Ecological Society of America

Murray F. Buell Award
Murray F. Buell had a long and distinguished record of service and accomplishment in the Ecological Society of America. Among other things, he ascribed great importance to the participation of students in meetings and to excellence in the presentation of papers. To honor his selfless dedication to the younger generation of ecologists, the Murray F. Buell Award for Excellence in Ecology is given to a student for the outstanding oral paper presented at the ESA Annual Meeting.

E. Lucy Braun Award
E. Lucy Braun, an eminent plant ecologist and one of the charter members of the Society, studied and mapped the deciduous forest regions of eastern North America and described them in her classic book, The Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America. To honor her, the E. Lucy Braun Award for Excellence in Ecology is given to a student for the outstanding poster presentation at the ESA Annual Meeting.

• Application for the Buell and Braun Awards MS Word | PDF
• Request for Student Award Judges ^PDF

The application form, abstract, and research justification must be sent by mail, fax, or e mail to

Dr. Anita L. Davelos Baines
Chair of the Student Awards Subcommittee
Email: davelos@panam.edu

The Eugene P. Odum Award recognizes an ecologist for outstanding work in ecology education. This award was generously endowed by, and named for, the distinguished ecologist Eugene P. Odum. Through teaching, outreach, and mentoring activities, recipients of this award have demonstrated their ability to relate basic ecological principles to human affairs. Nominations recognizing achievements in education at the university, K-12, and public levels are all encouraged.

Recent recipients include Richard Root, James Porter, and Claudia Lewis.

To submit a nomination, contact

Charlene d'Avanzo, Chair
ESA Odum Education Award Subcommittee
Email: cdavanzo@hampshire.edu.

The W. S. Cooper Award is given to honor an outstanding contributor to the fields of geobotany and/or physiographic ecology, the fields in which W. S. Cooper worked. This award is for a single contribution in a scientific publication (single or multiple authored). Nominees need not be ESA members and can be of any nationality.

Recent recipients include Jack Williams and coauthors, Daniel Gavin and coauthors, and Stephen Hubbell..

Nominations should be sent to

Miles Silman, Chair
Cooper Award Subcommittee
Email: silmanmr@wfu.edu.

The Corporate Award is given to recognize a corporation, business, division, program, or an individual of a company for accomplishments in incorporating sound ecological concepts, knowledge, and practices into planning and operating procedures.

This award was designed to encourage use of ecological concepts in business and private industry and to enhance communication among ecologists in the private sector. Educational institutions and government agencies are not eligible for this award.

Recent recipients of the Corporate Award include Norm Thompson Outfitters, Taylor Guitars, Bon Appétit Management Company, and the Straus Family Dairy.

The award can be made each year in any one of the following six categories:

• Environmental Education:
  Organizations producing educational materials in print, film, video, software, or multimedia formats; conducting workshops or training sessions; or providing other types of educational products or services that are primarily concerned with environmental education.
• Stewardship of Land Resources:
  Organizations concerned with the use of land resources, land‑use planning, multiple use of land resources, resource extraction, land development, and related activities.
• Resource Recycling:
  Organizations concerned with the recovery, reclamation, or recycling of natural resources such as wood and paper products, glass, metals, waste water, and related residuals.
• Amelioration of Risks from Hazardous and Toxic Substances:
  Organizations concerned with the safe manufacturing, distribution, and use of hazardous and toxic substances, those concerned with the identification and reduction of risks, as well as those in mitigative and restorative activities.
• Sustainability of Biological Resources in Terrestrial Environments:
  Organizations concerned with forestry, wildlife management, range management, and agroecosystems, including areas such as soil conservation, integrated pest management, fertilization, irrigation, hybridization, and genetic engineering.
• Sustainability of Biological Resources in Aquatic Environments:
  Organizations concerned with aquaculture and commercial fishing, including shellfishing and related industries; sports fishing, boating, and related recreational uses; lake management and restoration; wetlands protection and restoration; channelization; dredging; and related activities.

Nominations for the Corporate award may be made by industrial representatives, government officials, the general public, ESA members, or by members of the ESA Corporate Award Subcommittee.

