The American Society of Naturalists

Robert E. Ricklefs, University of Missouri at St. Louis and in-coming ASN president-elect, has been elected the recipient of a Humboldt Research Award after having been nominated for this award by the German scientist Prof. Dr. Martin Wikelski, MPI für Ornithologie, Radolfzell.

This award is conferred in recognition of lifetime achievements in research. In addition, the awardee is invited to carry out research projects of his own choice in cooperation with specialist colleagues in Germany, in the hope that international scientific cooperation will be further promoted.

More information about the Humboldt Research Award is available at http://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/7806.html

2009 American Naturalist Student Paper Award

Thomas E. X. Miller is the recipient of the inaugural 2009 American Naturalist Student Paper Award for his contribution, “Herbivore-mediated ecological costs of reproduction shape the life history of an iteroparous plant” (T. E. X. Miller, B. Tenhumberg, and S. M. Louda, American Naturalist [2008] 171:141–149). The recipient receives an honorarium in the amount of $100 of University of Chicago Press books. The American Society of Naturalists created this award to honor student work published in the American Naturalist that best represents the goals of the society. To be eligible for the award, the work presented in the paper must have been performed primarily by the first author and primarily while she/he was an undergraduate or graduate student. In 2008, the American Naturalist published 52 papers with either an undergraduate or graduate student as the first author. The editors considered all of these papers in making their choice for this award. We can all be extremely proud of the scientific contributions that the new generation of scientists are making, based on this collection of exciting and innovative papers. In the end, the editors found Dr. Miller's paper an exemplar of the confluence of modeling, experimentation, and natural history that the American Naturalist strives to foster.

Ruth Patrick in the National Women's Hall of Fame

Honorary Lifetime Member and Past ASN President Ruth Patrick will be inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame, October 2009.

In announcing the 2009 list, the Hall’s Executive Director, Christine M. Moulton, said, “This group of dynamic, intelligent, and accomplished women is a reflection of the very best of America. Overcoming sexism, stereotypical expectations of women, and personal obstacles, each has become a stellar example of greatness in her respective field.” The Hall of Fame is honoring Dr. Ruth Patrick as a pioneer in "techniques for studying the biodiversity of freshwater ecosystems and providing methods needed to monitor water pollution and understand its effects. Dr. Patrick is credited, along with Rachel Carson, as being largely responsible for ushering in the current worldwide concerns with ecology. She was the first female elected chair of the board of the Academy of Natural Sciences and received the National Medal of Science in 1996."

2009 Annual Meetings

The 2009 joint meetings of the American Society of Naturalists, the Society for the Study of Evolution, and the Society of Systematic Biologists will be held at the University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, June 12-16, 2009. For more information, see http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/evolution09/

Professional childcare services will be available on-site at the conference (see details)

Robert Ricklefs Receives Humboldt Research Award

2009 American Naturalist Student Paper Award

Ruth Patrick in the National Women's Hall of Fame

2009 Annual Meetings

The Maintenance of Sex, Clonal Dynamics, and Host-Parasite Coevolution in a Mixed Population of Sexual and Asexual Snails

e-mail the society