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2011 ESA-SS Awards

UCS – ESA-SS Ecoservice Award

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) in partnership with the Student Section of the Ecological Society of America (ESA-SS) will honor young scientists for their contributions to the discipline of ecology that have extended beyond the realm of academia and into the broader communities of which they are a part.

AWARD: The award will consist of a cash prize of at least $300 and a commemorative plaque. The award will be given during the ESA Student Section award ceremony at the 96th annual conference of the Ecological Society of America, in Austin, TX, from August 7-12th, 2011.

ELIGIBILITY AND NOMINATION:

  • Applicant must be a member of the ESA-SS and it is strongly recommended that they become members of UCS (if unsure, contact ESA-SS membership officer, Sandra Dooley - dooleys(at)uci.edu or UCS member services, member(at)ucsusa.org ).
  • Applicant must be in good academic standing.
  • Applicant must commit to attend the ESA 96th annual conference and the ESA-SS award ceremony, where awards will be announced. Travel funds of up to $300 to attend the conference are available based on need.
  • Applicant must be enrolled as a student (high school through post-graduate).
  • Applications from students typically underrepresented in the sciences are especially encouraged to apply.

SELECTION CRITERIA: A panel that includes the boards of both the ESA-SS and UCS will evaluate each applicants’ contributions to outreach, ecoservice and environmental justice. The goal of this award is to engage young ecologists in research that reaches beyond inquiry and into application, outreach, and education. The theme of the 96th annual ESA meeting is "Earth Stewardship: Preserving and enhancing the earth's life-support systems", and as such, applications that show a strong background in this regard will be highly valued. For more information on what ecoservice is, please see Salguero-Gomez and colleagues' article in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

The application package consists of the following 4 parts:

  1. Application form (available for download here)
  2. Current CV
  3. Letter of recommendation
  4. Unofficial transcript

All materials must be submitted to Naupaka Zimmerman (naupaka(at)stanford.edu) by 5 pm EST of May 31st, 2011. The applicant must submit the application package in a single email with the subject “UCS – ESA-SS Ecoservice Award”. However, the recommendation may be submitted directly by the advisor in an email with the subject “UCS – ESA-SS Ecoservice Award – RECOMMENDER’S LAST NAME”.

Failure to comply with the rules will result in the automatic disqualification of the applicant.

UCS and ESA-SS are equal opportunity organizations.

Academic Excellence Award for Young Women in Ecology

The ESA Student Section is pleased to sponsor the second Academic Excellence Award for Young Women in Ecology. We will award one female student a prize for academic excellence demonstrated by an outstanding research publication and a commitment to increase the visibility of other women scientists.

AWARD: Winner will receive both a commemorative plaque and reimbursement for their ESA annual meeting registration fee.

ELIGIBILITY AND NOMINATION: At the time of the nomination deadline (May 31st, 2011), the nominee must have published a paper in a peer-reviewed journal (May 2009-May 2011) and have implemented outreach activities to promote women in science. Accepted manuscripts in press are eligible, but in review are not. The nominee must be an undergraduate student, a graduate student, or have received a Ph.D. within the past two years. In addition, the nominee must be first author of the paper and be a member in good standing of ESA's Student Section at the time of nomination. If you are not sure if your dues are up to date with the ESA Student Section, pleas contact our membership officer (Sandra Dooley - dooleys(at)uci.edu). Self-nominations and nominations by colleagues are welcome.

SELECTION CRITERIA: Applications will be reviewed by an Awards Committee appointed by the officers of the Student Section. The award package will be judged based upon (1) the paper’s contribution to the field, including originality, study design and impact and (2) the nominee’s outreach efforts to promote participation of young women in science.

The awards will be made public during the ESA Student Section award ceremony, to be held at the annual meeting conference. Applicants are required to attend this event.
Nomination packets should include:

  1. A PDF copy of the published paper in the original format of the journal in which it was published. If in press, the edited proof pdf is valid.
  2. A brief letter (pdf format) containing:
    • A description of the impact the paper has on the field and the date of completion of the degree, if the nominee is no longer a student. ***Make sure to indicate whether the research was completed during undergraduate or graduate tenure*** (200 words max)
    • A statement describing how the nominee engages in outreach to other women scientists; personally, educationally and/or professionally (200 words max)
    • A final sentence in this letter stating: “I hereby commit to attend the 96th ESA annual meeting to be held in Austin, TX August 7th-12th, 2011, and to be present during the ESA Student Section award ceremony”. Please sign or write your initials at the end of this letter.
  3. A letter of support from the major professor that also confirms the nominee’s eligibility for the award. The letter is to be submitted in pdf format, and directly by the recommender (not by the applicant).
  4. A CV from the nominee in pdf format

Nomination packets should be sent (by May 31st, 2011) electronically as pdfs to the Student Section's Women and Minorities Officer (Stephanie Kivlin, skivlin(at)uci.edu), with the phrase "Academic Excellence Award for Young Women in Ecology " in the subject line. Failure to adhere to any of the rules described above will translate in automatic withdrawal of the entire application for this award.