To submit a nomination or to obtain more information about the nomination procedure, please contact

Margaret Palmer
Corporate Award Subcommittee
Email:palmer@cbl.umces.edu

Honorary Membership in the Society is given to a distinguished ecologist who has made exceptional contributions to ecology and whose principal residence and site of ecological research are outside of North America . Up to three awards may be made in any one year until a total of 20 is reached. Nominations of women and minority candidates, as well as those from developing countries, are especially encouraged.

Recent honorees include Madhav Gadgil, Carlos Herrera, Erkki Haukioja, and Suzanne Milton.

To submit a nomination, contact

Sandra Tartowski, Chair
Honorary Member Award Subcommittee
Email: slt2@cornell.edu.

The MacArthur Award is given to an established ecologist in mid-career for meritorious contributions to ecology, in the expectation of continued outstanding ecological research and who generally are within 20 years of receiving the PhD. Nominees may be from any country and need not be ESA members. This award is given in alternate years, and the recipient is invited to address the membership at the Annual Meeting following his/her selection.

Recent recipients include Stephen R. Carpenter, James H. Brown, May Berenbaum, and Alan Hastings.

Nominations consisting of a letter of nomination, up to two supporting letters, and a recent CV should be sent to

The Eminent Ecologist Award is given to a senior ecologist in recognition of an outstanding body of ecological work or of sustained ecological contributions of extraordinary merit. Nominees may be from any country and need not be ESA members. Recipients receive lifetime active membership in the Society.

Recent recipients include Richard Root, Sam McNaughton, Lawrence Slobodkin, and Daniel Simberloff.

To submit a nomination, contact

Paul Dayton, Chair
Eminent Ecologist Award Subcommittee
Email: pdayton@ucsd.edu.

The Mercer Award is given for an outstanding ecological research paper published by a younger researcher (the lead author must be 40 years of age or younger at the time of publication). If the award is given for a paper with multiple authors, all authors will receive a plaque, and those 40 years of age or younger at the time of publication will share the monetary prize. The paper must have been published in 2006 or 2007 to be eligible for the 2007 award. Nominees may be from any country and need not be ESA members.

Recent recipients include Jean L. Richardson, John Stachowitz, Daniel Bolnick, and Anurag Agrawal.

Nominations should be sent to

Ellen Simms, Chair
Mercer Award Subcommittee
Email: esimms@berkeley.edu

The Distinguished Service Citation is given to recognize long and distinguished service to the ESA , to the larger scientific community, and to the larger purpose of ecology in the public welfare.

Recent recipients are Jim Reichman, Jim MacMahon, and Margaret Palmer.

To submit a nomination, contact

Paul Dayton , Chair,
Distinguished Service Citation Subcommittee
Email: pdayton@ucsd.edu.

The Sustainability Science Award is given to the authors of a scholarly work that makes the greatest contribution to the emerging science of ecosystem and regional sustainability through the integration of ecological and social sciences. One of the most pressing challenges facing humanity is the sustainability of important ecological, social, and cultural processes in the face of changes in the forces that shape ecosystems and regions.

This ESA award is for a single scholarly contribution (book, book chapter, or peer-reviewed journal article) published in the last 5 years. Nominees need not be ESA members and can be of any age, nationality, or place of residence.

Recent recipients are Marten Scheffer and colleagues, Thomas Dietz and colleagues, and the Millenium Assessment Team.

To submit a nomination, please contact

Garry Peterson, Chair
Sustainability Science Award Subcommittee
Email: garry.peterson@mcgill.ca.

One to two awards annually of $1000-2000 are available to support research in the hot deserts of North America: Sonora, Mohave, Chihuahua, and Vizcaino. Projects should be clearly ecological and should increase our understanding of the patterns and processes of deserts and/or desert organisms. Proposals should not exceed five double-spaced pages for all material and should include objectives, importance, background, methods, literature cited, and justified budget. Proposals will be ranked based on the importance of the project to understanding desert ecology, feasibility, experimental design and innovation.

Please submit all materials in a single electronic document (either pdf or MS Word format) to peekm@wpunj.edu no later than May 15, 2008.

