from the institute for advanced architecture of catalonia​, for the video about his innovative idea: smart floating farms 
• kira sommer and sara merken, from the george washington university, for their video profiling a local college organization that now has national reach: fighting food waste: the food recovery network 

the 2016 contest also had three honorable mentions:

• ​hannah abell and oswin chackochan, from purdue university, who came up with a business concept that would both grow and sell food in the same facility, called vertikale
• producers andre carter and r’myni watson lead a team of tougaloo college-jackson state university students to tell the story of saving our farms, saving our families
• ​ilana creinin, danielle baglivo and sophie martin, from the george washington university, profiled a local company taking advantage of roof space to grow food: rooftop roots: helping a community grow through its garden

new for 2016, we conducted a social media contest to find our “fan favorite.” and the winner was: 

• sophie kaplan, from the george washington university, who profiled a company called compost cab, which collects compost from homes using only zipcars to transport the waste to turn it into compost: composting: an urban option

our other finalists were: 

• to reverse global warming – shelby thomas, the university of florida
• dc streetcar: washington’s answer to a surging urban population – connor farry, the george washington university
• sky high: rooftop farming and urban sustainability – eric abramson, the george washington university
• we photographed ugly food to challenge wasteful beauty standards – halley rose meslin and natsuko mazany, indiana university
• 11th street bridge park – yuval lev, the george washington university

thanks again to everyone who entered storyfest 2016. we had an incredibly diverse field of stories told, and there was some very tough competition. we look forward to seeing the amazing stories produced over the next year — for storyfest 2017!