If you have questions, please email Stephanie Kivlin (skivlin(at)uci.edu) or Naupaka Zimmerman (naupaka(at)stanford.edu).

Travel Awards

The ESA Student Section will support the attendance of national and international students to the 2011 ESA annual conference via travel awards.

AWARD: We expect to give out several awards of $200-$500 for attendance of students within the US and several awards of $300-$700 for students affiliated with institutions outside the US. The final amounts awarded to each individual will be a strong function of distance from the candidate’s institution to the ESA annual meeting city (Austin, TX).

ELIGIBILITY AND NOMINATION: The applicant may be of any nationality and background, and must be up-to-date with the ESA Student Section dues (please email our membership officer if you are not sure – Sandra Dooley - dooleys(at)uci.edu).

SELECTION CRITERIA: These awards are competitive, and we encourage submissions from students (undergraduates, Masters and Ph.D. students) in excellent academic standing. Because funding is limited and because the overall goal of these awards is to allow the attendance of students who otherwise would not be able to make it to the conference, we do not encourage the submission of applications by candidates who can find funding through other sources.

The student must submit this application form and his/her abstract acceptance confirmation to Daniel Stanton (dstanton(at)princeton.edu) with “ESA-SS travel award” in the email subject by May 31st, 2011. We will, however, hold off on deciding on awardees until after the June 9th notification deadline for those that submitted late-braking abstracts. If you have submitted a late-breaking abstract and are waiting to hear about its acceptance, note this on your application and we will take it into consideration.

The winners will be announced by June 15th, 2011 and the information for receiving the economic support will be sent to them via e-mail. Winners must commit to attend the ESA Student Section Business Meeting that will take place at the 96th ESA annual conference in Austin, TX, August 7-12, 2011.

Best Undergraduate Presentation Awards

AWARD: The Student Section of the Ecological Society of America will award two cash prizes ($100 each) to the best undergraduate student oral presentation and best undergraduate student poster presentation. Best undergraduate student oral and poster presentations will be awarded based on the same criteria as the Buell and Braun awards (see here for additional details). Awards for the 2011 recipients will be presented at the Student Section award ceremony at the 2012 annual meeting. For questions regarding the award, please contact Naupaka Zimmerman (naupaka(at)stanford.edu), ESA Student Section Chair.

ELIGIBILITY AND NOMINATION: All applicants must be members of the ESA Student Section in the 2010-2011 year. (Contact Sandra Dooley - dooleys(at)uci.edu if you are not sure about your current status. It’s only $5!)

SELECTION CRITERIA: Fill out this form and attach the abstract of the talk/poster at the bottom of the application. The deadline is May 1st, 2011. Please submit your application to Sally Koerner (skoerne(at)unm.edu) and Meghan Avolio (meghan.avolio(at)yale.edu) with “ESA-SS BUPAwards” as the subject line. Please notice that the subject line must be exactly the one described above or your application may not be identified as such.

The Third Annual Outstanding Student Research in Ecology Awards

AWARD: We will award two students commemorative plaques and cash prizes ($75) for excellence in research via an outstanding publication. There are awards for both UNDERGRADUATE and GRADUATE research so don't miss out!

ELIGIBILITY AND NOMINATION: At the time of the nomination deadline (May 31st, 2011), the paper must be published in a peer reviewed journal (May 2009-May 2011) and the nominee must be an undergraduate student, a graduate student, or have received a Ph.D. within the past two years. The nominee must be first author of the paper and be a member in good standing of ESA's Student Section at the time of nomination. Awards will be granted only to Student Section members. To become a student section member, check the appropriate box on your ESA membership form when you renew your ESA membership (http://eservices.esa.org) or email membership@esa.org. Self-nominations and nominations by colleagues are welcomed.

SELECTION CRITERIA: Applications will be reviewed by an Awards Committee appointed by the officers of the Student Section. Papers will be judged based upon the paper’s contribution to the field, including originality, study design and impact.

Nomination packets should include:

  1. A copy of the paper
  2. A brief letter describing the impact of the paper on the field and standing the date of completion of the degree if the nominee is no longer a student. ***Make sure to indicate whether the research was completed during undergraduate or graduate tenure***
  3. A letter of support from the major professor that also confirms the nominee’s eligibility for the award
  4. A CV from the nominee

Nomination packets should be sent (by May 31st, 2011) electronically as pdfs to the Student Section's Secretary, Jorge Ramos (jramos10(at)asu.edu), with the phrase "Outstanding Student Awards" in the subject line. If you have questions, email Naupaka Zimmerman (naupaka(at)stanford.edu).

Eco-Vision Competition

Photography and film’s visual and interdisciplinary nature can aid scientific research and outreach, teaching multiple audiences about the environment, humanity’s relationship to it, and actions to take for it.

To more accurately describe its format and context, the ESA Eco-Arts Festival of previous years has been renamed the ESA Eco-Vision Competition, and continues to celebrate and award outstanding visual arts contributions made by ESA members to ecological science through still photography and multimedia creations.