Contact:

Dr. Michael S. Peek
Department of Biology
William Paterson University of New Jersey
300 Pompton Road
Wayne, NJ 07470
Phone: (973) 720-2247
Fax: (973) 720-2338
Email: peekm@wpunj.edu

One to two awards annually of $1000-1500 are available to promote active collaboration and exchange of ideas between foreign and U.S.A. ecologists. Awards are given to foreign scientists to help defray the cost of travel to the United States for research collaboration with colleagues.

Requirements: The foreign ecologist must possess an earned doctorate, reside in a foreign country, and not be a U.S. citizen. Application for the fellowship may be made directly by the foreign ecologist or by a U.S. scientist on behalf of a foreign scientist. Either the foreign scientist or the U.S. ecologist must belong to the ESA. Applicants should submit a proposal describing the purpose of the travel, the nature of the research, travel itinerary, and costs. Proposals should not exceed four double-spaced pages for these materials. The foreign ecologist's CV and a one page letter of support from the U.S.A. collaborator should be appended; these items are not included in the page limit.

Please submit all materials in a single electronic document (either pdf or MS Word format) to peekm@wpunj.edu no later than May 15, 2008.

Contact:

Dr. Michael S. Peek
Department of Biology
William Paterson University of New Jersey
300 Pompton Road
Wayne, NJ 07470
Phone: (973) 720-2247
Fax: (973) 720-2338
Email: peekm@wpunj.edu

Following is the policy of the Applied Ecology Section on supporting student travel to the ESA Annual Meeting.
Here is how it will be implemented for the 2008 Annual ESA meeting.

Send applications including all supporting material by e-mail or paper copy to:

Shibu Jose, Ph.D.
Chair, Applied Ecology Section of ESA
School of Forest Resources and Conservation
351 Newins-Ziegler Hall
PO Box 110410
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-0410
e-mail: sjose@ufl.edu

The deadline for receipt of applications is May 31, 2008.

We will notify successful applicants of their award by June 30, 2008.

Eligibility requirements and application requirements are as specified in this policy. Applications which do not comply with these specifications will not be considered.

Policy on Support for Student Travel to ESA meetings:

The Applied Ecology Section seeks to support the students in the presentation of their work at the ESA Annual Meeting.

Amount of support : The number and amount of awards will be determined by the section officers and will reflect the quality of applications received.

Application Process : Application will be submitted to the Chair of the Applied Section and evaluated by Section officers or a panel of judges that may be appointed by the Section Chair. Criteria for evaluation will include the quality of the work and its relevance to applied ecology. Special attention will be given to papers which link basic and applied ecology. Applications shall consist of a copy of the abstract accepted by the ESA for presentation at the annual meeting, with a brief cover letter from the student describing the application of the work to be presented. A recommendation from the student's advisor shall also be provided. This recommendation can be supplemented by other letters of reference from other faculty members in the student's home institution, or by members of the student's dissertation or thesis committee. Applications are due by May 31 (or two and one half months after the deadline for submitting abstracts if ESA changes the deadline for abstract submittal from the end of January) and recipients will be notified by June 30 (or three and one-half months after the deadline for submitting abstracts if ESA changes the deadline for abstract submittal from the end of January).

Eligibility : Applicants must be the presenting author of a paper or poster which has been accepted for presentation at the annual meeting. Applicants must be enrolled as graduate or undergraduate students at the time of their application. Students, co-authors, employees, and relatives of current section officers (or judges of applications) are ineligible for this award.

Each year the Soil Ecology section awards a cash prize recognizing the best student presentation (talk or poster) in soil ecology at the ESA Annual Meeting. Candidates must meet the eligibility requirements for the Buell and Braun awards, but they need not apply to those competitions. Symposium presentations are eligible for this award. The presentation must describe research used for the graduate (or undergraduate) degree; evaluation criteria are similar to those used for the ESA Buell and Braun Awards. A student may apply several times (in different years) as long as he or she meets the qualifications and has not previously won this award. In some years, separate awards may be made for talk and poster presentations, Section budget allowing.

