ANNOUNCING THE 2023 STUDENT RESEARCH GRANT AND DEVELOPING NATIONS RESEARCH AWARDS
Noa Pinter-Wollman, 1st Member-at-Large
Chair, 2023 Student Research Grant Committee
We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023 Student Research Grants and the Developing Nations Research Awards. We received many high-quality proposals, but as in previous years, the number of applications exceeded the number we could fund. We received a total of 129 applications across all award categories, and were able to award funding to 56 applicants.
Each proposal was reviewed independently by at least 2 referees, who provided evaluations and constructive feedback for the student grant writers. As always, members of the Society went above and beyond to provide constructive reviews. The Research Grant Committee extends a very heartfelt thank you to the following (140!) volunteer referees:
Alexis Dollion, Adriana Maldonado-Chaparro, Adwait Deshpande, Alexis Dollion, Andrea Grunst, Anita Aisenberg, Ann Hedrick, Anne Clark, Anne Jacobs, Anne Jacobs, Arielle Fogel, Ashley Robart, Becca Hale, Ben Dantzer, Ben Sandkam, Brett Seymoure, Brittany Florkiewicz, Carolyn Kocman, Chase LaDue, Cheng-Yu Li, Chi-Yun Kuo, Christina Kolbmann, Clare Rittschof, Claudia Rauter, Clayton Vondriska, Clint Kelly, Corinna Most, David Logue, Delia Shelton, Desmond Maynard, Eduardo Bessa, Ejigu Worku, Eli Baskir,,Eliane Gonalves de Freitas, Elizabeth Peterson, Elizabeth Tibbetts, Emilie Snell-Rood, Emily DuVal, Eric Walters, Erica Westerman, Erika M. Santana, Felicity Muth, Fernando Soley, Gabriela Pinho, Gloriana Chaverri, Guillermo Valio, Gwendolyn Murdock, Hangkyo Lim, Ignacio Escalante, Ishani Mukherjee, James (Colton) Watts, James Malcolm, Jason Carbaugh, Jay Mager, Jennifer Gleason, Jennifer Hellmann, Jennifer Mather, Jessica Stamn, Jimena Viquez, Joel Tripp, Joseph Leese, Joseph Niederhauser, Joshua LaPergola, Julie Young, Kathleen Church, Kathleen Munley, Kelly Kissane, Kenna Lehmann, Kevin Judge, Kiran Reed, Klaus Jaffe, Kristiina Wilson, Lata Kalra, Lauren Pharr, Lea Pollack, Leslie Curren, Lisa Gunter, Lisa Surber, Lourdes Arteaga, Luke Larter, Lynn Von Hagen, Madison Browne, Maria Albo, Mara Cecilia De Mrsico, Mariana Tolentino, Marika Bell, Maya Saar, Meghan Maciejewski, Melissa Grunst, Melissa Nelson Slater, Melissa Shyan-Norwalt, Michael Reichert, Michael Vickers, Michelle Solensky, Mikel Maria Delgado, Mindy Waite, Molly McEntee, Natalia Albuquerque, Noa Pinter-Wollman, Nora Carlson, Pablo Ribeiro, Paul Nealen, Paula Pouso, Paula Verzola-Olivio, Peter Bednekoff, Philip Queller , Rachel Chock, Rajath Siddaganga, Rindy Anderson, Robert Fagen, Robert Srygley, Robin Foster, Rose Amrhein, Rose Tatarsky, Sarah Fauque, Sarah King, Selina Viktor Robson, Shailee Shah, Shala Hankison, Sheryl Walker, Stephen Zawistowski, Steve Nowicki, Stotra Chakrabarti, Sue Margulis, Susan Riechert, Susan Villarreal, Tamra Mendelson, Tasmin Rymer, Taylor Evans, Tom Contreras, Trish Sevene, Victoria Farrar, Viraj Torsekar, Wendi Wolfram, Wiliam Ku Peralta, William Searcy, Yseult Hjja-Brichard, Zachary Laubach, Zachary Shaffer.
We were helped immensely by Mellisa Paa at SPLTrak, who administered the online grant submission and review system, which ran smoothly. Thank you also to Delia Shelton (2nd Member-at-Large) and Adrianna Maldonado-Chaparro (3rd Member-at-Large), who made important contributions during the entire process. Most importantly, we want to thank all the members of the Society who have supported this program over the years and who have donated funds to make this program such a success.
