Wesley Lanyon Award

The American Ornithological Society’s (AOS’s) Wesley Lanyon Award recognizes the early-career ornithologist who authored the best integrative avian science review paper published in either AOS journal (Ornithology or Ornithological Applications). The award is offered every two years and is given in honor of Wesley “Bud” Lanyon, who served as the 37th President of the American Ornithologists’ Union. Bud was a steadfast and committed leader in the field of ornithology and a respected mentor of many generations of scientists. He was particularly keen to support researchers in the midst of writing their dissertations and those who had recently completed their Ph.D.s, recognizing that they possess a thorough understanding of the current literature and are poised to provide novel insights into classic areas of ornithology and to elucidate emerging fields of study.

The 2027 Wesley Lanyon Award provides a $1,500 honorarium to the winner, as well as a $1,000 travel stipend and gratis registration to attend the 2027 AOS annual meeting, for which the winner may organize a symposium on their winning review topic. The winner will be announced to the public as soon as the winning paper is selected and the award will be conferred at the meeting. All award nominees are expected to have a high standard of behavior that is aligned with the AOS Code of Conduct & Ethics.

Call for Abstracts

Abstract submissions for the 2025 Lanyon Award are currently open.

Prospective authors should submit a pre-submission inquiry to the journals (aospubs@americanornithology.org) declaring the author’s status as an early-career researcher eligible for the Lanyon Award and describing the review’s objectives and scope. Following an invitation to submit, authors should put the word “Review” at the top of the document’s first page.

Lanyon Award Application Process & Eligibility Details

• Eligible applicants include AOS members who are doctoral students or early professionals within three years of earning their Ph.D. at the time that the article is submitted (an extra year of eligibility may be granted for parental leave).
• Proposed papers should fit the journals’ mission and scope. They should be novel, integrative reviews that advance ornithology, not simply a review of a body of literature. See Sayer (2018) for excellent advice about writing a review article.
• The prize will be awarded to the first author of the review paper. Papers with multiple authors must include a statement that the first author conceived the study and did most of the research and writing. An applicant may only submit one first-authored proposal per award cycle.
• The EICs and Senior Editors will select a winner from all review papers whose first authors are early-career researchers during the two calendar years preceding the award year (for the 2027 award, this includes all papers accepted during 2025 and 2026). The winner will have the opportunity to organize a symposium at the next AOS annual meeting. The winner will be announced to the public as soon as the winning paper is selected, and the award will be conferred at the next AOS annual meeting.
• The winning paper will be published as an open-access Editor’s Choice* article in the appropriate AOS journal.
• Each award cycle is two years to allow sufficient time for manuscript preparation, peer review, revisions, and symposium planning. Note that the prize will not be awarded if no submitted papers are deemed suitable for publication.

Previous Lanyon Award Winners

*Editor’s Choice articles are free to read for anyone, regardless of AOS membership or journal subscription status.