Recipients of AOU Senior Awards for 2007
Keith A. Hobson is a senior Research Scientist with Environment Canada in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Saskatchewan in 1991 and currently holds an adjunct professorship there. Previously, he was active in the field of physics and participated in radiocarbon dating studies at Simon Fraser University.
Hobson began his biological research career with studies of diving behavior and diurnal roost-site use of Pelagic Cormorants (Phalacrocorax pelagicus) in British Columbia. He examined aspects of the behavioral ecology of Yellow Warblers (Dendroica petechia) for his M.Sc. degree at the University of Manitoba, and his Ph.D. research on trophic segregation among high-Arctic seabirds using stable-isotope analyses was completed at the University of Saskatchewan in the early 1990s. He continues to develop stable-isotope techniques in the study of seabird feeding ecology. Currently, he is also involved in studies of boreal-forest songbirds, with particular emphasis on the effects of forestry practices on population dynamics and distribution.
Hobson is widely known for his research on the development of stable-isotope techniques in evaluating avian diets and tracking movements of migratory wildlife populations. He and his team pioneered stable-hydrogen-isotope tracking technology, which heralded an entirely new way to track migratory organisms in North America and elsewhere. Most importantly, this technology does not depend on conventional mark and recapture of the same individuals but instead uses natural geographic isotopic fingerprints (isoscapes) of natal origin recorded within organisms. This stable-isotope technology is poised to augment and, in many cases, supplant conventional tagging methods because it provides clear and quantitative information on long-distance population linkages that cannot be gained with traditional techniques. Among the numerous successful research projects are migratory studies of Monarch Butterflies (Danaus plexippus), Neotropical songbirds, Loggerhead Shrikes (Lanius ludovicianus), Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis), and scaups (Aythya spp.), to name a few.
Hobson's contributions to ornithological research have been remarkable over the past two decades, and his scientific productivity is outstanding. He has published more than 250 papers in top journals, as well as book chapters, and, with colleagues, has just completed a handbook on isotopes and migration. Hobson is internationally recognized for his expertise in isotope ecology and has received several major awards. He is frequently invited to give papers at international conferences, workshops, and universities, and has an impressive list of co-authors from around the world. Hobson is generous with his time in advising scientific colleagues and students and informing the general public of conservation issues. He is currently the Editor of Waterbirds.
Hobson's unique blend of strong analytical skills and appreciation and understanding of avian natural history has led to extremely insightful research and development of invaluable conservation tools. His internationally shared "weapons of conservation" have tremendously increased our understanding of migratory birds and their habitats and make Keith A. Hobson an eminently qualified recipient of the AOU's Elliott Coues Award for 2007.
Award criteria —The Elliott Coues Award recognizes extraordinary contributions to ornithological research. There should be no limitation with respect to geographic area, subdiscipline(s) of ornithology, nor the time course over which the work was done. The award consists of a medal and an honorarium provided through the endowed Ralph W. Schreiber Fund of the American Ornithologists' Union.
Allan J. Baker, a leading scholar in avian molecular evolution, is the Senior Curator of Ornithology and Head of the Department of Natural History at the Royal Ontario Museum. A hallmark of Baker's research program is its depth and breadth. His Ph.D. dissertation reconstructed the evolutionary history and historical biogeography of the world's oystercatchers. He was a leader in using allozyme electrophoresis to study geographic variation in birds, multivariate morphometrics, and the comparison of genetic and morphological data. He also helped pioneer the application of population genetics to the transmission of song memes in birds. Baker was among the first ornithologists to switch to analyses of mtDNA to investigate evolutionary questions within avian species, and his study of the Dunlin (Calidris alpina) was a landmark paper in avian phylogeography. He incorporated modern DNA sequencing methods and retroposon insertions both to answer questions in deep avian history and to investigate evolutionary processes at the population level. His systematic studies were at the forefront of the field, owing to his use of mitochondrial genomes. For example, his studies of ancient DNA from moas has provided a fascinating glimpse into this extinct part of avian evolutionary history, as well as important insights into the tempo and mode of moa evolution. Lately, his work has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of rates of avian molecular evolution.
Baker is co-chair of the All Birds Barcoding Initiative (ABBI)
steering committee, which aims to identify the >10,000 species of
birds in the world with unique DNA sequences from the COI gene.