GEORGE W. BARLOW AWARD
Christian Perez, Substrate-borne Vibrations: An Ecological Method to Study a Leaf Litter Community
ABS CONSERVATION AWARD
Sanya Cowal, Uncommon Grounds: Ant-Pest & Ant-Pollinator-Microbe Interactions through Multi-Scale Contingencies in Coffee Management
AMY R. SAMUELS CETACEAN BEHAVIOR AND CONSERVATION AWARD
Kyra Bankhead, Spreading Dynamics of Maladaptive Foraging Behavior Among Highly Social Predators
DAVID TUBER APPLIED ANIMAL BEHAVIOR AWARD
Anwesha Acharjee, Impact of Pesticides on the Memory of a Non-target Tropical Ant
JUSTICE EQUITY DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION RESEARCH AWARDS
| Tali Caspi, Quantifying Individual Specialization of Urban Coyotes with Stable Isotope Analysis |
| Jasmeen Kaur, Effects of maternal hormones: linking mechanisms from early-life to later brain and behavior |
| Kelly O'Neil, Beggars Can’t Be Choosers: Experimentally Testing the Effects of Brood Size on Parental Favoritism and Sibling Competition in a Wild Songbird |
| Verena Conkin, Female Counter-Strategies to Infanticide in Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) |
| Manish Pathak, Based on the rescue call from pupa & adult, whom ants will rescue first? |
| Karyn Anderson, Friends with benefits?: Understanding colobine opposite-sex relationships |
| Christine Rudd, A Preliminary Investigation into Equine Behavioral Response to Human Leading Behaviors and Lead Line Pressure |
| Megan Linke, Habitat selection and reproductive behavior of King Rails (Rallus elegans) in restored and managed wetlands |
| Casey Patmore, Assessing How Cooperation Responds to Asymmetric Interspecific Competition |
| Valentina Gascue, Locomotion and perception working together: exploratory strategies in a South American weakly electric fish |
| Katrina Moore, Bridging the gap: connecting fragmented wildlife populations in Southern California |
| Elene Haave Audet, Do differences in life-history strategies predict differences in exploration and exploitation in Eastern chipmunks? |
| Neil Balchan, How do you hold your hood? Assessing the behavioral repertoire associated with cobra eyespots |
| Abbigail Turner, Repeatability of ejection characteristics in the American robin (Turdus migratorius) |
| Daniela Pareja Mejia, Are tree frogs able to find their way back home? |
STUDENT RESEARCH AWARDS
| Colleen Poje, The role of genetic group structure on maternal investment strategies in a mixed-kin cooperative breeder |
| Katherine Porras-Brenes, Examining the Relationship Between Antipredator Adaptations in the Green and Black Dendrobatid Poison Frog |
| William Botta, Effects of individual emotional state on the spread of mass panic behavior |
| Janice Yan, Effect of Social Experience on Sexual Competency in Bed Bugs |
| Emma Thurau, Balancing nutrients and plant secondary metabolite in wild monkey diets: an eco-metabolomics approach |
| Brynn Harshbarger, Spatial deposition pattern of Tamarind seeds dispersed by ring-tailed lemurs |
| Angela Brierly, The Role of Social Networks in Predicting Delayed Dispersal in a Cooperatively Breeding Bird Species) |
| Jessica Schaefer, Variation in Reproductive Behavior of a Socially Polyandrous Shorebird: Do Females Trade-off Parenting and Mating Effort? |
| Subhasmita Patro, Effect of Early-life Stress on Static and Dynamic Social Signaling Traits |
| Morgan Hughes, Impact of Landscape Fragmentation and Drought Severity on the Seasonal Movement, Habitat Use, Reproductive Phenology, and Genetic Connectivity of Tropical Dry Forests Bats |
| Alejandro Lopez Michelena, Carotenoid coloration as a condition signal in Icterus pustulatus in the context of heavy metal pollution from silver mining in southern Morelos, Mexico |
| Nicole Moody, Sensing a threat: how territorial signals activate the woodpecker auditory cortex |
| Kalina Eskew, Influence of light and noise pollution from vehicles on avian reproduction |
| Muna Maisarah Haji Abdul Malik, Effect of Starvation and Operational Sex Ratio on Post-copulatory Mate Guarding in Water Striders |
| Jacob Drucker, Unpacking niche packing: Forest bird foraging behavior and diet across an elevational gradient in the Andean Choc |
| Lara Naves Alegre, The intense social life of solitary brown bears |
| Karina Torres, Host-Parasitoid Interactions Along an Elevational Gradient in Eastern Ecuador |
| Kristen Hobbs, Does climate affect the degree of sexual selection in a tropical lekking bird? |
| Subhashis Halder, Physiochemical mechanisms of queen control via a novel fertility signal in a primitively eusocial ant |
| Priyanka Hari Haran, Birds Of A Feather Flock Together: Does The Adage Hold In Shared Landscapes In The Tropics? |
| Emily Terrill, Behavioral Co-option in the Evolution of Parental Care |
| Brooke Poplin, Sociality and Cooperative Hunting in Harris’s Hawks in South Texas |
| Alexander Jacobsen, Population Divergence Driven by Reproductive Timing in the Marine Midge, Clunio Marinus |
| Jaclyn Aubin, Unraveling the social structure, vocal behavior, and dialects of endangered belugas |
| Candice Malone, Hormonal Influences of New Parent Division of Labor in Social Challenges |
| Brendon Byrd, Investigating the Role of Parental Care During Colonization |
| Maria Castano, Is Male Aggression Driving Asymmetric Introgression of a Sexual Signal in an Avian Hybrid Zone? |
