Henri Seibert Award Recipients for 2026

The 34th annual Seibert Awards were presented at the 2026 Joint Meeting of Ichthyology and Herpetology (JMIH) in New Orleans, Louisiana. These awards are named in honor of Henri C. Seibert, an early and endless supporter of the SSAR (having served as an officer for over 20 years). To learn more about the award, click here.

In recognition of outstanding student presentations at the annual meeting, two awards were given in each of four categories: Ecology, Conservation, Physiology & Morphology, and Evolution & Systematics. Congratulations to the award recipients!

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Ecology

Winner: Maddisyn Braun (University of Georgia) – Climate-Driven Variation in Size at Maturity of Southern Appalachian Plethodon

Honorable Mention: Olivia Weklar (New York University) – Untangling the impacts of climate and urbanization on the gut microbiome of the crested anole (Anolis cristatellus)

Conservation

Winner: L. Caden Comsa (Rutgers University-Camden) – Read Between the Snakes: Investigating the Conservation Genomics of Bahamian Bank Boas

Honorable Mention: Ferris Eric-Hisham Zughaiyir (Texas State University) – Measuring interspecific admixture in endangered Houston toads (Bufo [=Anaxyrus] houstonensis): The limitations of phenotype

Physiology & Morphology

Winner: Alyssa Head (San Diego State University) – Lizards in the hot seat: examining changes of thermal traits in an introduced population of Podarcis siculus

Honorable Mention: Stella Raymond (California Polytechnic State University – SLO) – Urban Oases: City Microhabitats and the Hydric Physiology of a Widespread Ectotherm

Evolution & Systematics

Winner: Benjamin W. Genter (Florida Museum of Natural History) – Rangewide Phylogenomics Reveal Taxonomic Discordance and Drivers of Diversification in the Southeastern Crowned Snakes (Colubridae: Tantilla)

Honorable Mention: Amanda Fleming (Texas State University) – Phylogenetic assessment of Salvadora species of the grahamiae group