Students apply for the Section’s award by sending an e-mail (with the subject line “ESA SES Student Award”) to the Section Secretary by May 1st stating 1) their interest in being an award candidate that year, 2) that they, or a co-author, are a member of the ESA Soil Ecology Section, and 3) that they are eligible for the Buell and Braun Awards. They must also include or attach a copy of their abstract AND a 250-word or less description of why/how the research presented will advance the field of ecology, with attention to soil ecology. Click here to download application.

Contact:

Loren Byrne, ESA Soil Ecology Section Secretary
Assistant Professor of Biology
Roger Williams University
One Old Ferry Road
Bristol, RI 02809

E-mail: lbyrne@rwu.edu

The Paleoecology Section of the Ecological Society of America has established the Edward S. Deevey Award to honor Deevey's efforts and dedication in fostering the highest quality of graduate student research in paleoecology. Awards of $150 and $50 are given for the best and runner-up presentations of paleoecological research by graduate students at the ESA Annual Meeting. Paleoecology is defined to include all studies that use sedimentary, paleontological, historical, or similar archives and proxy records to describe and interpret ecological patterns and processes at all time scales.

A candidate for the award must be the sole or first author of the submitted abstract, and prepare and present himself an oral paper or poster at the ESA Annual Meeting. The candidate must be a graduate student or have completed a masters or doctoral degree not more than 9 months before the presentation. The presentation must describe and research used for the graduate degree; evaluation criteria are similar to those used for the ESA Buell and Braun Awards. A student can apply several times in consecutive years as long as he meets the above qualifications has not won the award before. The current value of the award is $300.

Please email or send the completed application form and a copy of your abstract to:

Jason Lynch, Chair
USEPA (6204J)
Clean Air Markets Division
202-343-9257

E-mail: DeeveyAward@gmail.com

Recent winners of the Deevey Award

• 2005 – Zoe Finkel (Rutgers University ) “Climatically-driven macroevolutionary change in the size of marine planktonic diatoms.” Honorable mention – Philip Higuera ( University of Washington ) “ The relative importance of vegetational vs. climatic controls on post-glacial fire regimes in the southern Brooks Range , AK .”
• 2004 – Jason McLachlan ( Duke University ) “The importance of small populations in the postglacial dynamics of eastern forests.” Honorable mention – Philip Higuera ( University of Washington ) “When does a charcoal peak represent a fire? Insights from a simple statistical model.”
• 2003 – Don Falk ( University of Arizona ) “The event-area relationship: Scale dependence in the fire regime of a New Mexico ponderosa pine forest”
• 2002 – Lynn L. Anderson ( University of Illinois ) “A molecular-genetic approach to understanding the migration history of Picea (spruce) in North America .”
• 2001 – Robert K. Booth ( University of Wyoming ), “A high-resolution record of late Holocene surface-moisture changes from a Michigan raised bog.” Philip Higuera ( University of Washington ), Honorable mention. “Identifying disturbance signatures in small-hollow sediments: the potential for long-term, high-resolution forest history records.”
• 2000 – Holly A. Ewing “The influence of substrate on long-term ecosystem development and its paleoecological record.” Robert K. Booth ( University of Wyoming ), Honorable mention. Testate amoebae as wetland paleoenvironmental indicators: a modern study of testate amoeba assemblages in Lake Superior coastal wetlands. Bryan Shuman , Honorable mention. Vegetation response to late-glacial and early Holocene climate change in New England .
• 1998. Tim Parshall, University Of Minnesota, for "Variation in establishment of hemlock stands and their response to logging in northwestern Wisconsin"; runner-up is Jason McLachlan, Duke University, for "Delayed density-dependence in forest tree species inferred from high-resolution pollen data" 1997. Lisa Carlson, University of Washington, for "Evidence for spruce migration and fullglacial vegetation from Jan Lake, Alaska"
• 1996. Sarah Hotchkiss, University of Minnesota, for "A 29,000-year record of vegetation and fire history from Kohala Mountain, Hawaii"; runners-up are Dirk Verschuren, University of Minnesota, for "Patterns and mechanisms of change in invertebrate communities of fluctuating tropical lake basins", and Zicheng Yu, University of Toronto, for "Responses of vegetation and lakes to late-glacial climate changes in southern Ontario: a multi-proxy paleoecological investigation"
• 1995. Andrea Lloyd, University of Arizona, for "Spatial and temporal patterns of change at treeline in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California"
• 1994. William H. Petty, University of Tennessee

