Awards

Distinguished Research Medal

The Distinguished Research Medal is open to any biologist, and should go to an individual who has made significant and distinguished research contributions to the study of Hymenoptera.

Conditions:

The award will be made no more often than every second year. A candidate must be proposed by a Member in Good Standing and supported by two additional Members in Good Standing [one nomination is sufficient, which must be supported by a total of 3 Members in Good Standing]. There is no restriction on candidates, beyond having made significant and distinguished research contributions to the study of Hymenoptera. Proposers of the candidate shall provide the Secretary of the Society with the name, curriculum vitae (including qualifications, career, distinctions and publications), a statement of approximately 500 words explaining why the candidate merits the award, and the signatures of two additional sponsors who are Members in Good Standing of the Society. A selection committee for the award of the medal will be appointed and convened by the President, and members of that committee shall themselves not be nominated or be signatories of the nomination in that year. Should the committee recommend to the Executive Committee that an award be made, the name of the recipient will be announced at the following annual meeting. The recipient of the award will receive Life Membership in the Society, in addition to the medal.

Recipients:

  • Richard Robinson Askew (2023)
  • Donald Quicke (2020)
  • Jean-Yves Rasplus (2018)
  • Mark Shaw (2016)
  • John Noyes (2014)
  • Bradleigh Vinson (2012)
  • Charles Michener
  • Zdenek Boucek
  • Alexandr Rasnitsyn (2008)

Service Award

The Service Award is meant to recognize individuals who have made significant contributions in service to the Society that went well beyond normal expectations. Officers and former officers of the Society can be considered, but obviously the award is not restricted to these individuals.

Conditions:

A candidate may be proposed by one or more Members in Good Standing. Any Member in Good Standing or previous Members of the Society are eligible for the award including current members of the Executive Committee. Proposers of the candidate shall provide the Secretary of the Society with the name and a statement of approximately 300 words explaining why the candidate merits the award. A selection committee for the award will be appointed and convened by the President, and members of the committee shall themselves not be nominated or be signatories of a nomination in that year. Should the committee recommend to the Executive Committee that an award be made, the name of the recipient will be announced at the following annual meeting.

Recipients:

  • Craig Brabant (2023)
  • Natalie Dale-Skey (2020)
  • Katja Seltmann (2018)
  • Lars Krogmann (2016)
  • Andrew R. Deans (2012)
  • Gavin Broad (2010)
  • Andrew Austin (2008)

Student Awards

Student Presentation Awards

First presented in 1999, Student Presentation Awards recognize students who are making significant contributions to Hymenoptera research. The awards are judged through presentation competitions during ISH-sponsored symposia.

2023 Hymathon Symposium – Online

  • 15 minutes presentation winners:
    • Session 1: Davide Dal Pos – A revised terminology for male genitalia in Hymenoptera (Insecta), with a special emphasis on Ichneumonoidea
    • Session 2: Monique Raymond – Investigating one dark taxon, Platygastridae (Hymenoptera: Platygastroidea), for biocontrol of another: The Blueberry Gall Midge Complex (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)
    • Session 3: Hsuan-Pu Chen – Incongruences between morphological and molecular species delimitation of the Taiwanese Netelia (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Tryphoninae) species
    • Session 4: Alexandra Viertler – Phylogenetic placement of Darwin wasps (Ichneumonidae) in amber, before and after CT scanning
  • 5 minutes presentation winner:
    • Session 4: Madalene Giannotta – UCE Phylogenomics of the Australasian Mutillidae: investigations into a little-studied parasitoid wasp

2022 Hymathon Symposium – Online

  • 15 minute presentation (Americas session):
    • 1st Prize: Louis Nastasi
    • 2nd Prize: Zach Griebonnow 
  • 15 minute presentation (East Asia and Australasia session):
    • 1st Prize: Juriya Okayasu
  • 15 minute presentation (Europe, Middle East, Africa session):
    • 1st Prize: Adrien Mathou
    • 2nd Prize: Amelie Höcherl
  • 5 minute presentations:
    • 1st Prize: Miglė Lazauskaitė

2021 Hymathon Symposium – Online

  • 1st Place, Americas Session – Aymer Andrés Vásquez Ordóñez (Universidad del Valle & Fundación Ecovivero, Colombia): “Ants-extrafloral nectary associations in different growth stages of Bombacoideae (Malvales: Malvaceae) trees in a tropical urban ecosystem”
  • 1st Place, Australasia Session – Jessa Thurman (University of Queensland, Australia): “Unravelling the life history of the wood moth parasitoid wasp, Virgulibracon endoxylaphagus
  • 1st Place, Europe, Middle East, and Africa Session – Michael Haas (State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Germany): “Hidden in plain sight: Investigating the unknown diversity of German Pteromalidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea)”

2020 ISH Symposium – Online

  • 1st Place – Cristina Vasilița (Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Romania): “A rare genus calls into question the morphological monotony of Trissolcus Ashmead”
  • 2nd Place (tie) – Lucas Hearn (Flinders University, Australia): “Temporal variation in parasite pressure: niche partitioning of seven parasitoids driven by host resource utilization”
  • 2nd Place (tie) – Ernesto Samacá (National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico): “Systematics and evolution of different phytophagous strategies in Allorhogas (Braconidae: Doryctinae) and other gall-associated related genera”
  • Honorable Mention – Jessica Awad (State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Germany): “The Perils of Platygaster
  • Honorable Mention – Marina Moser (State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart & University of Hohenheim, Germany): “Ancient amber meets modern methods: Using micro-CT scanning to describe new species of Spalangiopelta from Baltic amber”
  • Honorable Mention – Jonah Ulmer (State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Germany): “The Waterston’s Organ of Ceraphronidae: A morphological barcode to a cryptic taxon”

