Student Awards
About the Awards
Students are invited and strongly encouraged for oral and poster presentations at the annual meetings of the Northeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation. Presentations are invited on all topics related to reptile and amphibian conservation.
Monatary Awards are given for the following categories:
- Best oral presentation
- Best graduate poster presentation
- Best undergraduate poster presentation
2022 Winners!
Charlie Holguin, Virginia Tech-2022 Best Graduate Student Poster entitled ” Investigating the Temperature-Size Rule in Eurycea cirrigera”
Nicole Dahrouge, University of Connecticut-2022 Best Student Oral Presentation entitled “Environmental Factors and Individual Susceptibility Shape Ranavirus Epidemics in Experimental Lithobates sylvaticus Populations”
Samara Davis, Ossining High School-2022 Best Undergraduate/High School Student Poster entitled “Detection of Threatened Pool-Breeding Amphibians with eDNA Analysis.”
2021 Winners!
Brady Inman, University of Massachusetts―2021 Best Graduate Student Presentation entitled “Development of a Skin Probiotic to Mitigate Chytridiomycosis in Eastern Newts in Massachusetts”
Nicole Dahrouge, University of Connecticut―2021 Best Graduate Student Poster entitled “Larval Temperature and Salinity Conditions Influence Juvenile Wood Frog Growth”
Maya Rayle – Harvard University―2021 Best Undergraduate Student Poster entitled “Transmission Dynamics of Ranavirus in Lithobates sylvaticus Juvenile Frogs”
2019 Winners!
Nicole Fusco, Fordam University―2019 Best Student Oral Presentation entitled “Exploring Genetic Connectivity of Stream Salamander populations within Stream Systems in the New York Metropolitan Area”
David Munoz, Penn State University―2019 Best Graduate Student Poster entitled “Range-wide Impacts of Variation in Metabolic Rate and Thermal Plasticity under Current and Future Climates for the Salamander, Plethodon cinereus”
Shakira Jinez, Canisius College―2019 Best Undergraduate Student Poster entitled “Photo Identification of the Eastern Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) Using i3S Spot”
2018 Winners!
Ariel Kruger, Rutgers University―2018 Best Student Oral Presentation entitled “Monitoring with Microbes: Predicting Amphibian Disease Susceptibility Using Lab-Based Microbial Challenge Assays”
Lauren Ash, University of Vermont―2018 Best Graduate Student Poster Presentation entitled “Ranaviruses in amphibian communities of Vermont”
Elizabeth Signore, College of the Atlantic―2018 Best Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation entitled “Employing an External Backpack Radio Transmitter to Track Post-Breeding Movements of Yellow-Spotted Salamanders”
Jakub Zegar, Drexel University―2018 Best Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation entitled “Predicting the Range of Anuran Body Temperatures in the Field Using Agar Models and Mechanistic Niche Modelling”
2017 Winners!
David Munoz, Penn State University―2017 Best Student Oral Presentation entitled “Responses of Individual Growth Rates to Warm Weather Conditions in Five Populations of the Red-backed Salamander, Plethodon cinereus“.
Brandon LaBumbard, University of Massachusetts Boston―2017 Best Graduate Student Poster Presentation entitled “Inhibition of Pathogenic Fungi Using Volatile Organic Compounds Produced by Bacteria”.
August Blackman, Oberlin College―2017 Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation entitled “Novel Salamander Guild Differentially Affects Small- and Large-Bodied Species through Niche Partitioning”.
2016 Winners!
Kristine Hoffman, University of Maine―2016 Best Student Oral Presentation entitled “Pitfalls of Analyzing Pitfall Data on Amphibian
Orientation”.
Jamie Shinskie, Bloomsburg University―2016 Best Student Poster Presentation entitled “Historic and Recent Canopy Cover and Stream Habitat Variables Affecting Eastern Hellbender Persistence with the Susquehanna Rive Drainage of Pennsylvania”.