| Mihir Joshi, Nutritional Ecology in a Variable World: Fitness Consequences of Foraging Strategies in a Desert Herbivore |
| Jan Kreider, The environmental induction of sociality in the allodapine bee Exoneura robusta |
| Julia Balogh, Influences of environmental variation on nectar production, foraging behavior, and pollination success |
| Minjung Baek, Transfer of nectar robbing behavior across plant species |
| Anvitha Satish, Impact of Drought on the Social Structure of Female Asian Elephants in Nagarahole and Bandipur National Parks, Southern India. |
DEVELOPING NATIONS RESEARCH AWARDS
| Natalie V. Súnchez, Vocal responses to experimental manipulation of density: Do male and female tropical wrens vary their vocal behavior when density changes? |
| Tomaz Cezimbra de Azevedo, Demography and behavioral responses of Guiana dolphins (Sotalia guianensis) facing human-induced rapid environmental changes in a Brazilian estuarine complex. |
| Gisela Sobral, Why boldness matter? Personality and seed dispersal of an endangered rodent species |
| Sourabh Biswas, Role of Scent Marking and Urinary Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in Maintaining the Social Structure and Territory in Indian Free-ranging Dogs. |
| Cecilia Cuatianquiz, Use of anthropogenic materials influences on abundance of arthropods and the reproductive success of secondary cavity-nester birds |
ANNOUNCING THE 2023 CONFERENCE TRAVEL AWARDS
Congratulations to the recipients of the conference travel awards. These awards were administered by Delia Shelton, with the assistance of Noa Pinter-Wollman and Adriana Maldonado-Chaparro (the Members at Large or MALs). For both the Latin American Travel Awards (LATA) and Graduate Student Travel Grants (GSTG), 1-2 MALs independently rated each application, and those scores were combined with a score designated for previous attendance to ABS with higher scores given to participants that have either never attended ABS or only attended ABS virtually. Within those rankings, ties were broken by giving preference to PhD students who were further along in their graduate studies. The top 13 applicants were provided with a $700 award and the others were provided with a $500 award. This year, we received many more deserving applications than we were able to fund, and we appreciate the widespread interest in these awards. We were able to fund 6 of 8 applications for the Latin American Travel Awards, with first time ABS attendees receiving $1800 awards, and others receiving $1400 awards.
LATA awardees for the 2023 conference are:
Aline Vieira e Silva, Universidade Estadual de Campina
Samuel Rodrigues, Pontifical Catholic University of Minas
Andre Rodrigues, University of Sao Paulo
Pedro Plravelor, Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Vanessa Cuhna, University of Sao Paulo
Florencia Barrios, University of the Republic
GSTG awardees for the 2023 conference are:
Wenyi Zhou, University of Florida
Julia Zeh, Syracuse University
Hsiang-Yu Tsai, University of Chicago
Piuli Shit, University of Regensburg
Alyssa Sargent, University of Washington
Preethi Rajasekara, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru
Muhammad Mahmudur Rahman, Oregon State University
Stefan Popp, University of Arizona
Conner Philson, University of California - Los Angeles
Manish Pathak, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research - Kolkata
Katherine Otter, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Kelly O’Neill, University of Memphis
Ishani Mukherjee, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research - Kolkata
Anastasia Madsen, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Sage Madden, University of California - Davis
Rikki Laser, Cornell University
Georgia Lambert, University of Edinburgh
Tamara Kumpan, University of Toronto
Phoebe Koenig, Cornell University
Brooke Karasch, Ball State University
Clara Howell, Duke University
Danae Diaz, Duke University
Jaime Corcoran, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Madison Clarke, University of Lethbridge
Moth Castagna, Missouri State University
Tyler Brown, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Amanda Bevan, University of Northern Colorado
THE 2023 CAREGIVER TRAVEL GRANT
The Caregiver Travel Grant award provides financial assistance for active ABS members whose caregiving responsibilities for dependent persons would otherwise limit their ability to attend and present at the annual ABS meeting. Dependents include but are not limited to young children and aging parents and awarded funds can be used for care-giving responsibilities necessary while you're at the conference including expenses incurred for care at home or at the meeting as well as travel expenses for the dependent. This year we received 13 applications and were able to award 7, equivalent to 58% funding rate. We were able to award one graduate student member ($500), four postdocs ($2900), and two research fellows ($1600). We congratulate all the applicants that received this award. Awards were administered by Adrianna Maldonado-Chaparro (3rd Member-at-Large), with assistance of Delia Shelton (2nd Member-at-Large) and Noa Pinter-Wollman (1st Member-at-Large). Thank you also to Elizabeth Phillips | Senior Project Leader at SPLTrak, for her assistance on the online grant submission system.