TWS Wildlife Publication Awards

Works recognized by this award of excellence are scientific writing characterized by originality of research or thought and a high scholastic standard in the manner of presentation. Publications reviewed will be research or management oriented. Candidate materials are found in the entire scientific literature of wildlife biology and management, primarily technical journal articles, monographs, bulletins, books, and edited works. Diverse subject disciplines are eligible for consideration. However, the Committee will not consider fishery publications, since these are the prerogative of the American Fisheries Society.

Awards are given in the following categories:

  • Book
  • Edited book
  • Article/journal paper
  • Monograph
  • Student paper
  • Biography/History of Wildlife Biology (awarded in even numbered years of nomination deadline)

Award Criteria

Each year, works published in the prior three years are eligible for the award (e.g., in 2023, works published in 2020, 2021, and 2022 were eligible).

Members of the Society are strongly oriented to the values of wildlife to people. Hence we are concerned with management and maintenance of wildlife populations within the natural environment. The award committee will be interested in, but not limited to, investigations into the biology and ecology of wildlife and their habitats that has direct or indirect implications for wildlife management, research, and conservation.

Ordinarily, purely taxonomic, anatomical, physiological, and similar treatments do not qualify. However, a Committee may decide, for example, that a paper on the effects of radioactive fallout on hummingbirds is within its purview. This would be most likely if such a publication helped to explain basic phenomena common to many species of wildlife.

Works recognized by this award of excellence are scientific writing characterized by originality of research or thought and a high scholastic standard in the manner of presentation. Publications reviewed will be research or management oriented. This would not ordinarily encompass text books, compilations, bulletins, or purely popular writings. These, in addition to outstanding philosophical or interpretive contributions, should be reviewed and appraised triennially by the Conservation Education Award Committee.

Nomination of books, journal papers, monographs, and student papers submitted in previous years, but did not win, are also eligible for re-nomination if they still meet the nomination criteria.

Multiple-authored works are eligible on the same basis as single or dual authorships. All candidate works must be published in a standard outlet or format that makes them generally and permanently available or recoverable in the scientific literature of the world. Mimeographed or processed materials or unpublished theses do not qualify as publications for purposes of this award.

For the journal category award, only a discrete individual paper is eligible. A series of papers or companion articles are not eligible for the journal award.

For the student paper category, please view the nomination instructions for additional information.

The newest category, Biography/History of Wildlife Biology, addresses any aspect of the history of wildlife biology. It includes biographies of distinguished wildlife biologists and ecologists; history of an idea, policy, etc. important in the field of wildlife biology; and narratives concerning personal experiences as a wildlife biologist, particularly in looking back over one’s career and how wildlife biology may have changed. This award category will be awarded every other year, or even numbered years (e.g., 2022, 2024, etc.).

Nomination Procedures

All book and paper nominations should be received by all committee members by March 1 of each year.

For authored and edited book nominations:

  • Hard/Printed Copies – A hard copy of a nominated book or edited book should be sent to the Committee members listed below. Nomination letters can be included with each hard copy or sent as a digital copy to the Committee Chair who will distribute to the committee members.
  • Digital Copies – Nomination letters and a digital copy of a nominated book or edited book should be sent to the Committee Chair who will distribute to the committee members.

For the article/journal paper, monograph, and student paper nominations, electronic copies are preferred and should be sent via email, along with a nomination letter, to the Committee Chair.

Authors are encouraged to contact their publishers who usually are willing to provide books for nomination.

Seth Rankins, Chair
459 North 5th Street, Apt. #2
Laramie, WY 82072
(str0006@tigermail.auburn.edu)


Angie Larsen-Gray
505 Sunrise Dr.,
Blacksburg, VA 24060


Adam Ahlers
Kansas State University
Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources
1712 Claflin Road
Manhattan, KS 66506


Gavin Jones
Rocky Mountain Research Station
USDA Forest Service
333 Broadway Blvd SE, Suite 115
Albuquerque, NM 87102


Jeremy Baumgardt
3229 E Whitman Dr,
Boise, ID 83716


Gunnar Kramer
Department of Natural Resources Ecology and Management
2310 Pammel Drive
339 Science Hall II
Ames, Iowa 50011


Corinne Steinmuller
223 Hite Road
Warnerville, NY 12187


Darren Sleep
220 Woodridge Crescent, Apt. 407
Nepean, ONT
Canada K2B 8G1