AWARDS ADMINISTERED BY SECTIONS

EDUCATION SECTION

EXCELLENCE IN FISHERIES EDUCATION AWARD

The American Fisheries Society (AFS) Excellence in Fisheries Education Award was established in 1988. The award is administered by the Education Section and is presented to an individual to recognize excellence in organized teaching and advising in some aspect of fisheries education. Nominees may be involved in extension or continuing education, as well as traditional college and university instruction. Nominees must be AFS members, have been actively engaged in fisheries education within the last five years, and have had at least 10 years of professional employment experience in fisheries education. Two or more people may act as nominators, but at least one nominator must be an AFS member. The nominator(s) is responsible for compiling supporting material and submitting the application.

Nomination deadline is April 1, 2022
Contact: Dan Hayes, Committee Chair
Email: [email protected]

 

EARLY CAREER FISHERIES EDUCATION AWARD

The Education Section recently approved the creation of a new section-level education award, in addition to the current society-level Excellence in Fisheries Education Award.  This new award is intended to celebrate excellence in early to mid-career educators.  Our rationale is that the current Excellence in Fisheries Education Award favors individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to fisheries education over the course of their career, but early career educators are at a disadvantage simply due to a shorter time frame across which they have worked.

Nomination deadline is April 1, 2022
Contact: Dan Hayes, Committee Chair
Email: [email protected]

JOHN E. SKINNER MEMORIAL FUND AWARD

The John E. Skinner Memorial Fund was established in memory of John Skinner, former California-Nevada Chapter and Western Division AFS President. The fund provides monetary travel awards for deserving graduate students or exceptional undergraduate students to attend the AFS annual meeting. The 2022 meeting will be held in Spokane, Washington in August.

Any student who is active in fisheries or related aquatic disciplines is eligible to apply. Awardees are chosen by a committee of the AFS Education Section. Selection is based on academic qualifications, professional service, and reasons for attending the 2022 meeting. Travel support (up to $800 per award) will be made available to successful applicants. Award winners will also receive a one year paid membership to the American Fisheries Society.

Student and Mentor Application Forms are available at: https://fisheries.org/about/awards-recognition/call-for-award-nominations-section-awards/john-e-skinner-memorial-fund-award/

Both the student and mentor applications must be must be received no later than April 1, 2022.

For more information about the John E. Skinner Award:
Contact: John Hargrove, Committee Chair
Email: [email protected]

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES SECTION

J FRANCES ALLEN SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

The American Fisheries Society (AFS) is pleased to announce that applications are being accepted until April 1, 2022, for the J Frances Allen Scholarship for a female doctoral fisheries student. The J Frances Allen Scholarship was established in 1986 to honor Allen, who pioneered women’s involvement in the AFS and in the field of fisheries. The scholarship fund was established with the intent of encouraging women to become fisheries professionals. The qualified applicant must be a female PhD student conducting aquatic research in line with AFS objectives and be current AFS member.

Eligibility: The qualified applicant must be a female PhD student who is a current AFS member. The applicant must be conducting aquatic research in line with AFS objectives, which include “all branches of fisheries science, including but not limited to aquatic biology, engineering, fish culture, limnology, oceanography, and sociology”. Typically, students who have completed their preliminary exams are most competitive for this award.

Send electronic applications and recommendations by April 1, 2022, to:

Lian Guo, Committee Chair
Email: [email protected]

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES SECTION (EOS) STUDENT TRAVEL AWARD

The AFS Equal Opportunities Section is leading an effort to increase participation in the Society by graduate and undergraduate students from underrepresented groups, including women and minorities. Travel awards not exceeding $500 each will be awarded on a competitive basis to assist at least one graduate student (M.S. or Ph.D.) and one undergraduate student with expenses incurred while attending the Annual Meeting. We will provide as many awards as we have funding (typically 3). Funds are not distributed in advance. Students must be present at the Equal Opportunities Society section business meeting at the Annual Meeting to receive the funds.

The EOS encourages application from students who have not attended AFS meetings in the past. We will support award recipients during the meeting through orientation and mentorship, if desired by the student. There are wonderful networking opportunities, technical sessions, continuing education, trade show displays, and career/job opportunities, and graduate school opportunities at the meeting. We look forward to hearing from you!

Please submit applications by email by April 1, 2022:
Kristie Coffman
Email: [email protected]

STUDENT WRITING CONTEST

Recognizes students for excellence in the communication of fisheries research to the general public. Undergraduate and graduate students are asked to submit a 500- to 700-word article explaining their own research or a research project in their lab or school. The article must be written in language understandable to the general public (i.e., journalistic style). The winning article will be published in Fisheries. Students may write about research that has been completed, is in progress, or is in the planning stages. The papers will be judged according to their quality and their ability to turn a scientific research topic into a paper for the general public and will be scored based upon a grading rubric (check the AFS website on the main awards page for the grading rubric). For examples of past winning papers, see Fisheries 32(12):608&609 and Fisheries 34(1):39) Please include your full contact information (i.e., address, e-mail, phone, etc.) to complete the package.

Submission deadline: April 1, 2022
Contact: Mark Fincel
Email: [email protected]

INVASIVE AND INTRODUCED SPECIES SECTION

2022 STUDENT TRAVEL AWARD

The Invasive and Introduced Species Section (IFS) of the American Fisheries Society will be awarding travel funds ($500) to support student travel to the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting in Spokane, Washington in August 2022.  Any student receiving funds must be a member of the Introduced Fish Section, give an oral or poster presentation on research involving introduced aquatic species, and attend the IFS Business Meeting.  Winners will be selected and notified prior to the meeting.  All eligible students (PhD, MS, or undergraduate) are encouraged to apply.

The completed application form (max 3 pages) plus a brief Curriculum Vitae (an additional max. 3 pages) must be returned by email no later than (date TBD) to the Chair of the Selection Committee:

Contact: Steven Butler

Email: [email protected]

MARINE FISHERIES SECTION

THE STEVEN BERKELEY MARINE CONSERVATION FELLOWSHIP

This fellowship was created by AFS in 2007 to honor the memory of Steven Berkeley, a dedicated fisheries scientist. Berkeley was a long-time member of AFS and a member of the first Board of Directors of the Fisheries Conservation Foundation. The fellowship comprises a competitively based $10,000 award to a graduate student actively engaged in thesis research relevant to marine conservation; a focus on fisheries issues is not required. Please use the current application requirements at the link below, as revisions have been made recently.

For more information and application requirements see: mfs.fisheries.org

Send electronic applications and recommendations, to be received no later than February 1, 2022 to:
Sue Sogard, Committee Chair

Contact: Lauren Maza, Director, Member Programs
Email: [email protected]

SCIENCE COMMUNICATIONS SECTION

EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC OUTREACH

Presented to an AFS member who goes the “extra mile” in sharing the value of fisheries science/research with the general public through the popular media and other communication channels. Two or more individuals may act as nominators, but, at least, one nominator must be an AFS member. Entries must include a biographical sketch of the nominee (not to exceed 3 pages) and supporting evidence of communicating the value of fisheries issues/research to the general public through the media and other communication channels, plus any evidence of teaching others about communication with the public. Please include in the nomination letter, the nominee’s title and full contact information (i.e. address, e-mail, phone, etc.) to complete the package. Nominations should be submitted electronically by PDF attachment to an email.

Nomination deadline: April 1, 2022

Contact: Julie Claussen

QUESTIONS ABOUT AWARDS?

For specific awards, please contact the award committee chair.  For general questions, please contact your AFS Staff Representative Lauren Maza.