Student Awards and Funding

Student Awards and Funding

The American Elasmobranch Society (AES) is committed to and proud of its student membership, and so supports and awards student research through multiple avenues:

All students are invited to compete at the Annual Meeting for presentation awards (the Samuel H. Gruber Award for best student oral presentation and the Jeffrey C. & Carol A. Carrier Award for the best student poster) and research awards (the Donald R. Nelson Behavior Research Award, Student Research Award, and the Henry & Anne Mollet Elasmobranch Research Award ). Students can also apply for Travel Awards to subsidize meeting attendance.

Student representation at the meetings has been increasing steadily in recent years, so the competition for the awards at this year’s conference is sure to be tough! Cash prizes are awarded to all winners.

Student Presentation Awards

Jeffrey C. & Carol A. Carrier Poster Award: Established to recognize the outstanding poster delivered by an AES student member during the Annual Meeting, this award is generously endowed by Jeff and Carol Carrier.

Samuel H. Gruber Presentation Award: Established by former president Samuel “Sonny” Gruber to recognize the most outstanding presentation delivered by an AES student member at the AES Annual Meeting, this award is funded jointly by a Sonny Gruber endowment and by AES.

Interested students must apply for the Carrier or Gruber award at the time of abstract submission. Late entries will no longer be accepted.

Student Research Awards

American Elasmobranch Society Student Research Award: The AES Grant Committee will give a $1,000 award each year to one student for research on chondrichthyan fishes.

Henry & Anne Mollet Elasmobranch Research Award: Established by long-time AES supporters, Henry and Anne Mollet, the Mollet Elasmobranch Research Award will award $1,000 per year for student research on chondrichthyan fishes.

Donald R. Nelson Behavior Research Award: The Donald R. Nelson endowment was established in 1997 to support student research on the behavior and sensory biology of chondrichthyan fishes and provides a $1,000 annual award.

Student Travel Awards

American Elasmobranch Society Student Travel Award: Students presenting a contributed paper as first or sole author during the AES Annual Meeting are invited to apply for financial assistance to attend the meeting.

Additional requirements

Students competing for the Gruber and Carrier awards are required to volunteer for 2 hrs in the AES store during the Annual Meeting. Students applying for a Travel award are required to volunteer for 5 hrs in the AES store. Any students applying/competing for multiple awards will only be required to volunteer for a maximum of 5 hrs.

Eligibility

Eligible candidates for student awards must meet the following criteria:

  • Be a current AES member in good standing (dues paid by Dec 31 of the previous calendar year)
  • Submit the application materials by the deadline
  • Travel awards are limited to 1 per academic degree, with a maximum of 2 per individual
  • Research awards are limited 1 per academic degree per each award

Individual awards may have further eligibility requirements, please consult the information included with each  application.