Derrick Z. Jackson was a UCS Fellow in climate and energy and the Center for Science and Democracy. In 2022, his UCS commentaries won first place from the Outdoor Writers Association of America and were a contest finalist for the National Headliners and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists (NSNC). In 2021, he was the Scripps Howard opinion winner and social justice commentary winner for NSNC.
Also in 2021, Jackson won first-prize in teen nonfiction from the Independent Book Publishers Association for co-authoring and photographing The Puffin Plan (Tumblehome Books). Formerly of the Boston Globe and Newsday, Jackson is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and respectively, an 11-time, 4-time, and 2-time winner from the National Association of Black Journalists, the NSNC, and the Education Writers Association.