Alumna Raquel Villanueva wins British Council Culture and Creativity Award

These awards celebrate the achievements of UK alumni throughout the United States. Finalists for this award are leaders in their respective fields and have studied at UK universities. The Culture and Creativity Award recognises alumni with careers in arts and culture. 

Raquel Villanueva is a television host and journalist. Her work focuses on science communication and space exploration. She currently works as a commentator and video producer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Raquel served as a broadcast host for the historic landing of the Perseverance rover on Mars in 2021, and in 2022 she co-hosted and helped produce the launch broadcast of NASA’s Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite.  

Raquel also hosts live streams to engage new audiences with space exploration and produces videos showcasing space missions. Her work aims to provide a platform for engineers and scientists to communicate their work effectively with the public. Raquel previously worked as a reporter and producer for Daily Blast Live, a nationally syndicated program in the United States. She also served as a multimedia journalist in Denver, Colorado. 

The awards ceremony was held on Friday 9 February at the British Ambassador’s Residence in Washington DC, US. University of Westminster Pro Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Design, Creative and Digital Industries Professor Janet Jones attended the ceremony. 

Raquel said: “During my time studying at University of Westminster, I had the privilege of collaborating with students from various parts of the world as I honed my journalism skills. Their diverse perspectives had a significant impact on my global outlook as a journalist. Finally, I am honoured to receive this award from the British Council, and I would like to thank them for recognizing my efforts.” 

Raquel Villanueva received her MA from the International Journalism - Broadcast programme (now the Multimedia Journalism – Broadcast MA) in 2009. She was recently a finalist for the 2023 Westminster Alumni Awards.  

Learn more about courses in Media and Communication from the University of Westminster.