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 2023 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 found the papers and presentations to be of exceptionally high quality.
First place was awarded to Dr. Lea Pollack (Rice University) for her talk and paper entitled “Group dynamics drive susceptibility to the common evolutionary trap of plastic ingestion”.
An honorable mention was awarded to Dr. Victoria S. Farrar (University of California Davis) for her talk and paper entitled “Prior parental experience alters hormonal responses to stress and neural gene expression in a biparental bird”.
WILLIAM C. YOUNG 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 honor William C. Young, an expert in behavioral neuroendocrinology. 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 winner of the William C. Young Founders Award for 2023 was:
Mackenzie Prichard (Emory University) - “Allele-specific expression of VIP mRNA in two brain regions with distinct roles in a behavioral polymorphism”.
Honorable Mention:
Alyssa Sargent (University of Washington) - “Hummingbird Sugar Rush: Teaching Complex Behavioral Trade-offs Through Games”.
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.
The grand prize was awarded to Iman Shepard (Lake Forest College) for the poster entitled: “Effects of sex and larval density on immunity in bean beetles (Callosobruchus maculatus)”
The other awardees were:
2nd Prize
Anna M. Jirik (Idaho State University)
“Evaluating the spectrum of protandrous sex change in the hermaphroditic fish Lythrypnus dalli”
Honorable Mention
Fiona E. Corcoran (University of Michigan)
“Field-realistic Exposure to Neonicotinoid Pesticide Impairs Visual and Olfactory Learning in Paper Wasps”
Honorable Mention
Abigail T. Reynolds (University of Nebraska at Omaha)
“Bold and shy zebrafish vary in their use of egocentric cues to navigate a T-maze”
ABS FILM FESTIVAL AWARD
Now in its 39th year, the ABS film festival featured top films that were produced in the preceding five years that portray important concepts in animal behavior research and education. Categories include both amateur (non-commercial) and professional (commercial) films. Films were ranked based on their accuracy, quality of narration, quality of videography, degree of anthropomorphism, and overall appeal.
After careful deliberation, the Film Committee was happy to announce that the ABS 2023 Film of the Year in the:
Non-Commercial category was awarded to “To the Heart of the Social Network: Neighbourhood Quarrels of the Columbian Ground Squirrel”, directed by by Aurélien Prudor.
Commercial category was awarded to “Wild Argentina - Land of Water", directed by Christian Baumeister and Moritz Mayerle.
CHARLES H. 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 59 highly qualified undergraduate applicants to bring to the meeting in Portland, Oregon 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:
Raleigh Bellard
Daniel Chang
Kwynn Guess
Grethel Alexandra Juarez
Amaris Lewis
Avery Munster
Kajaya Pollard
Laura Camilla Rubiano Mongui
Raneem Samman
McKenna Sanchez
Emily Sandberg
Anna Vi
Left to right: Raneem Samman, Laura Camilla Rubiano Mongui, Kajaya Pollard, Amaris Lewis, Kwynn Guess, Daniel Chang (back row) McKenna Sanchez, Emily Sandberg, Anna Vi, Avery Munster, Grethel Alexandra Juarez, Raleigh Bellard (front row) )
Special thanks goes to the Diversity Committee, Turner Program organizers, and Turner Program Steering Committee, especially Kasey Fowler-Finn, Jen Hamel, Sara Lipshutz, Cassandra Nuñez, and Jessica Yorzinski for planning and facilitating Turner Program events throughout the conference, and to the many ABS members who mentored them.