Every year, the American Ornithological Society bestows a range of Student Presentation Awards on students at all levels (undergraduate, masters, and doctoral) who present outstanding posters or oral presentations at our annual meeting. Our 52 volunteer judges at this year’s AOS & SCO 2021 Virtual Meeting definitely had their work cut out for them; out of the 102 students competing for awards, 83 competed for AOS Student Presentation Awards.
Congratulations to all of this year’s winners, listed below, each of whom will receive a $500 honorarium with their award. Congratulations to each student who presented research at this year’s meeting — your contributions helped make the 2021 meeting a huge success!
Nellie Johnson Baroody Award
Given for the best presentation on any topic in ornithology, typically given to a student prior to the Ph.D. level
Taylor Bobowski, Colorado State University
“Using genomic data to model migratory timing: A Common Yellowthroat case study”
Robert B. Berry Student Award
Given for the best oral presentation on a topic pertaining to avian conservation
Amanda Navine, University of Hawaii at Hilo
“Investigating the role of the gut microbiome in susceptibility to avian malaria in Hawaiian honeycreepers”
Mark E. Hauber Award
Given for the best oral presentation on avian behavior
Sarah Jennings, University of California, Davis
“Smells like home: Bird-scented nests as a mechanism for olfactory homing in a burrow nesting seabird”
Young Ha Suh, Cornell University
“Orphaned refugees or opportunistic queuers: Variation in natal dispersal in the cooperatively breeding Florida Scrub-Jay”
A. Brazier Howell Award
Given for the best presentation on any topic in ornithology
Marco Rego, Louisiana State University
“Amazonian suture zones”
Frances F. Roberts Award
Given for the best presentation on any topic in ornithology
Joely DeSimone, University of Montana
“Migratory physiology of the nomadic, irruptive Pine Siskin in captivity and the field”
AOS Council Awards
Given for the best presentations on any topic in ornithology
Kathryn Grabenstein, The University of Colorado, Boulder
“Evaluating if human land disturbances break species barriers at continent-wide and regional scales”
Kira Long, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
“Hybridization dynamics of a manakin hybrid zone“
Gregory Nordmann, IMP Vienna
“A global screen for magnetic field-driven neuronal activity in the pigeon brain”
Ben Tonelli, University of California, Los Angeles
“Geomagnetic disturbance associated with vagrancy in migrating landbirds”
Honorable Mentions
Ryan Bourbour, University of California, Davis
“Prey DNA on talons and beaks reveals what a migrating raptor eats”
Maria Cecilia Estalles, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia” (MACN-CONICET)
“Concerted variation in melanogenesis genes underlies plumage patterning in capuchino seedeaters”
Martin Fasanelli, University of Buenos Aires
“Tail shape classification of Tyrannus species based on geometric morphometrics”
Holly Jackson, University of Montana
“Body temperature and reproductive effort in a long-lived tropical songbird”
Varalika Jain, University of Cape Town
“How common ravens (Corvus corax) exploit anthropogenic food sources through time and space in a semi-transformed, alpine environment”
Vitek Jirinec, Louisiana State University
“Morphological consequences of climate change for resident birds in intact Amazonia”
Rachel Larson, Florida Atlantic University
“Call rate as an index of nest abundance and provisioning rates in wading bird colonies”
Baron Lin, Virginia Commonwealth University
“Searching for gold: Using a novel land cover classification to identify multi-scale drivers of site occupancy by a flagship species for early-successional habitat conservation”
Libby Natola, University of British Columbia
“Variable hybridization across multiple Red-breasted x Red-naped Sapsucker hybrid zones”
Alyssa Neuhaus, University of Vermont
“Malaria parasites of the Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus) and patterns of infection with mercury exposure”
Felicity Newell, University of Florida
“Resource and rainfall thresholds structure reproductive phenology of tropical montane bird communities”
Teresa Pegan, University of Michigan
“Long-distance migrants experience slower molecular evolution”
Kaitlyn Plastino, Algoma University
“A newly discovered song type in Connecticut Warblers (Oporornis agilis) is variable in versatility and diel song rate at both inter- and intra-individual levels”
Brenda Ramirez, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
“Natural and anthropogenic effects on Pacific Swallow (Hirundo tahitica) populations”
Joanna Sblendorio, Western Michigan University
“Constraints imposed by migrating warblers on breeding warbler signal space”
Benjamin Scott, San Diego State University
“Degree of habitat heterogeneity correlates with the evolution of plumage colorfulness (Cardinalidae)”
Maeve Secor, Occidental College
“Elevation and niche divergence in Mexican Yellow Grosbeaks (Pheucticus chrysopeplus)”
Jeremy Summers, University of Rochester
“Staying stable with fluctuations: How environmental cycles and demography influence a Florida Scrub-Jay population”
Angela Theodosopoulos, University of Colorado at Boulder
“The range expansion of an invasive avian malaria parasite and its potential impacts on two North American songbird species”
Elise Zarri, University of Montana
“Impacts of conifer removal on sagebrush songbirds”