Resources for Students

An AOS student member bands a bird. — Katherine (Kit) M. Straley PhD candidate in *Organismic & Evolutionary Biology* at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Photo by Mariamar Gutierrez Ramirez.

AOS provides many opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students in ornithology! As an AOS Student Member, you can:

Apply for small grants (up to $2,500) to fund your research
Attend the SAC Webinar Series events (see Events below)
Apply for travel funding to help you attend our annual meeting
Compete for a Student Presentation Award at the annual meeting
Participate in the many student-specific activities at the meeting, such as the annual student-mentor lunch
Serve on the AOS Student Affairs Committee to make your voice heard in the Society
Work with your advisor to review a paper for an AOS journal
- AOS Introduces New Student Reviewer Program
- Mentors, Consider Involving Your Students in Peer Review

If you have not previously been an AOS member, you may also be eligible to apply for a year of free membership via a Student Membership Award. AOS is a diverse, global network of empowered professionals, working together to advance the scientific study and conservation of birds—join us today!

Events

Student Affairs Committee (SAC) Webinar Series
Bookmark this page for upcoming event announcements. Our professional development events are open to current AOS members. You can join or renew your membership in the AOS Member Portal.

SAC Webinar Series Subcommittee
Lyn Brown, Stephanie Gaspar, Maina Handmaker, Kristen Rosamond

UPCOMING WEBINARS

Cultivating a Safe and Inclusive Fieldwork Environment

Our recent webinar series event, “Cultivating a Safe and Inclusive Fieldwork Environment,” took place on Tuesday, 2 April from 4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m. (ET). The recording will be made available soon!

Many of us consider fieldwork one of our favorite parts of conducting research, but for some members of the ornithological community, going into the field presents higher safety risks due to prejudice and bias against individuals from minority identities. We all deserve to feel safe in the field, and as researchers, we can play a proactive role in reducing this burden on our at-risk colleagues. Join us to learn about strategies to create and maintain a safe and inclusive environment in the field. We will hear from a panel of four experts about fieldwork risks to be aware of, as well as best practices to address them, in our own field settings. Our panelists will include Dayna De La Cruz (Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study), Jerika Loren Heinze (The Fieldwork Initiative), Natasza Fontaine (Audubon Florida), and Viviana Ruiz Gutierrez (Cornell Lab of Ornithology; and board member, Field Inclusive, Inc.).

SAC professional development events are open to current AOS members. You can join or renew your membership in the AOS Member Portal.

PAST WEBINARS

Webinar: Refining Your Resume for Ornithology Jobs Outside of Academia (view video at link)
Preparing a sparkling resume can be a daunting hurdle in the job search process given the varying skills prioritized by government, private sector, and non-profit organizations. We were joined by a panel of five experts who answered questions about how to sharpen your resume for job applications. Our panelists included Nick Bartok (Western Ecosystem Technologies), Kevin Holcomb (USFWS), Marnie Pepper (USDA Wildlife Services), Kelsey Rumley (World Bird Sanctuary), and Abby Sterling (Manomet).

Additional resource provided by Kevin Holcomb and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWAS)

Webinar: Avian Chemosensation Webinar (view video at link)
Participants in the webinar learned about the diversity of olfactory and taste receptors in birds, as well as how they use the sense of smell to communicate! Robert Driver moderated a series of short talks from Julia Cramer (Max Planck Institute for Ornithology), Haoran Luo (Xiamen University), and Leanne Grieves (McMaster University) on the unique sensory adaptations of birds.

Webinar: Manakin Mini Symposium (view video at link)
In this “Manakin Mini Symposium,” learn about manakins, a group of birds with elaborate and athletic courtship displays! Robert Driver moderated a series of short talks with manakin researchers, Camilo Alfonso, Lia Kajiki, and Kira Long, on different areas of manakin research, including physiology, evolution, and ecology, and showcased the work that stems from the collaborative National Science Foundation (NSF) Manakin Research Coordination Network. Whether you’re passionate about manakins or want to learn more about building a collaborative research network for another taxonomic group, we hope you’ll enjoy this first webinar of 2023!
Moderator: Robert Driver, Ph.D., East Carolina University; Postdoctoral Fellow, Duke University; Manakin Research Network
Presenters: Camilo Alfonso, Virginia Tech; Lia Kajiki, University of Brasilia; Kira Long, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Webinar: Navigating Permits (view video at link)
To legally and ethically study birds in the lab or the field, we need permits! But the process of figuring out how to apply for these permits can be daunting. Five experts answered questions about how to navigate the permit process. Our panelists included Breda Zimkus (Museum of Comparative Zoology), Carla Cicero (Museum of Vertebrate Zoology), Christopher Milensky (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History), John Bates (Field Museum), and Laura Bies (Ornithological Council). Our panelists have extensive experience with U.S. and international permits needed for field work, sample collection, and sample transportation. Their expertise has relevance for anyone doing physical research on birds, not only those affiliated with natural history museums!

Webinar: Careers Beyond Academia (view video at link)
Four panelists from a variety of careers outside of academia engaged in a panel discussion followed by breakout rooms to facilitate conversations between attendees and panelists in smaller group settings. This webinar was a complement to the workshop that took place at this year’s in-person AOS & BC 2022 meeting in Puerto Rico, “Fledging the Nest: Non-academic Research and Conservation Careers for Students.” If you were unable to attend this year’s in-person meeting, this was an opportunity to learn about this topic in a virtual setting and benefit from the knowledge of AOS members with careers outside of academia!

Webinar: Design Principles for Making Publication-Ready Figures (view video at link)
Dr. Stepfanie Aguillon, Stanford Science Fellow and winner of the 2022 James G. Cooper Early Professional Award, led this workshop. From Stepfanie: “Figures are arguably the most important part of any manuscript or presentation, so it is vital that your audience can easily understand the messages you’re trying to convey. This workshop focused on the basic design principles that will help you communicate as clearly, accurately, and efficiently as possible in your figures.” Learn more about making effective figures – just in time for planning your presentation for the AOS & BC 2022 Conference in June!

Webinar: How to Review Manuscripts for AOS Journals (view video at link)
This webinar, held on 23 February 2022, focused on strategies for reviewing manuscripts for the AOS journals, Ornithology and Ornithological Applications. Our event featured a panel discussion with the current journal editors, who offered advice on how students can become reviewers for AOS’s ornithological journals and how to review manuscripts in a critical but helpful manner for the authors.

Events

UPCOMING WEBINARS

Cultivating a Safe and Inclusive Fieldwork Environment

PAST WEBINARS

Career Resources

Student Funding Opportunities

Jobs and Internships