The American Elasmobranch Society will present the Samuel Gruber Award for the best student oral presentation on elasmobranch biology given during the AES paper sessions. This award is named for the society's founder, who continues to be a source of inspiration for students in this challenging field of study.

The American Elasmobranch Society will present the Carrier Award for the best student poster presentation on elasmobranch biology given during the AES Poster Session. Initiated in 1999, this award has been made possible through a donation from Jeffrey C. and Carol A. Carrier, who have been longtime advocates of student participation in the Society.

To be eligible, a student must (1) be enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student, or have completed his/her degree within 12 months of the presentation; (2) be a member in good standing of AES; (3) be first or sole author of a contributed paper; and (4) indicate at the time of abstract submission his/her intention to compete for the appropriate award. To be a member in good standing, students must renew their student memberships by January 1 of the calendar year of the Annual Meeting in which the presentation will be given. Students joining the society for the first time will be eligible for Society Awards provided they are active student members by the abstract submission deadline for the Annual Meeting.

Student oral presentations and poster presentations will be judged by separate panels of AES members representing various backgrounds, and will include the previous year's award recipient, whenever possible. Evaluation will be based on the quality, originality, and significance of the research, as well as the student's presentation. Each participant will receive a copy of the judging evaluation criteria prior to the meeting. A minimum of three student presenters must be eligible for judging for either award to be considered. Winners of the Gruber Award and Carrier Award will be announced at the AES Banquet.

Stoye Awards of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists recognize the best student oral presentation in the following categories. Submission for oral presentation will be reviewed based on the following emphases:

1. Conservation Biology includes, but is not limited to, studies whose primary focus is on the conservation of biodiversity, broadly defined as the identification, protection, preservation, restoration, management, or sustainable use of currently or potentially imperiled taxa or assemblages and their habitats.
2. General Ichthyology includes, but is not limited to, morphological and molecular systematics, techniques in systematics, zoogeography, paleontology, and faunal descriptions.
3. General Herpetology includes, but is not limited to, morphological and molecular systematics, techniques in systematics, zoogeography, paleontology, and faunal descriptions.
4. Genetics, Development, and Morphology includes, but is not limited to, population genetics, DNA analysis, comparative embryology, heterochrony, descriptive and experimental development, comparative and evolutionary morphology, functional morphology, and biomechanics.
5. Ecology and Ethology includes, but is not limited to, population and community ecology, life history strategies, descriptive and experimental ethology, behavioral ecology, neuroethology, and ecomorphology.
6. Physiology and Physiological Ecology includes, but is not limited to, comparative and experimental physiology, biochemistry, sensory and behavioral physiology, and endocrinology.

Storer Awards of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists recognize the best student poster presentation in each of the following categories:

1. Ichthyology
2. Herpetology

To be eligible for either Stoye or Storer Awards, the student must

1. be the sole author and presenter;
2. be a member of ASIH;
3. indicate a desire to be considered when submitting an abstract (see instructions for Submitting Abstracts); and
4. meet the ASIH criteria for student: "an individual who at the time the paper is given is the equivalent of a full-time student (. an individual who is devoting his or her major efforts to a formal program of study) or who has satisfactorily completed a thesis or dissertation defense during the past twelve months." Stoye and Storer presentations are judged by the following criteria: introduction; methods; data analysis and interpretation; conclusions; innovation, originality, and scientific significance; presentation; and visual aids or graphic design. The rating scale is 0 to 10 points: excellent (9 to 10), very good (7 to 8), good (4 to 6), fair (2 to 3), poor (0 to 1).

If you are a Master's or Ph.D. student with research results, consider participating in the annual competition for The Herpetologists' League Robert G. Jaeger Student Award for Graduate Research. There are six prizes to be won.

To participate, you must (1) be a member of The Herpetologists' League in good standing; (2) be either a registered graduate student or have completed your graduate degree within 12 months of the Award presentations at the annual meeting; (3) submit a single-authored abstract by the "call for papers" deadline for the 2004 annual meeting, noting on the abstract your intention to compete only in the HL Award competition (this applies only to this particular abstract; different abstracts/presentations may be submitted to other competitions); (4) submit a single-authored extended abstract to the Chair of the HL Award Committee (four pages of text, double-spaced, minimum 11 point or 12 pitch type, 1 inch [2.5 cm] margins, with additional literature cited, tables, and figures for a maximum of 10 pages in total) written in format for Herpetologica, due 27 March 2004 (two months before the first day of the annual meeting); and (5) give the oral presentation at the annual meeting. Note that noncompliance with any of these requirements will result in disqualification.

