The American Society of Naturalists confers several awards each year to honor scientists of great distinction.
Honorary Lifetime Membership
Honorary lifetime membership in the American Society of Naturalists is intended to recognize scientists whose research careers epitomize the mission of the society, which is the conceptual unification of the biological sciences. The society limits the number of honorary lifetime memberships to twelve.
| Joseph Connell | Margaret Davis | Peter Grant |
| Rosemary Grant | Daniel Janzen | Robert Paine |
| Ruth Patrick | Robert Sokal | Mary Willson |
| E. O. Wilson |
Sewall Wright Award
The Sewall Wright Award, established in 1991, is given annually and honors a senior but still active investigator who is making fundamental contributions to the Society's goals, namely, promoting the conceptual unification of the biological sciences. The award includes an honorarium of $1,000.
Nominations for the Sewall Wright Award
Nominations are usually due November 1 of the year before the award is presented and usually require a nomination packet, which must include a letter of nomination and a curriculum vitae including a publication list.
| 1992 | Russell Lande |
| 1993 | Joseph Felsenstein |
| 1994 | Richard C. Lewontin |
| 1995 | John Maynard Smith |
| 1996 | Robert T. Paine |
| 1997 | Douglas J. Futuyma |
| 1998 | William D. Hamilton |
| 1999 | Janis Antonovics |
| 2000 | Montgomery Slatkin |
| 2001 | Illkka A. Hanski |
| 2002 | Linda Partridge |
| 2003 | Mary Jane West-Eberhard |
| 2004 | Rudolf Raff |
| 2005 | Robert E. Ricklefs |
| 2006 | Brian Charlesworth |
| 2007 | Dolph Schluter |
| 2008 | Spencer Barrett |
| 2009 | Michael Wade |
| 2010 | William R. Rice |
| 2011 | Robert D. Holt |
Edward O. Wilson Naturalist Award
In recognition of the lifetime of outstanding contributions of Professor E. O. Wilson in the areas of ecology and evolutionary biology, including the study of social insects, biodiversity, and biophilia, this award was established in the year of Professor Wilson's retirement from Harvard University. The E. O. Wilson Naturalist Award is given to an active investigator in mid-career who has made significant contributions to the knowledge of a particular ecosystem or group of organisms. Individuals whose research and writing illuminate principles of evolutionary biology and an enhanced aesthetic appreciation of natural history will merit special consideration. The award consists of an especially appropriate work of art and an honorarium of $2,000, presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Naturalists.
Nominations for the Edward O. Wilson Naturalist Award
Nominations are usually due November 1 of the year before the award is presented and usually require a nomination packet that includes a letter of nomination, a curriculum vitae including a publication list, and three key publications.
| 1998 | B. Rosemary Grant & Peter R. Grant |
| 1999 | May R. Berenbaum |
| 2000 | Rick Shine & Harry Greene |
| 2001 | Bernard J. Crespi |
| 2002 | Douglas Schemske |
| 2003 | David Reznick |
| 2004 | Paul Dayton |
| 2005 | Laurent Keller |
| 2006 | John Longino |
| 2007 | Trevor Price |
| 2008 | Ulrich Mueller |
| 2009 | Jonathan Losos |
| 2010 | Michael J. Ryan |
| 2011 | Joseph Travis |
Presidential Award
This award is for the best paper published in The American Naturalist during the calendar year preceding the President's term of office. The President of the American Society of Naturalists (ASN) makes this award.
