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

For 2023, works published in 2020, 2021, and 2022 are 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, 2023.

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 pdf to the Committee Chair who will distribute to the committee members.
  • Digital Copies – Nomination letters and a digital copy (pdf) 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 (pdf) 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.

Rick Spaulding, Chair
6765 NE Day Road
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
(rick.spaulding@mantech.com)

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

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

Quresh Latif
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
230 Cherry Street, Suite 150
Fort Collins, CO 80521

Andrea Litt
Dept. of Ecology
Montana State University
PO Box 173460
Bozeman, MT 59717

John Loegering
2900 University Avenue
UMC-NatR
Crookston, MN 56716-5001

Seth Rankins
459 North 5th Street, Apt. #2
Laramie, WY 82072

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

Corrine Steinmuller
4575 Mariaville Road
Rotterdam, NY 12306