AWARD: Winning Eco-Vision photo and multimedia creations will:

  • receive cash, gift certificates, and other prizes!
  • receive commemorative award plaques.
  • featured on ESA’s website.
  • be exhibited during ESA’s annual meeting in August in Austin, TX.
  • be exhibited at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Pittsburgh, PA.

ELIGIBILITY AND NOMINATION: ALL ESA members are invited to submit entries to the 2011 ESA Eco-Vision Competition and entries must address the ESA 2011 annual meeting theme, “Earth Stewardship: Preserving and enhancing the earth's life-support systems”.

The Eco-Vision Competition has two entry categories - Eco-Photo and Eco-Multimedia:

  • An Eco-Photo entry is a single photograph.
  • An Eco-Multimedia entry is a file combining still photographs and/or video clips, on-screen text and/or recorded voice, with or without music, with a 3 min maximum length.

Applicants are encouraged to enter the Eco-Photo and Eco-Multimedia categories. However, only one submission per category per applicant is allowed.

SELECTION CRITERIA: Entries will be judged on value for ecological research, value for ecological education, value for ecological communication, technical quality, aesthetic quality, and creativity. The judging panel for the 2011 Eco-Vision Competition includes a combination of ESA scientists and educators and professional members of the International League of Conservation Photographers and the North American Nature Photography Association.

Details on how to submit, prizes, and judging panel composition will be posted soon! Heads-up: Submission deadline will be June 1, 2011. Questions? Contact Molly Steinwald, PhD candidate at Miami University & Associate Director of Science Education at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, at msteinwald (at) phipps.conservatory.org.

Student Travel Grants from Physiological Ecology Section

The Physiological Ecology Section offers five travel grants for students presenting papers or posters in the field of physiological ecology at the 2011 ESA Annual Meeting. The winner of each grant will receive $500 to help support attending the meeting. Applications for 2011 awards will be accepted until June 1, 2011. The grants are made possible by a generous donation from an anonymous donor.

Eligibility

  1. "Student" is defined as undergraduate or graduate student who is currently enrolled in a degree program or who finished his/her degree within the last 12 months.
  2. The student must be a Physiological Ecology section member at the time of the presentation. To join, go to http://eservices.esa.org/services/scriptcontent/index.cfm. On the application form scroll down to "Section & Chapter Affiliation" and select "Physiological Ecology Section". Annual membership dues are $5. You can join us at any time, but you must be a member of ESA.
  3. Award recipients must also enter either the Billings or New Phytologist poster award competitions. Information about these competitions can be found here; for an overview, see “Awards” on the Physiological Ecology Section webpage http://www.biology.duke.edu/jackson/ecophys

Instructions
Please send Jennifer Funk (jlfunk(at)chapman.edu) the following information:

  1. The student’s current contact information and anticipated date of degree
  2. The title and abstract of talk or poster
  3. A short statement explaining why the student wants to attend this ESA meeting (300 word max)
  4. A short letter in support of the student from an advisor (sent separately from above materials)

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Billings and New Phytologist Poster Awards

Two separate awards, the Billings Award and the New Phytologist Poster Award recognize significant advancements in physiological ecology. Entrants are judged on the rigor, creativity, importance, and quality of presentation of the research. Applications are due June 1, 2011.

BILLINGS AWARD
The W.D. and S.M. Billings award is made to the graduate student whose oral presentation at the
Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America represents a significant advancement in physiological ecology. The winner receives a $500 check from the Physiological Ecology section and will be able to select a complimentary book from Elsevier. The honorable mention winner also receives a complimentary book of his/her choice. The award recognizes the lifetime contributions by its namesakes, Dwight and Shirley Billings, to physiological ecology. Dwight built the foundation for physiological ecology 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.

THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST POSTER AWARD
This award is given to the student with the best physiological ecology poster presentation at the annual ESA meeting. In 2008, the Section renamed the “Best Poster award” to the “New Phytologist Poster award” in recognition of New Phytologist’s contribution to the Billings Fund, which is the source of the cash prizes given to the award winners. The winner receives a $500 check from the Physiological Ecology section and will be able to select a complimentary book from Elsevier. The honorable mention winner also receives a complimentary book courtesy of Elsevier.

Eligibility requirements for both awards:

  1. The student entrant must be first author and presenter for the paper or poster.
  2. "Student" is defined as undergraduate or graduate student who is currently enrolled in a degree
    program or who finished his/her degree within the last 12 months.
  3. The student must be a Physiological Ecology section member at the time of the presentation.
    To join, go to http://eservices.esa.org/services/scriptcontent/index.cfm. On the application form scroll down to "Section & Chapter Affiliation" and select "Physiological Ecology Section". Annual membership dues are $5. You can join us at any time, but you must be a member of ESA. If you have membership questions, you can contact ESA by emailing membership(at)esa.org or by calling 202-833-8773.

To enter the competitions:
Please send Jennifer Funk (jlfunk(at)chapman.edu) the following information by June 1, 2011:

  1. Information on the student entrant: name, mailing address, email address, phone number, College/University association, and student status.
  2. Presentation title and complete list of authors.
  3. Presentation time, location, and session title.

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