| 1984 | Murdoch, W. W., J. D. Reeve, C. B. Huffaker, and C. E. Kennett. Biological control of olive scale and its relevance to ecological theory. 123:371-392. |
| 1985 | Lenski, R., and B. Levin. Constraints on the coevolution of bacteria and virulent phage: a model, some experiments, and predictions for natural communities. 125:585-602. |
| 1986 | Mitchell-Olds, T., and J. Rutledge. Quantitative genetics in natural plant populations: a review of the theory. 127:379-402. |
| 1987 | Ritland, K., and M. Clegg. Evolutionary analyses of plant DNA sequences. 130:S74-S100. |
| 1988 | Moran, N. A. The evolution of host-plant alteration in aphids: evidence for specialization as a dead end. 132:681-706. |
| 1989 | Rabinowitz, D., J. K. Rapp, S. Cairns, and M. Mayer. The persistence of rare prarie grasses in Missouri: environmental variation buffered by reproductive output of sparse species. 134:525-544. |
| 1990 | Chai, P., and R. Srygley. Predation and the flight, morphology, and temperature of Neotropical rain-forest butterflies. 135:748-765. & Srygley, R., and P. Chai. Predation and the elevation of thoracic temperature in brightly colored Neotropical butterflies. 135:766-787. |
| 1991 | Lenski, R. E., M. R. Rose, S. C. Simpson, and S. C. Tadler. Long-term experimental evolution in Escheria coli. I. Adaptation and divergence during 2000 generations. 138:1315-1341. |
| 1992 | Herrera, C. M. Historical effects and sorting processes as explanations for contemporary ecological patterns: character syndromes in Mediterranean woody plants. 140:421-446. |
| 1993 | Ross, K. G. The breeding system of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta: effects on colony genetic structure. 141:554-576. |
| 1994 | Not awarded. |
| 1995 | Not awarded. |
| 1996 | Schluter, D. Ecological causes of adaptive radiation. 148:S40-S64. |
| 1997 | Kirkpatrick, M., and N. H. Barton. Evolution of a species' range. 150:1-23. |
| 1998 | Ricklefs, R. E. Rate of aging in birds and mammals: confirmation of a fundamental prediction, with implications for the genetic basis and evolution of life span. 152:24-44. |
| 1999 | Not awarded. |
| 2000 | Gavrilets, Sergey. A dynamical theory of speciation on holey adaptive landscapes. 154:1-22. |
| 2001 | Colwell, Robert K. Rensch's rule crosses the line: convergent allometry of sexual size dimorphism in hummingbirds and flower mites. 156:495-510. |
| 2002 | Agrawal, Aneil, E. D. Brodie, and M. J. Wade. On indirect genetic effects in structured populations. 158:308-323. |
| 2003 | Grotkopp, E., M. Rejmánek, and T.L. Root. Towards a causal explanation of plant invasiveness: seedling growth and life-history strategies of 29 Pine (Pinus) species. 159:396-419. |
| 2004 | Huey, Raymond B., Paul E. Hertz, and Barry Sinervo. 2003. Behavioral Drive versus Behavioral Inertia in Evolution: A Null Model Approach. 161:357-366. |
| 2005 | Luttbeg, Barney, and Tom Langen. 2004. Comparing alternative models to empirical data: cognitive models of Western scrub-jay foraging behavior. 163:263-276. |
| 2006 | Fagan, William F., Mark Lewis, Michael G. Neubert, Craig Aumann, Jennifer L. Apple, and John G. Bishop. 2005. When can herbivores reverse the spread of an invading plant? A test case from Mount St. Helens. 166:669-686. |
| 2007 | Solari, C. A., J. O. Kessler, and R. E. Michod 2006. A hydrodynamics approach to the evolution of multicellularity: flagellar motility and germ-soma differentiation in volvocalean green. 167:537-554. |
| 2008 | Kraft, Nathan J. B., William K. Cornwell, Campbell O. Webb, and David D. Ackerly. Trait evolution, community assembly, and the phylogenetic structure of ecological communities. 170:271–283. |
| 2009 | Shaw , Ruth, Charles Geyer, Stuart Wagenius, Helen Hangelbroek, and Julie Etterson. Unifying life-history analyses for inference of fitness and population growth 172:E35–E47. |
| 2010 | Evans, Margaret E. K., Stephen A. Smith, Rachel S. Flynn, and Michael J. Donoghue. Climate, Niche Evolution, and Diversification of the "Bird-Cage" Evening Primroses (Oenothera, Sections Anogra and Kleinia). 173:225-240. |
| 2011 | Kozak, Kenneth H., and John J. Wiens, Niche conservatism drives elevational diversity patterns in Appalachian salamanders. 176:40-54, |
Jasper J. Loftus-Hills Young Investigators Award
The Jasper J. Loftus-Hills Young Investigators Award was established in 1984 to recognize outstanding and promising work by investigators who received their doctorates in the three years preceding the application deadline or who are in their final year of graduate school. Jasper Loftus-Hills (1946-1974) was an Australian biologist of exceptional promise, who had published 16 articles in the three years after receiving his degree. He was killed by a hit-and-run driver while tape recording frog calls along a Texas highway. After his death, a frog was named in his honor, Eleutherodactylus jasperi. The award includes presentation of a research paper at the annual meeting of the American Society of Naturalists, an award of $500, a travel allowance of $700, and a supplement of $500 in case of international travel.
