Wildlife Graduate Students Sweep The Wildlife Society Awards!

SNRE Wildlife Graduate Students swept the annual awards at the 2013 Joint Annual Meeting of the AZ/NM Chapters of The Wildlife Society held 7-9 February 2013 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The three major student awards presented by the Arizona state chapter were each presented to University of Arizona students at the 8 February banquet.

Ashwin Naidu, PhD student in the Culver Lab, received the award for Outstanding Student Poster Presentation for his poster "Landscape genetics of mountain lions in the Sonoran desert" co-authored by fellow PhD student Bob Fitak and Dr. Melanie Culver.

Brit Oleson, MS student in the Conway Lab, received the award for Outstanding Student Oral Presentation for her presentation "Of owls and alfalfa: why do burrowing owls associate with irrigated agriculture in the southwestern U.S.?" co-authored by Dr. Courtney Conway.

Melissa Merrick, PhD student in the Koprowski Lab, received the Roger Hungerford Award for outstanding student. The Hungerford Award is given to a student who while attending an Arizona college or university made significant contributions to the management and conservation of Arizona?s wildlife and/or habitat. Weight is given to the significance of the contribution to management and conservation. The Award is given in memory of one of Arizona?s finest research biologists, Roger Hungerford, a former University of Arizona faculty member.