Another major research theme focuses on reconstructing the avian tree of life with molecular markers and then mapping other
biological characters such as life history, behavior, geographic
distribution, and ecology on the tree to understand their
evolution. Apart from studying how biodiversity has evolved, Baker is very active in conservation of migratory shorebirds,
which are declining around the world. In another landmark paper,
he demonstrated that the rapid population decline in Red Knots
(Calidris canutus) was caused by overfishing of horseshoe crabs
and their eggs in Delaware Bay, thereby preventing most birds
from refueling properly and lowering their annual survival in the
Arctic breeding grounds. Along with Professor Theunis Piersma,
Baker is cofounder of the Global Flyway Network, which provides
an early-warning service for identifying migratory shorebirds at
risk.
Throughout his career, Baker's many publications have been aimed at general audiences and have resulted in fundamental contributions to our knowledge of the evolution of birds at multiple taxonomic tiers and of evolutionary processes in general. For his outstanding and influential work in avian molecular evolution, the AOU presents Allan J. Baker with the William Brewster Memorial Award for 2007.
Award criteria —The William Brewster Memorial Award consists of a medal and an honorarium provided through the endowed William Brewster Memorial Fund of the American Ornithologists' Union. It is given annually to the author or co-authors (not previously so honored) of the most meritorious body of work on birds of the Western Hemisphere published during the 10 calendar years preceding a given AOU meeting.
Lynn Bloxom (Marty) Martin II has significantly contributed to progress in the field of eco-immunology, which is currently proving its explanatory power in many aspects of biology. Martin studies the physiological mechanisms that underlie life histories in free-living vertebrates, particularly birds. He combines field work with laboratory experiments, but his emphasis is always on understanding organismal responses in natural settings. Specifically, Martin is interested in understanding the connection between the immune system, energy expenditure, and survival of birds (and mammals). Such an approach is novel and has high potential in both basic and applied sciences.
Martin's career has already been highly productive. He began his master's thesis as a naturalist at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), studying woodpecker abundance and distribution in a managed hardwood forest. His emphasis was on what sorts of dead trees were preferred for foraging and excavating by eastern North American woodpeckers. Subsequently, he joined Martin Wikelski's lab in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University, where he received his Ph.D. for a study of immune adaptations of temperate and tropical House Sparrows (Passer domesticus). He then joined Randy Nelson's lab in the Department of Psychology at The Ohio State University (OSU), where he continued to study immune-life history connections in rodents. In fall 2007, Martin started his own research group as an assistant professor in the Division of Integrative Biology, Department of Biology, at the University of South Florida in Tampa. His current research involves identification of the physiological traits of good invasive species and the influence of stressors on immunity in wild animals.
Martin's publications are cornerstones for the new scientific field of eco-immunology. He and a small cohort of young colleagues across the globe have started to conduct research on comparative immunology in ecological contexts, research that essentially did not exist 20 years ago because many considered it unachievable. Martin's seminal contributions, thus far, are findings that (1) immune responses can be as expensive energetically as breeding, (2) immune defenses differ in predictable ways between ecologically distinct populations, (3) immune differences vary over time depending on environmental conditions, and (4) immunocompetence is not a monolithic trait that can be accurately characterized by one assay. Despite the complexity of the immune system, Martin's research suggests that general patterns of immune responses emerge when individuals, species, and populations are compared in natural settings, and that immune responses are tuned to individual life histories.
Martin is also a superb and dedicated teacher. His ideal is to combine mentorship with research so that students can actively participate in exciting new discoveries. He has received several teaching awards and mentored numerous undergraduate theses at VCU, Princeton, and OSU. Several scientific papers were published from these studies that included undergraduate students. Martin is both challenging and supportive to students, a style highly praised by the students he has taught. The AOU is proud to award Lynn Bloxom Martin II the Ned K. Johnson Young Investigator Award for 2007.
Award criteria —The Ned K. Johnson Young Investigator Award recognizes outstanding and promising work by a researcher early in his or her career in any field of ornithology. Candidates excel in research and show distinct promise for leadership in ornithology within and beyond North America. They must have received their doctoratewithin five years of being nominated, must not have received the award previously, and must be a member of the AOU at the time of nomination. The award consists of a framed certificate and an honorarium provided through a gift to the endowment of the American Ornithologists' Union honoring Ned K. Johnson, a lifelong supporter and former President (1996-1998) of the AOU. This award, presented for the first time in 2005, is funded by the Ned K. Johnson Fund of the AOU.
