Awards Committee

• Introduction
• Committee Members
• Terms of Reference
• Award and Nomination Information
• Past Recipients Information

Introduction

Each year, SCB presents five distinguished service awards and one LaRoe award for outstanding contributions to conservation biology or its application in policy, education, or journalism. Membership on the committee is open to any member of the society. The members of committee help to generate a diverse set of nominations from around the world for these awards. In addition, committee members help to define the policies and procedures for the awards process. This committee is open to new members at any time but is usually recrafted after the annual meeting.

Committee Members

Terms of Reference

Updated: Oct 2, 2008

The Awards Committee of the SCB was set up to call for, receive, and review nominations and recommend candidates for awards given by the Society in order to recognize the contributions of individuals and organizations to the conservation of biodiversity. The Awards Committee:

(a) reviews and selects nominations, and submits the names of nominees for awards to the Board of Governors in time for approval by the Board of Governors before the annual meeting of the Society,
(b) proposes new awards to the Board of Governors, and
(c) proposes potential sources of funds for such awards.

Each year, SCB presents six awards. We give four Distinguished Service Awards for outstanding contributions by an individual or institution to conservation of biodiversity through research or its application in policy, education, or journalism. We also give the Edward T. LaRoe III Memorial Award annually to an individual who has been a leader in translating principles of conservation biology into real-world conservation. Preference is given to individuals who have spent at least part of their career in public service. Finally, we also give one Early Career Conservationist Award, to recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to conservation soon after entering the field, thus helping to highlight and promote individuals who may find this recognition helpful in expanding their positive impact on conservation.

Membership on the committee is open to any member of the Society, but it is usually restructured after each SCB global annual meeting. Awards Committee members help to define the policies and procedures for the awards process. Committee members also promote and generate a diverse set of nominations from around the world, making sure that the nominations are complete and in time before the deadline. Committee members then engage in a discussion about nominees that culminates with the voting around the first week of December, 2008. All committee members help to select all awardees. The Committee Chair strives for committee members from all 7 SCB Sections and representation of membership at large, coordinates members, promotes communication, and moderates discussions. The Chair also communicates with the Board about recommendations for awardees, budget issues, and other related matters.

Committee Member Responsibilities and Schedule for 2009 SCB Awards

On or before October 15th, 2008: Each Award Committee member informs Award Committee Chair of 1-2 nominations that they will bring forward for 2009 Distinguished Service Awards.
            Committee members need to make sure the Committee Chair will have received all materials by November first, 2008. This means ensuring each member will bring at least one nominee, guiding the nominator or conducting the process themselves. Preferably one nomination will be by each Committee member and one, facilitated and promoted by each member, from a Society member at large, but not necessarily.
In addition to sending the names of candidates they will nominate, members will also send information about individuals who will provide supporting letters.

Nov 1, 2008: Each Award Committee member completes the nomination (s) of the stated candidates: All nominations and supporting materials must be submitted electronically in a single document, preferably as a pdf, to Rodrigo Medellín, medellin(at)miranda.ecologia.unam.mx. Nomination form is online at http://www.conbio.org/Activities/Awards/. Please note that it is the responsibility of the committee members to coordinate with the person who might be submitting their second nomination to meet the Nov. 1 deadline.

Nov 15, 2008: Award Committee Chair assembles final package comprising short descriptions of award nominees with relevant portions from the recommendation letters and circulates it to the Awards Committee. LaRoe committee chair does the same.

Nov. 16-30, 2008: Award Committee members review each nomination and discuss the merits of candidates electronically via SCB intranet site. Details about the functioning of SCB intranet site will be made available by the Chair before November 1st. The specific process of the discussion and voting will depend on the make up and size of the final group of nominees. Chair will provide details once all nominations are in.

December 1st-8th 2008: Committee members cast their final vote for awardees, taking into account conservation merit and service, gender, geographic, and disciplinary diversity in the overall group of awardees. This is to be done via the SCB intranet site. Sometimes, it is best to have an initial round of votes to select the top candidates and then proceed to the final vote. This possibility will be notified by Chair.

On or before December 20, 2008: Award Chair forwards short descriptions of recommended awardees to Executive Director of Society for Conservation Biology. ED posts materials on intranet site and makes site ready for BOG members to review the descriptions and other materials for each recommended awardee.

On or before January 15th, 2009: SCB Award Committee Chair coordinates with SCB Executive Director to finalize a date for teleconference discussion by BOG members. BOG members take stock of Committee feedback, and exchange views on the finalists for both Distinguished Service and LaRoe awards. Board members recommend approval or veto of each proposed awardee. If the board vetoes a name, the Awards Committee can choose to bring forth another name for approval or decide to give out fewer than six awards.

January 16, 2009: Results announced to SCB and BOG by Awards Committee chair.

January 20, 2009: Awards Committee Chair sends out notification of their selection to awardees.