Previous Award Winners

In 1978, the North Central Section initiated an awards program to recognize the best paper and best presentation given at the annual Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference.  In 1983, another award for the best poster paper at the Midwest was added.  The NCS established a new Professional Award of Merit in 1984.  The Award of Merit is bestowed upon society members residing within the NCS in recognition of outstanding professional accomplishments in wildlife conservation.

PROFESSIONAL AWARD OF MERIT RECIPIENTS
1985       Thomas S. Baskett
1986       Glen C. Sanderson
1987       Harvey K. Nelson
1988       L. David Mech
1989       Louis J. Verme
1990       Gordon W. Gullion
1991       Leigh H. Fredrickson
1992       George V. Burger
1993       Tony J. Peterle
1994       Edward Langenau, Jr.
1995       Ted Bookhout
1996       John Roseberry
1997       Not Awarded
1998       Not Awarded
1999       Charles M. Nixon
2000       Al Berner
2001       David J. Case
2002       Erwin “Erv” E. Klass
2003       Scott R. Craven
2004       Ollie Torgerson
2005       James W. Hardin
2006       Not Awarded
2007       William Anderson
2008       Olin Eugene Rhodes, Jr.
2009       Stephen P. Havera
2010
2011       Russ Mason
2012       Not Awarded
2013       Stanley Temple
2014       John Schulz
2015       Joshua Millspaugh
2016       Gary Potts
2017       Patricia Heglund
2018       David E. Andersen
2019       No nominations
2020      No nominations
2021       No nominations
2022       Dan Svedarsky
OUTSTANDING WILDLIFE STUDENT AWARD
               UNDERGRADUATE                                           GRADUATE
2011      Not Awarded                                                     Rachael Urbanek, SIU
2012      Chad Williamson, Ball State Univ.                  Jennifer Stenglein, UW-Madison
2013      Jennifer DuBay, Univ. MN Crookston            Joanne Crawford, Southern Illinois Univ.
2014      Shaley Valentine, Northern Michigan           Tracy Swem, Michigan State Univ.
2015      Silas Fischer, Ball State Univ.                          Sonja Christensen, Michigan State Univ.
2016      Lisa Zoromski, UW-Stevens Point                  Kristi Confortin, Ball State Univ.
2017      Aya Pickett, Michigan State Univ.                   Clayton Delancey, Ball State Univ.
2018      McKenna Hammons, UW-Stevens Point      Melissa Starking, Michigan State Univ.
2019      Joe Quehl, UW-Stevens Point                         Katherine Rexroad Western Illinois Univ.
2020     Amanda Heltzel, Purdue Univ.                       Gunnar Kramer Univ. of Toledo
2021     Brilyn Brecka, UW-Stevens Point                   Hannah Butkiewicz, UW-Stevens Point
2022     Nicole Luoma, UW-Stevens Point                  Laura Whipple, Northern Michigan University
ACADEMIC YEAR              OUTSTANDING STUDENT CHAPTER
1999-2000: University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
2000-2001: Hocking College
2001-2002: University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
2002-2003: Central Michigan University
2003-2004: University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, Missouri Western State College
2004-2005: University of Missouri
2005-2006: Michigan State University
2006-2007: Missouri Western State University
2007-2008: University of Illinois – Champaign/Urbana
2008-2009: Missouri Western State University
2009-2010: Missouri Western State University
2010-2011: Michigan State University
2011-2012: Missouri Western State University
2012-2013: University Minnesota Crookston
2013-2014: Missouri Western State University
2014-2015: University of Minnesota Crookston
2015-2016: University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