The AOU Conservation Award was established in 2005 to honor those who have made extraordinary scientific contributions to the conservation, restoration, or preservation of birds and their habitats. No group of North American birds is more threatened by degradation and loss of habitat than that associated with grasslands, and no two individuals have contributed more to the conservation and understanding of their plight in the American West than Carl and Jane Bock. Through 40 years of field research, extending from the high plains of eastern Montana through the savannas of southeastern Arizona, the Bocks have made major contributions to our understanding of the habitat and landscape requirements of grassland birds. Their published works have provided critical insights into the impacts that humans have had on western grasslands and their avifaunas, including the results of fire suppression, livestock grazing, introduction of non-native vegetation, and the effects of suburban and exurban development. They have contributed to the conservation and protection of grassland habitats through their involvement with organizations and land-management agencies. Through writing and by mentoring scores of graduate and undergraduate students, they have helped to inspire future generations of ornithologists and the general public to make conserving grassland birds and their habitats a priority issue.
Jane and Carl Bock graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, where Jane studied plant ecology with Herbert Baker and Carl worked in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology as Alden H. Miller's last graduate student. The eminent wildlife biologist A. Starker Leopold played a critical role in leading the Bocks to careers in conservation biology, encouraging them to purposefully blur the distinction between basic and applied research at a time when this was not the norm. Leopold also guided the Bocks into their first collaborative research project—a pioneering study of the avian and vegetative responses to stand-replacement fire in the Sierra Nevada. Following graduate school, the Bocks joined the faculty of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1968, where they have taught and conducted field research for their entire academic careers. Jane retired in 1999, and Carl in 2005, but both remain active field scientists. A seminal and serendipitous event in the Bocks' life was their discovery in 1972 of an 8000-acre property in the grasslands of southeastern Arizona from which all livestock had been permanently excluded, and that had been dedicated by the owners to conservation and research. The Bocks recognized this as a highly unusual opportunity to study southwestern grasslands and bird conservation, using this relatively undisturbed site as an ecological control against which to compare adjacent areas where livestock grazing, fire suppression, and exurban development were affecting the flora and fauna. Working with the owners, they helped to secure funding and shepherded the dedication of the site in 1980 as a sanctuary of the National Audubon Society—and the "Research Ranch" became the only Audubon property whose primary purpose is scientific study. The Bocks have conducted more than 30 summers of field work there, involving numerous students and colleagues and leading to more than 50 publications that address the conservation and management of southwestern birds and their habitats. Their work was critical in demonstrating the frequently negative effects of livestock grazing on the abundance and demography of southwestern grassland birds, the impacts of wildfire on grassland habitats, and the unexpectedly complex effects of converting former ranchlands into low-density exurban developments. Results of this recent work led the Bocks to develop and advocate an exurban land ethic, whereby the ever-increasing numbers of rural residents in the American West can improve the conservation value of their properties by the way they design developments and care for the land. The Bocks have written two books for general audiences that summarize their studies in Arizona (The View from Bald Hill and Sonoita Plain). These works have received acclaim as "a successful blend of storytelling and scientific reporting," written "precisely as well as lovingly," that "refute conventional myths about some causes of grassland change," that "will go a long way toward healing and restoring" southwestern grasslands, and that "every naturalist or ecologist should read."
The Bocks have been active in conservation and study of grasslands and grassland birds in the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains as well as in Arizona. They were Trustees of the Colorado Nature Conservancy at a time when this organization purchased and otherwise protected hundreds of thousands of acres of grassland and riparian ecosystems in the state. They assisted the National Park Service in developing management plans related to fire in grasslands of South Dakota and Montana. The City and County of Boulder own and manage one of the largest municipal open-space systems in the United States, most of it grassland. The Bocks were instrumental in development of management plans for these grasslands, and they conducted original and essential research demonstrating the effects of suburban edges on birds and other wildlife living in open grasslands.
