Award Information and Guidelines
The SSAR Victor Hutchison Student Poster Awards honor Victor Hutchison for his extensive contributions to herpetology and the development of future herpetologists. These awards provide recognition for the best graduate student posters presented at the annual meeting of the SSAR. To be eligible, the presented poster 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 a graduate degree program. Students entering the competition must be members of SSAR. The presentations will be judged by the SSAR student prize committee. One Victor Hutchison Student Poster Award of U.S. $250 (plus a book gift from CRC Press) may be given in each of the following four categories::
1) Evolution, Genetics, & Systematics
2) Ecology & Behavior
3) Physiology & Morphology
4) Conservation & Management
The Victor Hutchison Student Poster Award will be judged by the following criteria:
Quality of Research
Quality of the Visual Display of the Research
Professionalism and Confidence of the Presenter
Students may win the award only one time. Please indicate the appropriate category for which you are applying on the abstract submission form. For tips on making a great poster see: Poster Recommendations.
Contact Allyson Fenwick (afenwick@uco.edu) for further information.
Results of previous competitions
2021:
Conservation, Management, Ecology, Natural History, Distribution and Behavior:
Rachel Alenius-Thalhauber (Texas Christian University), “Differential diets, growth rates, and survival of captive-bred hatchling Texas horned lizards (Phrynosoma cornutum) reintroduced at two locations in central Texas”
Evolution, Genetics, Systematics, Physiology and Morphology:
Kyle Emerson (Duquesne University), “The effects of microbial environment and temperature on neurodevelopment in larval amphibians”
For the second year in a row, we held the 11th annual SSAR Victor Hutchison Student Poster competition in a novel virtual format. In 2021 we used a new platform of ePosters on 26 July. Nine students competed. This year we gave two total awards across categories, owing to the relatively small number of participants. The awardees received a check for US $250.
This year’s judges were Dominic DeSantis (Georgia College), Christopher Schalk (Stephen F. Austin State University), and Denita Weeks (Colorado Mesa University)
2019:
Physiology & Morphology: Whitney Walkowski (Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center), “Endocrine Control of Retinal Sensitivity in Hyla cinerea“
Evolution, Genetics, & Systematics: Matthew Murdoch (Villanova University), “Comparative Phylogeography of Hemidactylus geckos and insights into biogeographical dispersal barriers in Myanmar”
Conservation & Management: Nathan Byer (University of Wisconsin – Madison), “Landscape genetic and metapopulation modelling tools reveal complex effects of climate and land use change on a long-lived vertebrate”
Ecology, Natural History, Distribution, & Behavior: Audrey Kelly (University of North Carolina), “Spadefoot toad females do not avoid mating with sterile F1 hybrid males”