2021 TWS Wildlife Publication Awards Committee announces shortlists

In an effort to recognize the broad range of titles committee members review each year for the TWS Wildlife Publication Awards, the committee has created a shortlist for each category.

Each year, the committee receives nominated books and papers/monographs from authors, editors, publishers and colleagues for the awards. Committee members review the titles and score them based on five criteria. Based on the scores from all committee members, the book, paper and monograph receiving the highest total score is deemed the winner. This year, the committee received 54 nominated books from 30 publishers, 17 journal papers representing 17 journals, 10 monographs from 4 monograph publishers and 17 journal papers with a student as the lead author representing 16 journals.

A new wildlife publication awards category in 2021, the student paper category recognizes excellence in scientific writing in which the lead author of a paper was a student. The paper represents work that was completed predominately while the lead author was a student at a college or university and is eligible only if published, or accepted for publication, in a peer-reviewed publication within three years of the student’s graduation. A total of 17 papers were nominated in this inaugural year.

For more information on the criteria please see https://wildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021-TWS-Wildlife-Publication-Awards-Student-Paper-Criteria.pdf.

Here are the top five titles in the authored book, edited book, monograph, journal paper and student paper categories listed in alphabetical order by title.

Authored Book

• Richard Sale. 2020. The Common Kestrel. Snowfinch Publishing.
• Vincenzo Penteriani and Maria del Mar Delgado. 2019. The Eagle Owl. T & AD Poyser.
• Lowell E. Baier. 2020. Saving Species on Private Lands: Unlocking Incentives to Conserve Wildlife and Their Habitats. Rowman & Littlefield.
• Glynnis A. Hood. 2020. Semi-Aquatic Mammals: Ecology and Biology. Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Clark E. Adams and Cassandra LaFleur Villarreal. 2020. Urban Deer Havens. CRC Press.

Edited Book

• C. George and J.G.M. Thewissen, eds. 2020. The Bowhead Whale Balaena mysticetus: Biology and Human Interactions. Academic Press.
• Jean-Pierre L. Savard, Dirk V. Derksen, Dan Esler, and John M. Eadie, eds. 2017. Ecology and Conservation of North American Sea Ducks. CRC Press.
• Mark A. Colwell and Susan M. Haig, eds. 2019. The Population Ecology and Conservation of Charadrius Plovers. CRC Press.
• G. Krementz, David E. Andersen, and Thomas R. Cooper, eds. 2019. Proceedings of the Eleventh American Woodcock Symposium. University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing.
• Douglas W. Smith, Daniel R. Stahler, and Daniel R. MacNulty, eds. 2020. Yellowstone Wolves: Science and Discovery in the World’s First National Park. University of Chicago Press.

Monograph

• Kristin H. Berry, Julie L. Yee, Timothy A. Shields, and Laura Stockton. 2020. The Catastrophic Decline of Tortoises at a Fenced Natural Area. Wildlife Monographs https://doi.org/10.1002/wmon.1052.
• Eunbi Kwon, Emily L. Weiser, Richard B. Lanctot, Stephen C. Brown, Heather R. Gates, Grant Gilchrist, Steve J. Kendall, David B. Lank, Joseph R. Liebezeit, Laura Mckinnon, Erica Nol, David C. Payer, Jennie Rausch, Daniel J. Rinella, Sarah T. Saalfeld, Nathan R. Senner, Paul A. Smith, Davidward, Robert W. Wisseman, and Brett K. Sandercock. 2019. Geographic Variation in the Intensity of Warming and Phenological Mismatch between Arctic Shorebirds and Invertebrates. Ecological Monographs https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1383.
• Kelly M. Proffitt, Robert Garrott, Justin A. Gude, Mark Hebblewhite, Benjamin Jimenez, J. Terrill Paterson, and Jay Rotella. 2020. Integrated Carnivore‐Ungulate Management: A Case Study in West‐Central Montana. Wildlife Monographs https://doi.org/10.1002/wmon.1056.
• Mary M. Rowland, Michael J. Wisdom, Ryan M. Nielson, John G. Cook, Rachel C. Cook, Bruce K. Johnson, Priscilla K. Coe, Jennifer M. Hafer, Bridgett J. Naylor, David J. Vales, Robert G. Anthony, Eric K. Cole, Chris D. Danilson, Ronald W. Davis, Frank Geyer, Scott Harris, Larry L. Irwin, Robert McCoy, Michael D. Pope, Kim Sager-Fradkin, and Martin Vavra. 2018. Modeling Elk Nutrition and Habitat Use in Western Oregon and Washington. Wildlife Monographs https://doi.org/10.1002/wmon.1033.
• Anna B. Miller, David King, Mary Rowland, Joshua Chapman, Monica Tomosy, Christina Liang, Eric Abelson, and Richard L. Truex. 2020. Sustaining Wildlife With Recreation on Public Lands: A Synthesis of Research Findings, Management Practices, and Research Needs. General Technical Report PNW-GTR-993. U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, OR.