Thomas M. Frost Award for Excellence in Graduate Research

The Aquatic Ecology Section makes an annual award in honor of Thomas M. Frost. This prize, founded in 2001, honors Tom’s commitments to aquatic ecology and to graduate student education and is given to a scientist in recognition of an outstanding paper resulting from research done as a graduate student. At the time of the nomination deadline, the paper must be published and the nominee must be a graduate student or have received the Ph.D. within two years. The nominee must be first author of the paper. Nominated papers must be published in a peer-reviewed journal and be in the area of aquatic ecology. The nominee also must be a member in good standing of ESA’s Aquatic Section. Self-nominations and nominations by colleagues are welcomed. See http://www.esa.org/aquatic/awards.html for more information.

Best Student Talk in Aquatic Ecology

The Aquatic Ecology Section makes an award for the best talk in aquatic ecology presented at the annual ESA meeting by a student in the Aquatic Section. The competition is coordinated with the Buell Award (awarded by the Society), so applicants must be eligible for (and signed up for) the Buell Award. The student must apply for Section's award by sending an email (with the subject line “Best Student Talk”) to the Section Chair (by May 1st) stating that 1) they are a member of the section, and 2) that they have applied for and are eligible for the Buell Award. They also should include or attach a copy of their abstract. See http://www.esa.org/aquatic/awards.html for more information.

Student Travel Awards

The Aquatic Ecology Section gives a limited number of travel awards to students to offset expenses associated with attending the ESA Annual meeting. Student must be presenting a talk or poster. Travel awards are $150 and will be awarded on a lottery basis. Applications (abstract + letter of intent) should be submitted to the Section Chair (by email with the subject line “Travel Award”) no later than May 1st. Requests should be sent in a separate email from other correspondences.

The Billings Award recognizes the best oral presentation by a graduate student in physiological ecology. This new award is given in honor of Dwight and Shirley Billings. Dwight built the foundation of this discipline in North America and provided leadership for the field throughout his illustrious career. Together, Dwight and Shirley have shown a deep regard for the interests and training of graduate students in this dynamic component of ecology. Nominations are solicited for the best paper published in physiological ecology by a current or recently finished student. The award this year is $500. To apply, please send the following information to

• Name
• Professional address
• E-mail and phone number
• Title of paper
• Session (Date and location)
• Time of presentation

Contact:

Rob Jackson
Email : jackson@duke.edu

Click here to download application.

The Physiological Ecology Section of the Ecological Society of America is soliciting applications and nominations for the Best Student Poster Award. This award will recognize the best student-presented poster in physiological ecology at the ESA annual meeting, and carries a $500 cash prize for the recipient. All graduate students are eligible for the award provided that they are the senior author on the poster, are actively enrolled in a graduate program, or received their degree within the last year and are presenting data collected during their graduate program. To apply, please send the following information to:

• Name
• Professional address
• E-mail and phone number
• Title of poster
• Session (Date, time and location)
• Poster number

Contact:

Kiona Ogle
Email : kogle@uwyo.edu

Click here to download application.

Two travel awards ($250 each) are available to students to support travel to the annual ESA Meeting. Students wishing to apply for an award should forward a copy of their abstract to the vice-chair of LTSS by 1 July.

Any student abstract based on data sets that are at least three years in length is eligible for these awards. Abstracts will be judged by LTSS elected officers and volunteers from the section. Criteria for the awards will be overall quality of the abstract and the degree to which the abstract and research described reflects a long-term perspective as shown by an effective use of long-term data.

Long -Term Studies Section Student Travel Awards Rules of Competition:

Send applications including all supporting material by email or paper copy (material sent by paper must be in triplicate) to:

Scott L. Collins, Professor of Biology
PI, Sevilleta LTER, Department of Biology
Castetter Hall, University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131

Ph: 505-277-6303
Fax: 505-277-5355
email: scollins@sevilleta.unm.edu

Applications shall consist of:

• a copy of the abstract accepted by ESA for presentation at the annual meeting;
• a cover letter from the student describing the nature of the research to be presented; and
• a letter of recommendation from the student's advisor. This recommendation can be supplemented by other letters of reference from other faculty members in the student’s home institution, or by members of the student's dissertation or thesis committee.
• The deadline for receipt of applications is 2 July
• Successful applicants will be notified of their award by 16 July.
• Specifications will not be considered. Policy on Support for Student Travel to ESA meetings.

