ASM | ASM Committees

Grinnell Award Committee

Membership:

D. J. Schmidly, Chair (djschmid@unm.edu)
E. P. Lessa
S. R. Pugh
R. M. Brigham
T. L. Derting
S. G. Mech
P. Myers
P. D. Sudman

Committee Charge:

History and Mission
The Joseph Grinnell Award was established by the Board of Directors in 1996 to honor individuals who have made outstanding and sustained contributions to education in mammalogy over a period of at least 10 years. The award recognizes excellence in education in the broadest sense. It encompasses not only the traditional roles of teaching in graduate and undergraduate institutions, but also educational activities such as production of materials for federal, state, or local agencies, public education through creations of museum displays, and enhancement or encouragement of education through stewardship activities. Candidates may be nominated by colleagues, supervisors, students, or others familiar with their devotion to, and execution of, their educational activities.

Responsibilities
The duty of this committee is to solicit nominations for and select a recipient of the Joseph Grinnell Award.

Immediately after being appointed, the Chair contacts all of last year's committee members and asks if they wish to continue to serve. The Chair also will receive additional names from the President and advice him/her of deletions. The Chair then writes to all members rotating off the committee and thanks them for their service.

By 1 August, the Chair makes sure that the journal editor has a text file containing the notice that should appear in the Journal soliciting nominations for the Award. This notice will be published in the November issue of The Journal of Mammalogy. The Chair can use the current notice as a template and merely substitute where appropriate, e.g., name and address of new Chair to whom nominations should be sent.

In early fall the Chair sends out a message to all committee members asking that they solicit nominations for the award. The Chair may also write to the nominators of last year's candidates who were not selected and ask if they wish to renominate. This would require that they submit a new letter of nomination and any additional supporting documents.

In early November the Chair sends an email message to Mammal-L reminding the membership about the award and the 1 January deadline for letters of nomination.

In mid-January the Chair photocopies the letters of nomination and mails them to the committee members. The Chair also sends an email message to the committee asking that they read the letters and vote by 1 February. A "yes" vote means that a candidate is considered worthy of nomination and that additional supporting documents will be solicited. The Chair should check that the Historian (currently Hugh Genoways) will take care of having the plaque/award produced. If not, see below for plaque information.

By early February write to the successful nominators and solicit supporting documents. Full nomination packages consist of up to four letters of recommendation and other written materials illustrating the candidate's longtime commitment to excellence in education. Deadline for submission is 15 March.

After 15 March the Chair photocopies all documents and mails them to the committee with the request that committee members rank candidates and reply by 15 April. The Chair then tallies results of the voting. If the vote is not unanimous, the Chair contacts the committee and asks if all will support the top-ranked individual or goes back to the committee with an alternative plan.

In early to mid-April the Chair forwards the name of the winner to the President with a supporting statement. This information will be distributed by the President to the Board of Directors for the final vote.

The Historian has kindly taken responsibility for having the plaque/award produced. By late April, supply him/her with the text to be printed on the plaque. This is generally 3-4 sentences that personalize it. He/she will get the President's signature, pay for the award, take care of his/her own reimbursement, and bring the plaque to the meeting.

If the Historian cannot provide the plaque, the chair should obtain the award (Bib Book Plaque) by contacting:

Awards Unlimited
1935 "O" Street
Lincoln, NE 68510-1036
Ph: 402-474-0815 or 1-800-950-3553
Fax: 402-474-3782

The company has an account under the name of the American Society of Mammalogists but prefers to be paid by the person ordering. The prepared 3-4 lines of text should be camera-ready copy.

The recipient is announced by the committee chair at the banquet at the annual meeting. Before the meeting, the Chair writes the presentation speech. If the Chair cannot attend the meeting, the President should be notified and the Chair should find someone else to present the award.

The recipient's curriculum vitae and complete nomination packet including letter of nomination and supporting documents should be sent to the ASM historian for inclusion in the archives.

Committee Notes:

Candidates may be nominated by colleagues, supervisors, students, or others familiar with their devotion to, and execution of, their educational activities. A letter of nomination, maximum length two pages, should detail the candidate's excellence in education in mammalogy and should elaborate the reasons why this individual should be considered for the award. Nominations will be evaluated by the Grinnell Committee and full documentation will be solicited for all candidates judged to be competitive.

A single letter of nomination should be sent to Committee Chair Stephen Pugh (spugh@cisunix.unh.edu).