2016-2017: University of Wisconsin-Madison
2017-2018: Missouri Western State University
2018-2019: University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
2019-2020: Missouri Western State University
2020-2021: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
2021-2022: University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
BEST PRESENTATION
1978       William M. Heally & Richard O. Kimmel
1979       Randall S. Arndt & Thomas W. Townsend
1980       Mark R. Ryan
1981       William Eddleman
1982       Rex R. Johnson & James J. Dinsmore
1983       Robert M. Jackson
1984       John H. Hart, Henry Campa III,& Jonathan B. Haufler
1985       Larry Vangilder
1986       David Urich, John Graham, Robert Miller, & Edward Gaskins
1987       Tonie E. Rocke, Thomas M. Yuill, & Beth Fritz
1988       Frank R. Thompson, III
1989       Frederic A. Reid, Mark S. Kaiser, & Leigh H. Fredrickson
1990       No Award
1991       Brenda S. Clark, David M. Leslie,Jr.& Tracy S. Carter
1992       Guy A. Baldassarre & Chris Dwyer
1993       David L. Urich
1994       Loren W. Burger,Jr., Thomas V. Dailey, Eric W. Kurzejeski
1995       Therese M. Donovan, Douglas A. Clark, Robert W. Howe,& B.J. Danielson
1996       Tim A. Nigh
1997       Douglas Siegel-Causey
1998       Not Judged
BEST PAPER
1978       Erica Nol & Ronald J. Brooks
1979       Vernon G. Thomas
1980       Robert M. Jackson
1981       William Eddleman
1982       Robert B. Frederick, William R. Clark, & Erwin E. Klass
1983       Mickey E. Heitmeyer
1984       John H. Hart, Henry Campa III, & Jonathan B. Hauffler
1985       David Westmoreland & Louis B. Best
1986       Eric Kurzejeski & Larry Vangilder
1987       Scott Craven
1988       Susan M. Haig, Jonathon D. Ballou, & Scott Derrickson
1989       Loren W. Burger, David P Hones, Mark R. Ryan & Alice Wywialowski
1990       William H. Lane & Thomas Nicholls
BEST POSTER
1983       John T. Brady
1984       Theresa W. Shuman & James W. Bennett
1985       Stephen M. Schmitt, Thomas M. Cooley, Robert Strong, & George Burgoyne, Jr.
                and (tie) Glenn Y. Belyea, Harold Prince, & Pete Squibb
1986       Charles Dieter & Thomas McCabe
1987        James D. Garner, Joyce E. Hoffman, & Elizabeth A. Cook
BEST STUDENT PRESENTATION
1991       Brenda S. Clark, David M. Leslie, Jr.& Tracy S. Carter
1992       Matthew J. Lovallo & Eric Anderson
1993       David S. Klute & David E. Anderson
1994       Jamie Lafferty & John O. Whitaker, Jr.
1995       Meg Clark, Delia Raymer, Allison Gormley, Scott R. Winterstien, & Henry Campa, III
1996       D. Todd Farand, Alan Woolf, & Richard S. Halbrook
1997       David Unger, Eric Anderson, & Bruce Kohn
1998       Laura M. Myers, N.E. Mathews, & J.M. Kozma
1999       Brent E. Jamison
2000       Kyle D. Zimmer
2001      D. Todd Farrand
2002       No meeting
2003
2004       Peter A. Bull, Michigan State University
2005
2006
2007       Nico Dauphine
2008
2009
2010       Jennifer Stenglein, University of Wisconsin – Madison
BEST STUDENT POSTER
1991       Kimberly K. Kessler & Ron J. Johnson
1992       M. Isabell Bellocq & S.M. Smith
1993       Nicholas A. Stathis
1994       Jo Salyers, Catherine Kolkmeier, Karen Tyrell, and Virgil Brack, Jr.
1995       George F. Hubert, Jr., David J. Case, Robert D. Bluett, and Mark D. Duda
1996       No Award
1997       No Award
1998       Not Judged
1999       Lori Corteville
2000       Brian P. Piccolo
2001      Robert J. Fletcher, Jr.
2002      No meeting held
2003
2004     Aaftab A. Jain, Iowa State University
2005
2006
2007     Emily Koppel, Minnesota State University
2008
2009
2010     Bill Peterman, Univeristy of Missouri
BEST STUDENT PAPER
1990       Cynthia J. Wong & R. Ben Peyten