Tara's work has been recognized numerous times at the Ontario Newspaper Awards, with 3 wins, and two other nominations. In 2010, Tara was nominated for a National Newspaper Award for her ground-breaking work on teen mental health and suicide in Sarnia-Lambton. She was also named to Sarnia's 2011 Mayor's Honour List for that same body of work. Tara was part of the inaugural Journalism graduating class at Wilfrid Laurier University's Brantford Campus in 2008. That same year, she was named Student Journalist of the Year, by the Ontario Newspaper Awards.