Each year, the American Ornithological Society (AOS) bestows Student Presentation Awards on students at all levels (undergraduate, masters, and doctoral) who present outstanding posters or oral presentations at our annual meeting, this year held at AOS & SCO–SOC 2023 Conference held in London, Ontario, Canada.
We offer our thanks to the 2023 Student Presentation Awards Committee, our 77 volunteer judges, and 144 student presenters in our competition. We extend our congratulations to this year’s winners, each of whom will receive a $500 honorarium with their award.
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
Annika Abbott
Colorado State University
“Inbound arrivals: Using weather surveillance radar to quantify the timing of spring trans-Gulf bird migration”
Robert B. Berry Student Award
Given for the best oral presentation on a topic pertaining to avian conservation
Isabelle Lebeuf-Taylor
University of Alberta
“A bird’s eye view of tree retention in timber harvests”
Mark E. Hauber Award
Given for the best oral presentation on avian behavior
Brian Tsuru
The Ohio State University
“Post-breeding ecology in the Prothonotary Warbler: Evaluating potential trade-offs between breeding, molt, and migration”
Stephanie Szarmach
The Pennsylvania State University
“The evolution of alternate migration routes in high-latitude myrtle warblers (Setophaga coronata coronata)”
A. Brazier Howell Award
Given for the best presentation on any topic in ornithology
Sarah Winnicki
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
“Experimental evidence that egg-laying order impacts growth of American Robin nestlings”
Frances F. Roberts Award
Given for the best presentation on any topic in ornithology
Lauren Whitenack
University of Nevada Reno
“Relationship between arthropod phenology and reproductive timing and success in a resident montane bird”
AOS Council Awards
Given for the best presentations on any topic in ornithology
Alix Matthews
Arkansas State University
“Evaluating feather mite diet to classify the nature of their symbiosis with avian hosts: are mites picky eaters?”
Paul Dougherty
University of Wyoming
“Investigating the influence of adaptive divergence in molting behavior on reproductive isolation and speciation in birds”
Shanta Hejmadi
University of Minnesota
“Widespread heterogeneity in raptor communities suggests multifaceted drivers of assembly that vary over space and time”
Spencer Keyser
University of Wisconsin–Madison
“Seasonal patterns and drivers of avian functional diversity across Eastern North America”
Honorable Mentions
Ivy Widick
University of Wisconsin–Madison
“Boreal bird irruptions as indicators of altered climate variability”
Brandon Edwards
Carleton University
“NA-POPS: Point count offsets for estimating population sizes of North American landbirds”
Ryan Leys
University of Waterloo
“Nocturnal heterothermy use in four North American songbird species during migration”
Timothy Forrester
University of Montana
“Riskiness of movement lifestyle varies inversely with adult survival probability among species”
Emily Griffith
Drexel University
“Plumage characteristics of the Long-eared Owl (Asio otus) in the visible and ultraviolet Spectrums of light”
Danny Zapata
University of WIndsor
“Sex-specific territoriality and duetting in the Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) during the non-breeding season”
Julian Garcia Walther
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
“Floating seagrass rafts as natural alternative roosting habitat for shorebirds”
Laura Vander Meiden
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
“Mixed-species flock members show evidence of ecological selectivity and flexibility in flock participation”
Shae Turner
Thompson Rivers University
“Evaluating the influence of overwintering conditions on prealternate moult phenology in Neotropical migratory warblers”
Huy Truong
Cornell University“
Taxonomic revision and phylogenetics of the Vireolanius leucotis complex reveals complex evolutionary history”