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Ernst Mayr Award

The Ernst Mayr Award is given to the presenter of the outstanding student talk in the field of systematics at the annual meetings of the Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB). This is SSB's premier award, and is judged by the quality and creativity of the research completed over the course of the student's Ph.D. program. The award consists of $1000, a certificate of distinction, and a two-year subscription to the journal Systematic Biology.

Members of the Society who are students or have completed their Ph.D. within the last 15 months are eligible. Applicants may be from any country, but MUST be members of SSB, and are advised to join the Society as soon as possible to be considered. Previous Mayr Award winners are not eligible.​

2024 Ernst Mayr Award Winners

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Heru Handika, Louisiana State University
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Jerrica Jamison, University of Toronto

​How to be considered for the Ernst Mayr Award

2025 Competition

In 2025, the Evolution Meetings will be held online May 29-30 and in-person June 20-24. To submit your abstract for consideration, you must:
  • be a current member of SSB
  • submit your abstract via the conference talk submission page
  • submit by April 15, 2025
**NOTE**: When you register for Evolution, make sure you sign up for the correct talk type. You have to choose 'regular'. You are not an invited symposium speaker. Instructions are at the bottom of this page: https://www.evolutionmeetings.org/student-awards.html

Symposium. Based on the submitted abstracts, the Mayr Awards Committee (appointed by the Awards Chair) will select applicants for inclusion in the Mayr Symposium. Our Mayr Award symposium will be held during the virtual meeting.


Abstract and Talk Evaluation. For details about how the Mayr submissions are evaluated, please see the Reviewer Guidelines for this award. Additionally, go to the video links in the list of winners for some examples of excellent Mayr talks.


Co-Authors. The talk may be co-authored. It is understood that the ideas, data and conclusions presented are primarily and substantially the work of the student presenter, and the intention is that the student presenter will be senior author on the published version of the paper. If a submission includes multiple authors, include a brief section below the abstract that outlines the contribution of each author to the research.

Notification of Participation. By the first week of May, 2025, the Awards Committee will notify individuals about their participation in the online Mayr Award  symposium. 

Notification of Winner. The winner of the award will be announced at the SSB presidential address during the Evolution Meetings, whereupon the winner will be given an award certificate (the check will be mailed). An announcement of the winner will also be published in Systematic Biology and placed on the SSB website.

Past Winners of Outstanding Presentation Awards

2023 Jessie L. Williamson, University of New Mexico
2022 Mark Hibbins, Indiana University
2022 Dylan DeBaun, AMNH
2021 Seira Ashley Adams, University of California, Berkeley (Mayr Award)
2021 Andrew Magee, University of Washington (Mayr Award)
2021 Kaiya Provost, AMNH (Excellence Award)
2020 No Award
2019 
Sandra Álvarez-Carretero, Queen Mary University of London
2018 Ian Brennan, Australian National University (video)
2017 Eli Levy Karin, Tel Aviv University
2017 Rosana Zenil-Ferguson, University of Idaho (video)
2016 Michael Landis, Yale University (video)
​2016 Laura Lagomarsino, University of Missouri, St. Louis (video)
2015 Kayce Bell, University of New Mexico
2015 Noor White, Smithsonian Institution
2014 Rayna Bell, Cornell University
2014 Benjamin Winger, University of Chicago
2013 Christopher Martin, University of California, Davis
2012 Chris Nasrallah, University of California, Berkeley
2011 Matthew Ogburn, Brown University
2010 David Winter, University of Otago, and
2010 Jeremy M. Brown, University of Texas, Austin
2009 Clemens Lakner, Florida State University, and
2009 Dan Rabosky, Cornell University
2008 John Paul, University of Pittsburgh
2007 Matt Brandley, University of California, Berkeley, and
2007 James Haile, Oxford University
2006 Catherine R. Linnen, Harvard University
2005 Jonathon Q. Richmond, University of Connecticut, Storrs, &
2005 Heather Maughan University of Arizona
2004 Christopher C. Witt, Louisiana State University
2003 Nicolas Salamin, University of Washington
2002 Lena Hileman, Yale University, and
2002 Todd Oakley, University of Chicago
2001 Geoff Morse, Harvard University, and
2001 Alexei Drummond, University of Auckland, and
2001 Adam Leaché, Louisiana State University
2000 R. Craig Albertson, University of New Hampshire
1999 Frank 'Andy' Anderson, Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, and
1999 George Weiblen, Harvard University
1998 Hopi E. Hoekstra, University of Washington, Seattle, and
1998 Jim McGuire, University of Texas, Austin
1997 Steven Poe, University of Texas, Austin
1996 Sharon Messenger, University of Texas, Austin
1995 Allan Cooper, Victoria University, NZ, and
1995 Scott Steppan, University of Chicago
1994 Anna Graybeal, University of California, Berkeley
1993 Michael Whiting, AMNH, New York
1992 Scott Edwards, University of California, Berkeley
1991 John Huelsenbeck,University of Texas, Austin
1990 No Award
1989 Richard Cloutier, University of Kansas
1988 Linda Ford, University of Kansas
1987 Darrel Frost, University of Kansas
1986 Linda Dryden, University of Kansas
1985 David Cannatella, University of Kansas
1984 Eldredge Bermingham, University of Georgia, Athens
1983 Janine Caira, University of Nebraska, and
1983 Richard O'Grady, University of British Columbia
1982 Jonathan Coddington, Harvard University
1981 Kevin de Queiroz, San Diego State University
1980 No Award
1979 Sadie Coats, University of California, Berkeley
1978 No Award
1977 Sharon Simpson, University of Illinois, Chicago
1976 Diane Calabrese, University of Connecticut
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