Together the Bocks mentored more than 50 M.S. and Ph.D. students, most working in the fields of ornithology and grassland ecology. In addition to her work in grassland ecology, Jane is an international authority in forensic botany and was one of the first female ecologists to conduct field research in the Soviet Union. She received the Hazel Barnes Prize in 1997, the highest award given by the University of Colorado, for a career combining teaching and research. Carl is past President of the Cooper Ornithological Society and a Fellow of the AOU. In 1989, he received the Boulder Faculty Assembly Teaching Award. He was the first to computerize data from the Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count and to demonstrate, through numerous publications and presentations, the value of this unique data set in describing and understanding patterns of winter distribution and abundance of North American birds.
Throughout their careers, Jane and Carl's work has influenced policy decisions regarding the conservation and protection of birds locally, nationally, and on an international scale. In recognition of their extraordinary scientific contributions to the conservation of avian species throughout the world, the AOU is honored to present its third annual Conservation Award to Drs. Carl and Jane Bock.
Award criteria —The AOU Conservation Award recognizes extraordinary scientific contributions to the conservation, restoration, and/or preservation of birds or their habitats by an individual or small team (usually fewer than 10 people). Contributions from throughout the world and during any period are eligible. Appropriate activities include (1) applied research, restoration, and educational actions that conserve birds or preserve significant habitats; (2) scientific examination of the principles of avian conservation and application of new insights into species restoration; and (3) scientific evaluation, guidance, creation, and oversight of avian recovery programs or habitat-reserve restoration programs. The award consists of a framed certificate and an honorarium.
(Photograph by Sharon L. Sheppard)
Jay Sheppard has served as Managing Editor for Recent Ornithological Literature/Ornithological Worldwide Literature (OWL – www.birdlit.org) since replacing Peter Stettenheim in 2000. From 1995 until then, he served as the Nearctic Editor for five years. Jay has been a driving force behind this joint project of the AOU, British Ornithologists' Union, and BirdsAustralia. During his tenure, he has overseen, and in many cases performed with his own hands, the myriad tasks involved in creating a fully searchable and indexed database that now contains more than 75,000 citations. OWL is available free of charge to anyone in the world with internet access.
Jay has devoted an enormous amount of thought and hard work to this project for more than a decade and a half. The tasks he has performed have been diverse and labor-intensive. He developed data-entry protocols so that abstracts from a large group of volunteers spread across the world could be submitted electronically in a straightforward, standardized format. Software was developed to perform a number of checks and edits on the submitted records, including a unique and vitally important verification that all scientific names (including trinomials) appear in an acceptable combination that has been used in the literature over the past several decades. In addition to coordinating the input from a stable of regional editors worldwide and a large number of individual abstractors in North America, Jay single-handedly accomplished the conversion and entry into the online database of all of the citations in the print version of Recent Ornithological Literature going back to 1983. This was an enormous and demanding task, because a large amount of critical editing was necessary to convert the scanned printed citation into a format that was compatible with and useable in an online system. Jay has written, and just recently revised for the fourth time since 1995, an extensive and detailed manual of guidelines for use by abstractors submitting material to OWL, including a subject-indexing system to reduce search time by users.
The above covers most of the important facts regarding Jay's work on OWL. He has put in a huge amount of time on this project – on the order of 1000-2000 man hours per year. When he was getting the old Recent Ornithological Literature records into the database, he was processing something on the order of 500-1,000 records per week. It is definitely a labor of love for him. Recent analysis of website use has shown an average of 440 actual database searches monthly, showing the value of this service to the ornithological community. Jay continues to recruit dozens of volunteers to help cover the world's literature of interest to ornithologists. Any project like this requires at least one individual who is the "sparkplug" that keeps the operation running. Jay has been and is that person. For his outstanding service to the American Ornithologists' Union, we are pleased to award Jay M. Sheppard the 2007 Marion Jenkinson AOU Service Award for 2007.
Award criteria —The Marion Jenkinson AOU Service Award was created by the Council in 1996 in honor of Marion Jenkinson Mengel, who served the AOU as Treasurer and in other capacities for many years. It is awarded to an individual who has performed continued, extensive service to the AOU, including holding elected offices but emphasizing volunteered contributions and committee participation. Recipients are selected by the AOU Executive Committee. The award consists of a framed certificate.