WARDER CLYDE ALLEE AWARD: BEST STUDENT PAPER
The Warder Clyde Allee Symposium for best student paper is always a highlight of the conference as it features outstanding graduate student research, with an award for the best paper and talk. The session honors Dr. Warder Clyde Allee (1885–1955) who was very influential in the development and direction of animal behavior research in the 20th century. Dr. Allee earned his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1912, was a faculty member at the University of Illinois, University of Oklahoma, University of Chicago, and University of Florida. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1951 and ranks among the leading twentieth century ecologists.
In the 2022 ABS Allee Session, finalists were selected to present their research based on the quality of their papers. Any independent graduate student research is eligible, but the students must have had the principal responsibility for the conceptualization and design of the research, the collection and analysis of the data, and the interpretation of the results. These presenters also cannot have completed their defense of the doctoral dissertation before the preceding ABS annual meeting.
The judges, Glauco Machado, Andy Sih, Dai Shizuka, and Paula (Alex) Trillo, found the papers and presentations to be of exceptionally high quality.
First place was awarded to Dr. Shailee Shah (University of Rochester) for her talk and paper entitled “Group augmentation underlies the evolution of complex sociality in the face of environmental instability”.
An honorable mention was awarded to Dr. Jason Dinh (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill) for his talk and paper entitled “Reproductive costs and benefits underlie sex differences in weapon investment in the snapping shrimp”.
CHARLES CARPENTER FOUNDER MEMORIAL POSTER AWARD
Each year a poster competition, named after a Founder of the Animal Behavior Society, is held at the annual meeting. A founder is defined as “A person active in the period prior to 1966 who held at least two administrative positions, elected or appointed, in ABS or the ESA Section on Animal Behavior and Sociobiology or the ASZ Division of Animal Behavior as recorded by the ABS Historian.” The Founders’ award is for outstanding posters presented at the annual meeting. This year the Founders Memorial Poster Competition was named to honour Charles Carpenter, an expert in reptile behavior. There were several excellent posters, and a lot of great science shared. The judges identified one outstanding poster, notable for its innovative science and clear presentation.
The grand prize winners of the Charles Carpenter Founders Award for 2022 were:
Aarcha Thadi (University of Minnesota) - “Evolution of reproductive traits in an extreme environment”.
Brandi Pessman (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) - “Urbanization Affects Web Aggregation and Placement of a Funnel Weaver, Agelenopsis pennsylvanica”.
Honorable Mention:
Ashley Kim (University of California, San Diego) - “Effects of Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) on Honey bee Sleep Behavior”.
GENESIS AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING UNDERGRADUATE POSTER PRESENTATION
First presented at the 2000 ABS Annual meeting, the Genesis Award honors the best undergraduate poster presented at the meeting. This year 21 undergraduate students submitted posters for the Genesis Undergraduate Poster Competition, and the standard was extremely high. Twelve judges (Chia-chen Chang, Terrence Chang, Rachel Chock, Gitanjali Gnanadesikan, Satyajeet Gupta, Rosannette Quesada Hidalgo, Melanie Kimball, Leonardo Leite Ferraz de Campos, Justin Merry, Ignacio Escalante Meza, Lisa Surber, and Matthew Wund) worked hard to carefully review all posters.
The grand prize of $300 was awarded to Rebecca Carranza (Elon University) for the poster entitled: "Examining the potential for evolutionary divergence by describing treehopper host plant use and mating signals”. The other awardees were:
2nd Prize ($200)
Heath R. Petkau (University of Lethbridge): "Community algorithms reveal clustering in Adelaide's warbler song type sequence networks”
Honorable Mention ($100)
Dariana Gomez (Lake Forest College): "No evidence for fitness benefits of mate preferences in female lesser waxmoths”
Honorable Mention ($100)
Ruel Hanlan (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign): "Sexual dimorphism in fin size, shape, coloration, and its implications for animal behavior in killifish”
TURNER AWARDS
In 2002, the Animal Behavior Society created the Charles H. Turner Program to enhance undergraduate participation at the annual society meetings. Charles Turner was the first known African American researcher in animal behavior. He earned his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1907. Among other things, his research showed that insects can hear and exhibit trial-and-error learning. By naming the undergraduate program after him, the ABS Diversity Committee emphasizes its goal of increasing the diversity of its membership by encouraging researchers of all ages, levels and ethnic groups to participate in the annual meetings.
The ABS Diversity committee selected ten Charles H. Turner Fellows from 39 highly qualified undergraduate applicants to bring to the meeting in San José, Costa Rica this year, covering all expenses and providing a full program of events including a pre-meeting workshop and direct mentorship from junior and senior scientists. This years’ deserving Turner award winners were:
Luan Amaral Pinheiro de Faria
Rebecca Carranza
Yousi Español-Rincon
Dariana Gomez
Ethan Guardado
Ruel Hanlan
Brianna Hobbs
Bridget Hollowell
Genhsy Monzon
Brandy Williams
Left to right: (back row) Yousi Español-Rincon, Brandy Williams, Ethan Guardado, Jen Hamel, Dariana Gomez, Reb Carranza, Cassandra Nuñez, Genhsy Monzon; (front row) Ruel Hanlan, Luan Amaral Pinheiro de Faria, Bridget Hollowell. Not shown: Brianna Hobbs (attended virtually)
Special thanks goes to the Diversity Committee, Turner Program organizers, and Turner Program Steering Committee, especially Damian Elias, Kasey Fowler-Finn, Jen Hamel, Norman Lee, Cassandra Nuñez, Avery Russell, and Tim Wright for putting together a day-long pre-conference workshop for these students, and to the many ABS members who contributed to mentoring them throughout the conference.