Journal Paper

• Christopher J. Schell, Karen Dyson, Tracy L. Fuentes, Simone Des Roches, Nyeema C. Harris, Danica S. Miller, Cleo A. Woelfle-Erskine, and Max R. Lambert. 2020. The Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences of Systemic Racism in Urban Environments. Science https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay4497.
• Fidel Hernandez. 2020. Ecological Discord and the Importance of Scale in Scientific Inquiry, Journal of Wildlife Management https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21942.
• Andrew Ladle, Tal Avgar, Matthew Wheatley, Gordon B. Stenhouse, Scott E. Nielsen, and Mark S. Boyce. 2018. Grizzly Bear Response to Spatio-temporal Variability in Human Recreational Activity. Journal of Applied Ecology https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13277.
• Kristin L. Laidre, Stephen Atkinson, Eric V. Regehr, Harry L. Stern, Erik W. Born, Øystein Wiig, Nicholas J. Lunn, and Markus Dyck. 2020. Interrelated Ecological Impacts of Climate Change on an Apex Predator. Ecological Applications https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2071.
• Gunnar R. Kramer, David E. Andersen, David A. Buehler, Petra B. Wood, Sean M. Peterson, Justin A. Lehman, Kyle R. Aldinger, Lesley P. Bulluck, Sergio Harding, John A. Jones, John P. Loegering, Curtis Smalling, Rachel Vallender, and Henry M. Streby. 2018. Population Trends in Vermivora Warblers are Linked to Strong Migratory Connectivity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1718985115.

Student Paper

• Christine E. Wilkinson, Alex McInturff, Jennifer R.B. Miller, Veronica Yovovich, Kaitlyn M. Gaynor, Kendall Calhoun, Harshad Karandikar, Jeff V. Martin, Phoebe Parker-Shames, Avery Shawler, AmyVan Scoyoc, andJustin S. Brashares. 2020. An Ecological Framework for Contextualizing Carnivore-Livestock Conflict. Conservation Biology https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13469.
• Andrew Ladle, Tal Avgar, Matthew Wheatley, Gordon B. Stenhouse, Scott E. Nielsen, and Mark S. Boyce. 2018. Grizzly Bear Response to Spatio-temporal Variability in Human Recreational Activity. Journal of Applied Ecology https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13277.
• Matthew T. Farr, David S. Green, Kay E. Holekamp, Gary J. Roloff, and Elise F. Zipkin. 2019. Multispecies Hierarchical Modeling Reveals Variable Responses of African Carnivores to Management Alternatives. Ecological Applications https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1845.
• Daniel S. Sullins, David A. Haukos, Joseph M. Lautenbach, Jonathan D. Lautenbach, Samantha G. Robinsona, Mindy B. Rice, Brett K. Sandercock, John D. Kraft, Reid T. Plumb, Jonathan H. Reitz, J.M. Shawn Hutchinson, and Christian A. Hagen. 2019. Strategic Conservation for Lesser Prairie-Chickens among Landscapes of Varying Anthropogenic Influence. Biological Conservation https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108213.
• Anna K. Moeller, Paul M. Lukacs, and Jon S. Horne. 2018. Three Novel Methods to Estimate Abundance of Unmarked Animals Using Remote Cameras. Ecosphere https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2331.

The committee hopes that these shortlists provide some recognition to well-deserved authors and highlight outstanding books, journal papers and monographs worthy of TWS members’ attention.

The winning authors/editors and publishers of each book category will be denoted by electronic and physical stickers stating that the title is the winner of TWS Wildlife Publication Award. The electronic version can be used by authors and publishers to highlight their award-winning title on websites and brochures used in conferences or other venues. The physical version can be affixed directly to the book to be displayed in bookstores, at conference booths, and other venues.

The stickers are meant to recognize excellence in scientific writing characterized by originality of research or thought and a high scholastic standard in the manner of presentation. In addition, the sticker promotes the wildlife publication award as given by TWS, the preeminent international association of wildlife professionals dedicated to excellence in wildlife stewardship through science and education.

The winner of each category will be notified in June.

If you have questions or comments, please contact Rick Spaulding, Chair, TWS Wildlife Publication Awards Committee, at rick.spaulding@mantech.com.