Grants & Awards

Genesis Award for the Outstanding Undergraduate Poster Presentation

First presented at the 2000 ABS Annual Meeting the Genesis Award honors the best undergraduate poster presentation at the meeting. To encourage quality presentations the following guidelines and suggestions are available for viewing. Further information, if needed, can be obtained from the chair of the Genesis Sub-committee, Matthew Wund, E-mail: wundm@tcnj.edu.

The applications is the last day of abstract submissions.

Application Deadline: March 20, 2020.

THE ROLE OF JUDGES

To judge each project.

• Each poster presentation should be judged on its own merits.
• Judges should identify the strengths and weaknesses to determine "the best" student poster presentation.
• To offer encouragement and constructive criticism.
• It is important to give student presenters encouragement and constructive criticism to students to help them develop their research and presentation skills.
• Written comments for the student can be made on the lower half of your presentation evaluation sheet.

JUDGING CRITERIA

While judging is often a subjective process, these criteria are offered as a common starting point for judges to begin evaluating presentations. Please, evaluate each presentation using the point values for each category. Judges may add items they feel are appropriate within a category.

Significance of the research topic (5 points):

• Is the study an original research question?
• Does the study add to the pool of knowledge of the subject?
• Does the rigor match the ability of the student (high school, college freshman, senior)?

Research methodology (10 points):

• Did the study use the scientific method (observation, hypothesis, test, results, conclusion)?
• Was a good experimental design used?
• Did the student work independently from the supervising faculty or graduate student?
• Did the student bring a new approach to solving the problem?

Research results (10 points)

• Was there sufficient sampling to address the question?
• Were statistics used appropriately?
• Do the conclusions drawn by the student agree with the data?
• Appropriate use of graphs and/or tables illustrating the results?

Poster presentation (15 points):

• Does the poster contain sections necessary for a good presentation? (abstract, methods, results,conclusion, literature cited)
• Is the study question stated clearly and completely?
• Are materials presently in an organized and visually pleasing fashion?
• Appropriate grammar, spelling, and English usage? (Can not exceed 5 points.)
• Is the literature review adequate and is the literature cited complete?
• Does the student demonstrate a mastery of the subject material?
• Did the student improve their understanding of conducting research?
• Does the student use good speaking skills and avoid distracting mannerisms?
• Prospects for future studies discussed or applications of the conclusions discussed?
• Was the presentation self-explanatory to someone with no background on the topic?

Past Recipients

click here to view poster

Year	Name	Award	Affiliation	Title
2019	Lilly Hollingsworth	1st prize	University of California, Riverside	Male Allen's Hummingbirds Hold Mating Territories with Abundant Food Sources
2019	Jessica Riojas	2nd prize	Iowa State University	Mirror-Induced Behavior in Paper-Wasps: Is an Insect Capable of Self-Recognition?
2019	Aaron Rose	3rd prize	Texas A&M University	Calcium hydroxide may promote hybridization in a freshwater fish
2019	Alison Osbrink-McInroy	Honorable mention		Effects of Traffic Noise on Zebra Finch Problem-Solving Performance
2019	Annika Ruppert	Honorable mention		A Behavioral Study of Brain Lateralization in Frogs: Does a Right Ear Advantage Bias Phonotaxis?
2019	David Wilkerson-Lindsey	Honorable mention	University of Illinois	Effects of Parental Care on Offspring Behavior in Threespined Stickleback
2019	Aaron Wikle	Honorable mention	St. Ambrose University	A new vibrational sexual signal in a field cricket
2018	Chris Edomwande	1st Place	Lake Forest College	"The influence of predation risk on mate choice in the waxmoth Achroia grisella”
2018	Ivonne Arriola Mendietta	1st Runner-up	Florida State University	"Does courtship behavior of male lance-tailed manakins affect offspring survivability?”
2018	Brandi Pessman & Rosaria Rae	Honorable Mention	North Central College	"Juvenile social environment results in alternative mating strategies in Acheta domesticus males”
2018	Rachel Ruiz	Allee Honorable Mention	Colorado State University Pueblo	"The impact of multiple stressors on behavioral and immunological response in vinegar flies”
2017	Colby Behrens	1st Place	Iowa State University	"Do paper wasps have personalities? Physiological and genomic mechanisms of personality in Polistes fuscatus”
2017	Alexandra Dorison	Honarable Mention	University of Toronto Scarborough	“Behavioural and developmental responses of invasive Japanese redback spiders to new temperature challenges”
2017	Cora Anne Romanow	Honarable Mention	Lingle Lab, University of Winnipeg	“Designed to attract: ontogenetic transitions from infant distress to male courtship calls in elk”
2017	Veronica Gerios	Honarable Mention	University of Michigan Dearborn	“Flubs that function: an analysis of sperm removal behavior in an orb weaving spider”
2017	Archchana Rajmohan	Honarable Mention	University of Toronto Scarborough	“Heterospecific matings in widow spiders:  Do males use different sperm allocation strategies?”
2016	Lauren Poon	1st Place	University of California, Davis	"Of noise and nests: Effects of anthropogenic noise on settlement patterns in Tachycineta bicolour”
2016	Timothy Boycott	Honaorable Mention	Vassar College	"Effects of deer browsing on sound propagation in northeastern temperate forests”
2015	Hailey Shannon	1st Place	Susquehanna University	“The Effects of Prenatal Predator Cue Exposure on Offspring Substrate Preferences in Wolf Spiders”
2015	Ciara Main	Honorable Mention	University of California at Davis	“Seasonal Changes in Male Display Performance in Response to a Robotic Female Stimulus”
2015	Mykell Reifer	Honorable Mention	Carleton University	“Do fight winners produce higher quality offspring?”
2015	David Vazques	Honorable Mention	Virginia Tech	“Examining the Relationship Between Dominance Status and Disease Transmission in House Finches”