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The CDS Documentary Essay Prize honors the best in documentary photography and writing in alternating years: one year, photos; one year, writing. The 2015 prize competition in writing was awarded to Abbie Gascho Landis, a writer and veterinarian in Cobleskill, New York, for“Immersion: Our Native Mussels and Bodies of Freshwater.” In her essay, Landisdraws on six years ofsnorkelingin creeks, exploring large rivers, visiting laboratories, and interviewing biologists, weaving personal experience intoher investigation of “these remarkable animals” and theirhabitats as one way of looking at growing water issues in the Deep South and elsewhere in the United States.“Endangered mussels have garnered national attention in recent water wars involving conflicts with agriculture and with cities like Atlanta during droughts,” Landis writes in her project statement. “While mussels have been studied for more than a century, research has recently ballooned, revealing complexities about their lives and roles in river systems.” Read more here: