Society for Marine Mammalogy

The Awards and Scholarship Committee is responsible for establishing policies relating to awards and scholarships. The Committee also develops, judges, and grants the awards and scholarships of the Society.

One of the major responsibilities of the Committee is to recognize, on behalf of the Society, the significant scientific achievements and contributions of Society members. Awards are given between Biennial Conferences and also for presentations made at Biennial Conferences. The Society feels strongly about acknowledging the scientific achievement of students and encourages them to present their research at the Biennial Conferences.

At the 19th Biennial Conference in Tampa, 396 eligible students had the opportunity to give either a spoken (115) or poster (281) presentation. Over 90 Society members volunteered to judge student presentations.

The Awards and Scholarship Committee would like to thank the judges who gave so generously of their time during the conference.

The following awards were given prior to the 19th Biennial Conference:

F.G. Wood Memorial Scholarship

This award is given to the best manuscript submitted by a student to Marine Mammal Science and is given in honor of Forest G. Wood, a founder of the Society of Marine Mammalogy who was noted for his editorial skills. The Journal's editorial board selects the winner from among all the accepted student manuscripts submitted during the interval between Biennial Conferences. The winner was invited to present the paper as a plenary presentation at this conference.

Winner: Michelle Barbieri
UC Davis Wildlife Health Center - Orcas Island Office, Eastsound, WA, USA

Using infrared thermography to assess seasonal trends in dorsal fin surface temperatures of free-swimming bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Sarasota Bay, Florida. Marine Mammal Science 26(1):53-66

Co-Authors: W.A. McLellan, R.S. Wells, J.E. Blum, S. Hofmann, J. Gannon & D.A. Pabst

Robin Best Memorial Awards

These awards are given in memory of Robin Best, a respected marine mammalogist who concentrated his research on South American species, with a major focus in Brazil. The awards are presented to the best student presentations given at the South American Specialists in Aquatic Mammals meeting, which occur during non-Biennial Conference years, to stimulate and encourage South American students and young researchers to pursue the study of aquatic mammalogy in South America. Although the meetings were held in 2010, student presentations were not judged and, therefore, the Robin Best Memorial Awards were not given out this year.

John E. Heyning Research Award

This is a new award to support the best proposal for cetacean integrative biology that relates to diverse aspects of biology within an evolutionary context. It is presented in accordance with the last wishes of John Heyning, who was the curator of Mammals and Associate Deputy Director of Research and Collections at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, California.

Winner: Dr. Camilla Butti
Department of Neuroscience, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

Proposal: The Evolution of the Cerebral Cortex from Hippopotamuses to Cetaceans: A study of the linkage between neuroanatomical features, cognition, ecological niche, and brain energy metabolism

Stu Innes Memorial Student Travel Bursary

This award was established in honor of Stuart Innes, who was lost with his colleague Malcolm Ramsay on May 21, 2000, when their helicopter crashed near Resolute Bay, Nunavut, Canada. Stu was remembered with affection and admiration for his boundless energy and devotion to scientific endeavors in the Arctic. Stu believed that the Biennial were good opportunities for young researchers to learn, network, and develop enthusiasm from leaders in the field. As a tribute to Stuart, friends and colleagues have established this award to help support a student's travel to this conference. The award is open to post-secondary students conducting marine mammal research in the Arctic.

Winner: Cory Matthews
http://umanitoba.ca/, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

The following awards were given based on presentations made at the 19th Biennial Conference:

Excellence in Science Communication Awards

These awards are presented to the best poster and the best spoken presentations that demonstrate creative and effective communication techniques. All presentations were considered for this award. The Society would like to thank Pieter Folkens, who coordinates this panel, and all his volunteers for their gracious efforts to acknowledge and encourage our Society to develop effective communication techniques.

Winner Poster Presentation: David N. Wiley
NOAA, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Scituate, MA, USA

Outreach and Education to Increase Vessel Compliance and Commitment with Speed Reduction Regulations in the US Cape Cod Bay and Off Race Point Right Whale Seasonal Management Areas

Co-Authors: B. Cabe, P. DeCola, D. Gouveia, D. Hadden, J. Levenson, T. Nickerson, M. Thompson & B. Wellock

Winner Spoken Presentation: Sean Twiss
Durham University, School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Durham, United Kingdom

Do androids dream of eclectic seals? Testing for pinniped personalities in wild populations

Co-Author: R.M. Culloch, C. Cairns & P. Pomeroy

Frederic Fairfield Memorial Award for Innovative Research

This award is given in memory of Frederic Fairfield, a marine mammal scientist who was killed with his colleague, Tim Waters, and their pilot when their survey plane crashed in the Faroe Islands on July 6, 1987. Fred had a passion for innovative research methods. The purpose of the award is to recognize and encourage students who have developed or applied pioneering techniques or research tools to study marine mammals. All students giving spoken or poster presentations are considered. This award differs from the other student awards in that the emphasis is on innovative methodology and the potential for making significant advances in our knowledge of marine mammals, rather than on the results per se. This year the judging was so close that the Fairfield Award Committee chose three winners.