Applications for the Jasper J. Loftus-Hills Young Investigators’ Award
The committee usually requests applications for the award by November 1 of the year before the award is presented. Applications should be from anyone supporting the objectives of the Society who received their doctorates in the three years preceding the application deadline or who are in their final year of graduate school. Suggested names and addresses of people who should be encouraged to apply are also welcome. Applications should consist of no more than three pages (excluding tables, figures, and references) that summarize the applicant’s work, no more than four appropriate reprints, a curriculum vitae, and two letters from individuals familiar with the applicant’s work.
| 1985 | Gayle Muenchow, Mary Power, Trevor D. Price, David C. Queller, and Dolph Schluter |
| 1986 | Ary A. Hoffmann, Carl D. Schlichting, Brian A. Maurer, and Steve Orzack |
| 1987 | Steven A. Frank, C. Drew Harvell, Steven E. Kelley, and Mark Kirkpatrick |
| 1988 | David E. Cowley, Marlene Zuk, Carole L. Hom, and Kirk A. Moloney |
| 1989 | Anne Houde, Allen J. Moore, Barry Sinervo, and David F. Westneat |
| 1990 | Tamar Dayan, James Marden, Axel Meyer, and Sharon Strauss |
| 1991 | Alexandra Basolo, H. Lisle Gibbs, Andrew Read, and Ken Spitze |
| 1992 | Leticia Avilés, Edmund D. Brodie III, Eric D. Fajer, H. Allen Orr, and J. Timothy Wootton |
| 1993 | Joy Bergelson, Lee Dugatkin, Lock Rowe, and Geoff Hill |
| 1994 | Elena R. Alvarez-Buylla, Keith A. Crandall, Frederick J. Janzen, Douglas R. Taylor, and Peter H. Thrall |
| 1995 | Göran Arnqvist, David Begun, Sally P. Otto, and Zhao Yang |
| 1996 | Rufus A. Johnstone, Christian P. Klingenberg, David L. Stern, and John P. Swaddle |
| 1997 | Hong-Wen Deng, Douglas J. Emlen, Sally Hacker, John Kelley, and Leslie Pray |
| 1998 | Hiroshi Akashi, Rodney Mauricio, Mohammed Noor, Kevin Omland, and Peter Waddell |
| 1999 | Anurag Agrawal, Johnathan Chase, Troy Day, P. Ingvarsson, and Lukas F. Keller |
| 2000 | Jef Huisman, Thomas Lenormand, Maria Servedio, Jennifer Thaler, Jason Wolf |
| 2001 | Andrew Hendry, Ole Seehausen, Priyanga Amarasekare, Anna Qvarnström, George Weiblen |
| 2002 | Sylvain Gandon, Jean M. L. Richardson, Ophélie Ronce, and Howard D. Rundle |
| 2003 | Hopi Hoekstra and Jonathan Levine |
| 2004 | Aneil Agrawal, Doris Bachtrog, Armin Moczek, and Diego Vázquez |
| 2005 | Dan Bolnick, Alison Galvani, Jeff Townsend, Mark Vellend |
| 2006 | Rebecca Fuller, Ryan Gregory, Patrik Nosil, Brian Silliman |
| 2007 | Andy Gardner, Maurine Neiman, Daniel Ortiz-Barrientos, G. Sander van Doorn |
| 2008 | Jennifer Lau, Judith Mank, Volker Rudolf, and Mark Urban |
| 2009 | Brian Langerhans, Luke Harmon, Renee Duckworth, Jason Kolbe |
| 2010 | Stephanie Carlson, Marc Johnson, Joel McGlothlin, and Daniel Rabosky |
| 2011 | Michael Kasumovic, Robert Pringle, Nathan Swenson, and Daniel Warner. |
American Naturalist Student Paper Award
The American Society of Naturalists created the American Naturalist Student Paper Award to honor student work published in the American Naturalist that best represents the goals of the society. To be eligible for the award, the work presented in the paper must have been performed primarily by the first author and primarily while she/he was an undergraduate or graduate student. The editors of the American Naturalist form the committee to consider the papers published in the year before.
| 2009 | Thomas E. X. Miller |
| 2010 | Deepa Agashe |
| 2011 | Casey P. terHorst |
