STUDENT PRIZES AT ESA ECOLOGY 2003
David Keith
ESA Vice President
November 2003
ESA best spoken paper by a student $440
ESA runner up spoken paper by a student $220
ESA best poster by a student $440
ESA runner up poster by a student $220
Marilyn Fox ESA award for the best inaugural presentation by a student
$440
Australian Flora Foundation prize for spoken paper $250
Australian Flora Foundation prize for poster paper $250
Rainforest CRC prize for spoken paper $250
Rainforest CRC prize for poster $250
Blackwell Ecological Management and Restoration prize for spoken paper
$150
Blackwell Ecological Management and Restoration prize for poster $150
In addition to any expectations of prize winners associated with particular awards, all winners will be invited to prepare an adaptation of their award-winning presentation which will be profiled on the ESA website.
JUDGING CRITERIA FOR ESA CONFERENCE STUDENT PRIZES
1. Subject matter
Some of the prizes are for specific fields of study (refer to guidelines
below):
• Rainforest CRC prizes … ‘in the field of tropical,
sub-tropical or temperate rainforest biology and conservation’
• Flora Foundation prizes … ‘the biology or cultivation
of Australian native plants’
• Blackwell Ecological Management and Restoration prizes …
‘papers on ecological management and restoration’
2. Merit criteria
Merit criteria are offered as a guide for judges to rank papers in order
of merit. They are not intended to be prescriptive and suggestions are
welcome. The rankings are used to develop a shortlist for group discussion
by judges on the last day of the conference.
As a general rule, reports of work in progress should be treated equally
with completed studies, though all criteria should be considered. Some
of the criteria relate to content, while others relate to presentation.
As emphasis is generally given to content in other areas of student assessment
(seminars, theses, submitted papers, etc.), it is suggested that presentation
criteria be given more weight in judging for ESA prizes, although clearly
the best talks and posters should do well against both sets of criteria.
Spoken papers
• Did the talk have a logical structure?
• Was the research problem stated clearly and justified as worthy
of investigation?
• Was appropriate background information given (enough to explain
context, but not excessive)?
• Was the content a novel or significant contribution to ecology
(data, conclusion or approach)?
• Were the implications of the results adequately explored?
• Were the slides well-designed (not too complex or cluttered, large
font, diagrams and tables simple and self explanatory, no excessive or
distracting use of animation or other features)?
• Was the talk well-timed (completed in enough time to allow at
least one question, without hurrying through or jettisoning material)?
• Was the delivery fluent and engaging?
• Were questions answered intelligently?
Poster papers
• Did the poster have a logical layout?
• Was the research problem stated clearly and justified as worthy
of investigation?
• Was appropriate background information given (enough to explain
context, but not excessive)?
• Was the content a novel or significant contribution to ecology
(data, conclusion or approach)?
• Were the implications of the results adequately explored?
• Was the poster well-designed (not too complex or cluttered, large
font, not too much small text, no wasted space, background not distracting
from text or diagrams)?
• Was the poster eye-catching, without being too gimmicky?
• Were tables and figures self-explanatory, not too complex and
clearly labelled?
• Were questions about the poster answered intelligently by the
presenter?
ABOUT THE PRIZES
Australian Flora Foundation Prizes
Eligibility: any student papers on ‘the biology or cultivation of Australian native plants’. A NZ student working on an eligible project would qualify, provided the paper acknowledges that the plant(s) concerned are actually Australian.
Media: two separate awards for meritorious spoken paper and meritorious poster.
Award: $250 each for poster and spoken papers.
Presentation of award: if there is an AFF member attending, perhaps they can make the presentation, otherwise left to the ESA. The role of AFF should be mentioned.
Commitments: AFF expects to receive a brief summary or copy of the paper - a summary is published in the AFF Newsletter.
Blackwell Ecological Management and Restoration Prize
Eligibility: student papers on ecological management and restoration topics presented at the ESA Conference.
Media: two separate awards for meritorious spoken paper and meritorious poster.
Award: Blackwell books to the value of $150 for each prize.
Presentation of Award: Blackwell sends prizes to the winners when the EMR editor informs Blackwell of the winners’ names and addresses. The editor needs the panel to report back re the winner as soon as it is judged. Judges need to have experience in restoration science or practice (e.g. Ecological Management and Restoration Board Members).
Commitments: the sponsors expect that the winning paper and poster will be written up and submitted for publication in EMR. An announcement bearing the winner’s name is published in the next volume of EMR (usually the April issue the year following the presentation and generally after the paper has been submitted and peer reviewed). This is usually coupled with an advertisement calling for entries for next year’s conference.
Rainforest CRC Prize
Eligibility: students who contribute spoken papers and posters in the field of tropical, subtropical or temperate rainforest biology and conservation at the annual ESA conference. Rainforest CRC students who have already won a prize for the same or similar topic at the Rainforest CRC annual conference in the same year are ineligible.
Media: one prize each for the most meritorious spoken paper and for the most meritorious poster.
Award: $250 for best poster; $250 for best spoken paper.
Presentation of award: A/Prof Steve Turton (Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Research and Education, Rainforest CRC) will present the awards at ESA Ecology 2003.
Commitments: the Rainforest CRC expects each winner to write a short piece for the Rainforest CRC’s Newsletter Forest Matters.