Winner #1: Robert Cope
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

Reconstructing family trees for free-ranging dugongs in southern Queensland, Australia

Co-authors: J.M. Lanyon, J.R. Seddon & P.K. Pollett

Winner #2: Ross Culloch
Durham University, School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Durham, United Kingdom

A three-step analytical pathway to uncovering animal personality: investigating consistent individual differences in the 'Alert' behaviour of postpartum female grey seals (Halichoerus grypus)

Co-authors: P.P. Pomeroy & S.D. Twiss

Winner #3: Njaratiana Rabearisoa
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Le Port, Reunion

Toothed whale depredation on pelagic longlining in Seychelles waters: identification of risky fishing practices and assessment of the efficiency of the physical protection of fish as mitigation measure

Co-authors: V. Lucas & P. Bach

J. Steven Leatherwood Memorial Award

This award honors Steven Leatherwood for his significant impact in the field of marine mammalogy, particularly for the conservation of marine mammals in South and Southeast Asia. The award was established in 2005 and recognizes the most outstanding presentation on marine mammals of this region, with particular emphasis on conservation.

Winner: Gill Braulik
Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, United Kingdom & WWF-Pakistan/Pakistan Wetlands Programme, Islamabad, Pakistan

Causes and dynamics of Indus River dolphin range decline

Co-Authors: M. Arshad, U. Noureen & S.P. Northridge

General Student Awards

There are five categories of awards given to students whose presentation has been ranked the highest on its Impact, Science, and Presentation. The awards are separated by the degree program and type of presentation. The student with the highest score, regardless of degree program or type of presentations, received the John G. Shedd Aquarium Award, and we would like to thank the Aquarium for its continued generous contribution to this award.

Winner, Pre-Doctoral Poster Presentation: Brandy Velten 
University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, USA

A comparative study of the locomotor muscle of extreme deep-diving cetaceans

Co-Authors: W.A. McLellan, & D.A. Pabst

Winner Pre-Doctoral Spoken Presentation: Chad Nordstrom 
Marine Mammal Research Unit, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada & Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Can oceanography explain the differing population trends of northern fur seals in the eastern Bering Sea?

Co-Authors: B.C. Battaile, C. Cotté & A.W. Trites

Winner Doctoral Poster Presentation: Line Cordes
University of Aberdeen, Lighthouse Field Station, Cromarty, United Kingdom

Important insights into the dynamics of a declining population: an individual-based study of harbour seal demography and pupping phenology

Co-Authors: P. Thompson

Winner Doctoral Spoken Presentation: Andre Lowther
University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia & SARDI Aquatic Sciences, West Beach, Australia

Buying local: population structure and fine-scale foraging site fidelity of adult female Australian sea lions

Co-Authors: R.G. Harcourt, S.D. Goldsworthy & A. Stow

Winner, John G. Shedd Aquarium Award for Best Overall Student Presentation: Maya Yamato
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA

The auditory anatomy of the minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata): Insights into potential sound reception pathways in a baleen whale

Co-Authors: D. Ketten, J. Arruda, S. Cramer & K. Moore

As evidenced by our current Society membership of 1,977 and the recent turnout of 1,989 attendees for the 19th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals in Tampa, marine mammals and the issues surrounding them are of increasing interest and relevance.

The interest derives from the nature of the animals themselves and the fascinating scientific questions they stimulate, their high value to peoples all over the world and the high profile and emerging issues that impact these animals and ourselves.

Listen to Dr. Randy Wells in a question and answer session about the Society's 19th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammalogy on local public media station WUSF Tampa.

View the full story on WUSF.

The Ruth DeLynn Cetacean Osteological Collection holds specimens from approximately 650 individuals representing 17 species. The collection was recently accredited by the Committee on Systematic Collections of the American Society of Mammalogists.

According to their review, they found "The collection of mammals at the Mote Marine Laboratory is the best organized and cared for any of us have ever seen."

Part of the value of the collection relates to its integration with a multi-decade long study (through Dr. Randall Wells and Chicago Zooligical Society) of free-ranging dolphins in the Sarasota Bay area. Thus, for many specimens in the DeLynn Collection, a unique, long term record of their life history attributes and other data exists.

These resources are available for qualified researchers, please contact Gretchen Lovewell at glovewell.mote.org or 941-374-3425

The 2013 Biennial Conference in New Zealand will now be held in Dunedin (well away from the earthquake trouble in Christchurch). The University of Otago will host the conference, from 9-13 December 2013, with the icebreaker and banquet held in the Dunedin Town Hall.

Many Society members are already talking about spending some extra time in New Zealand, before or after the conference to go whale watching, swimming with dolphins or walk on a beach with New Zealand sea lions.

Watch this website for more information about the conference venue, travel, accommodation and fieldtrips.