The Long-Term Studies Section of ESA wishes to support students in the presentation of their research at the ESA Annual Meeting. The amount of support ($250 per individual in 1999), and the number of awards (two awards in 1999) will be determined by the section officers on an annual basis, and will reflect the quality of applications received and the level of resources available to the section.

Application Process: Application will be submitted to the Vice-Chair of the Long-Term Studies Section and evaluated by Section officers or a panel of judges that may be appointed by the Section Chair. Criteria for evaluation will include the quality of the work and its relevance to long-term studies in ecology.

Applications shall consist of 1) a copy of the abstract accepted by the ESA presentation at the annual meeting, and 2) a cover letter from the student describing the nature of the research to be presented, and 3) a letter of recommendation from the student's advisor. This recommendation can be supplemented by other letters of reference/recommendation from other faculty members in the student’s home institution, or by members of the student's dissertation or thesis committee. Deadline of applications will be announced annually, but will be at least two and one-half months after the deadline for submitting abstracts to ESA changes. Recipients of awards will be notified within one month after the application deadline.

Eligibility: Applicants must be the presenting author of a paper or poster that has been accepted for presentation at the annual ESA meeting. Applicants must be enrolled as graduate or undergraduate students at the time of their application. Students, co-authors, employees, and relatives of current section officers (or judges of applications) are ineligible for this award.

The Plant Population Ecology Section awards travel grants for graduate students attending the annual meeting.

Contact:

Anna A. Sher, Ph.D.
University of Denver
Department of Biological Sciences
2101 E. Wesley Ave.
Denver, CO 80209

Email: anna.sher@du.edu

Past Chairs
Randy Mitchell
Alison Brody  (past Chair of the section)

The Soil Ecology Section is sponsoring two $600 travel grants to help support student travel to the 2008 ESA meeting. Both undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to apply.

Step 1: Complete and E-mail the following application form to Nancy.Johnson@nau.edu

Step 2: Ask your faculty mentor to E-mail a letter of recommendation directly to Nancy.Johnson@nau.edu on your behalf.

Applications are due May 30, 2008

The Eugene P. Odum Award recognizes an ecologist for outstanding work in ecology education. This award was generously endowed by, and named for, the distinguished ecologist Eugene P. Odum. Through teaching, outreach, and mentoring activities, recipients of this award have demonstrated their ability to relate basic ecological principles to human affairs. Nominations recognizing achievements in education at the university, K-12, and public levels are all encouraged.

Recent recipients include Richard Root, James Porter, and Claudia Lewis.

To submit a nomination, contact

Charlene d'Avanzo, Chair
ESA Odum Education Award Subcommittee
Email: cdavanzo@hampshire.edu.

In recent years, the section has offered a $200 travel award to a student presenting a talk on statistical ecology at the annual meeting.

Contact:

Kathy Cottingham
Dept of Biological Sciences
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH 03755

Email: cottingham@dartmouth.edu

The Ton Damman Award will be given to a graduate student or very recent post-graduate scientist for the best oral presentation in Vegetation Science at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America. Students competing for the Damman Award must meet all the criteria for ESA's Buell Award. The Ton Damman Award recognizes the lifetime dedication of Ton Damman to the advancement of Vegetation Science. While his professional career revolved around his research on peatland ecology, biogeography, plant community classification and ecology, his teaching focused on broader plant ecological issues. Working with his students and other colleagues, he approached his research with unparalleled commitment and untiring zeal. He was an ardent conservationist of wildlands and biological diversity. His love for the out-of-doors served as a model for the many students and professionals with whom he came into contact. A candidate for this award need not be a member of the Vegetation Section, but does need to be senior author of the abstract and give the oral presentation at the annual meeting. The recipient will receive a framed certificate and cash award.

More information, click here