The judges will review the extended abstracts and pick up to six finalists for the rest of the competition. Their names will be announced at the meeting after the presentations (all presentations will be in a single session). If you are a finalist, you will receive a travel award of $200. In addition, The Herpetologists' League will host a dinner for the finalists on the evening of the Award Session. The winner will be announced later at the HL Business Meeting, and the award shall consist of (1) $300 (for a total of $500), (2) 10 years of back issues of Herpetologica, and (3) an invitation to submit an expanded full-length manuscript to Herpetologica/Herpetological Monographs (which will be subject to normal review) as a lead article identifying the author as winner of the Award. All participants will receive collated comments from the judges on their talk and extended abstract.

Admittedly, The Herpetologists' League's student award competition is more demanding than those of the other herpetological societies, but the chances of winning something are higher, and we submit that you'll get a lot out of the experience whether you win the first prize or not. For assistance on giving oral presentations and writing the extended abstract, we recommend that you refer to the June 1998 Supplement of Herpetologica (Volume 54: S42-S54 and S67-S75).

For further information or questions concerning The Herpetologists' League award, contact Christopher Sheil, Department of Biology, John Carroll University, 20700 North Park Boulevard, University Heights, OH 44118, csheil@jcu.edu

The Henri Seibert Awards were initiated in 1992 to provide recognition for the best student papers presented at the annual meeting of the SSAR. To be eligible, the presented paper must be the result of research conducted by the individual making the presentation. The research must have been conducted while the student was enrolled in either an undergraduate or graduate degree program. Please refer to Herpetological Review 28(4):175 for recommendations to students entering the Henri Seibert competition. Students entering the competition must be members of SSAR. The presentations will be judged by the SSAR student prize committee. One Henri Seibert Award of US $200 may be given in each of the following five categories: Systematics, Ecology, Evolution, Physiology/Morphology, and Conservation. Students may only win the award one time. Please indicate the appropriate category for which you are applying on the abstract submission form. Announcement of winners will be made at the SSAR Business Meeting. All participants should be present at the business meeting. Contact Marion Preest for further information, mpreest@jsd.claremont.edu.

Ten awards of US $200 each are available. An applicant for a travel award must be a student and a member of SSAR, must not have previously received a travel award from SSAR, and must be the first author of a paper or poster to be presented. Application package must include: 1) letter signed by his/her major advisor or department chair that states: he/she is not completely funded for travel from another source; 2) an official copy of the poster or paper abstract to be presented; and 3) a self-addressed, stamped envelope. If the research is co-authored, the applicant must also include a letter from his/her advisor stating that the work was primarily the product of the applicant. Qualified applicants are pooled and winners are drawn at random. Students from the local meeting site and current members of the SSAR Travel Awards Committee are excluded from applying for a travel award. Applications must be postmarked by 15 April 2004. Award checks will be disbursed at the meeting. Send application package to Dawn S. Wilson, Southwestern Research Station, P.O. Box, 16550, Portal, AZ 85632 or for further information email: dwilson@amnh.org.

Student travel awards will once again be awarded to help defray travel expenses to participate in the joint meeting of ichthyologists and herpetologists. Awards are intended to assist students who are presenting a paper or poster at the meeting. Applicants must be ASIH members and the first author of the paper or poster being presented. Applications should include the abstract of the talk or poster, information on the expected cost of attending the meeting, and alternative sources of funding. Applications should be submitted via email, although regular post will be accepted if access to e-mail is not available. If regular post is used, please include a self-addressed return envelope. Any student making a presentation is encouraged to apply. Awards are limited to students who have not won in the past. Selection is by random draw from among qualified applicants, with ten awards for herpetologists and ten for ichthyologists. Applications should be postmarked by April 1, 2004. Direct queries and completed applications to: djhoeinghaus@tamu.edu or David Hoeinghaus, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, 2258 TAMU, College Station, Texas, 77843-2258.

Presenter:
Dr. John Morrissey

Hosts:
Melissa Pilgrim
Joseph Love

Faculty Sponsors:
Dr. Steven J. Beaupre
Dr. Terence M. Farrell
Dr. Kirk Winemiller

Moderator:
Brian E. Smith
BrianSmith@bhsu.edu

Presenters:
Todd Campbell
Mike Lanno
Erik Wild

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