2019 ISH Symposium – St. Louis, Missouri, USA

  • 1st Place – Silas Bossert (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History & Cornell University, USA): “Schwarzia – Overlooked diversity in an Eastern African lineage of cleptoparasitic bees” 
  • 2nd Place – Zachary Lahey (Ohio State University, USA): “Phylogenomics of Platygastroidea (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupomorpha)”

2018 ISH Symposium – Vancouver, Canada 

  • 1st Place (tie) – Rachel Behm (University of California – Santa Barbara, USA): “Diversity of Ophioninae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) in California and the inclusion of new taxa into a subfamily phylogenetic re-analysis”
  • 1st Place (tie) – Zachery Lahey(Ohio State University, USA): “Phylogenomics of Platygastroidea (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupomorpha)”

2018 ISH Congress Matsuyama, Japan

  • 1st Place Presentation – Jeremy Frank (American Museum of Natural History, USA): “The first phylogeny for the Bembix sand wasps (Crabronidae)” 
  • 1st Place Poster – Hironori Iwai (Keio University, Japan): “Cuticular hydrocarbon camouflage: a social parasite strategy in Polyrhachis lamellidens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)”

2017

  • Symposia not hosted this year

2016

  • Symposia not hosted this year

2014 ISH Symposium – Portland, Oregon, USA

  • 1st Place – Carly Tribull (American Museum of Natural History, USA): “Pincher wasps and their prey: Geometric morphometrics, morphology, and molecules contribute to the phylogeny of Dryinidae (Hymenoptera: Chrysidoidea) and the study of host-specificity”

2014 ISH Congress – Cusco, Peru

  • 1st Place Presentation – Miles Zhang (University of Manitoba, Canada): “Resolving the Nearctic Peristenus pallipes (Braconidae: Euphorinae) complex using an integrative taxonomic approach”
  • 2nd Place Presentation – Crystal McEwen (University of Maryland, USA): “Progress in the revision of Disholcaspis Dalla Torre and Kieffer”
  • 1st Place Poster – Antônio Freire de Carvalho (Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil): “Spatial predictability of genetic diversity in the Neotropics using paper wasps (Vespidae: Polistinae)”
  • 2nd Place Poster – Erika Tucker (University of Kentucky, USA): “An updated phylogenetic analysis of Cremnops (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) incorporating the minibarcode region of COI”

2013 ISH Symposium – Austin, Texas, USA

  • No student presentations this year

2012 ISH Symposium – Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

  • 1st Place – Jason Mottern (University of California – Riverside, USA): “Phylogenetics and taxonomy of the enigmatic genus Coccobius (Aphelinidae: Coccophaginae)”
  • 2nd Place – Juanita Rodriguez (Utah State University, USA): “The origin and diversification of spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae)”

1999 ISH Congress – Canberra, Australia

  • Marcus Beck
  • Sean Brady
  • Karen Sime (Cornell University, USA): “The natural history of Trogus pennator: host-finding behavior and effectiveness of host defenses”
  • Nick Stevens

Student Travel Awards

Established in 2012, the Student Travel Awards support and encourage the participation of postgraduate students (earning an M.Sc., Ph.D., or equivalent qualification) working on systematics, ecology, physiology, or some other aspect of Hymenoptera, in the quadrennial ISH Congress and/or International Congress of Entomology (ICE) events. The Society and ISH Endowment allocate funds and advertise the award application process on a regular basis. Please stay tuned for the next application period.

2018 ISH Congress Matsuyama, Japan

  • Amber Bass (University of Central Florida, USA): “Phylogenetic patterns of cospeciation and host shifts in Aphidiinae”
  • Huayan Chen (Ohio State University, USA):” Multilocus species delimitation supports the existence of cryptic species in the egg parasitoid Telenomus podisi (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae)”
  • Sariana Faure (Rhodes University, South Africa): “The Systematics of the Afrotropical Chalcididae (Chalcidoidea: Hymenoptera)”
  • Nokuthula Mbanyana (Stellenbosch University & Iziko Museums of South Africa, South Africa): “Phylogeny and historical biogeography of an arid adapted ant genus Ocymyrmex in southern Africa (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)” 
  • Tamara Spasojevic (Natural History Museum of Bern, Switzerland): “From the origin to the present: reconstructing and dating the tree of pimpliform parasitoid wasps”

2016 International Congress of Entomology (ICE) – Orlando, Florida, USA

  • Erinn Fagan-Jeffries (University of Adelaide, Australia): “Australian microgastrine parasitoid wasps: Systematics meets citizen science”
  • Michael Haas (State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Germany): “How many species of Pteromalidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) exist in North- and Central-Europe?”
  • Shuang-Shuang Li (University Guangzhou, China): INSERT TITLE
  • Svetlana Orlovskyte (Nature Research Centre, Lithuania): “Sibling species of Chrysis ignita complex: Molecular, morphological and trophic differentiation of North European species and description of new species (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae)”

2014 ISH Congress – Cusco, Peru

  • 1st Place – Petr Jansta (Charles University, Czechia): “Molecular phylogeny and evolution of the family Torymidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) – are Torymidae really monophyletic?”
  • 1st Place – Rebecca Kittel (University of Adelaide, Australia): “Phylogenetics and biogeography of chelonine wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) based on a fossil calibrated multigene analysis”
  • 2nd Place – Crystal McEwen (University of Maryland, USA): “Progress in the revision of Disholcaspis Dalla Torre and Kieffer”
  • 2nd Place – Bernardo Santos (American Museum of Natural History, USA): “On the road to a total evidence phylogeny of cryptine wasps (Ichneumonidae, Cryptinae)”
  • 2nd Place – Erika Tucker (University of Kentucky, USA): “An updated phylogenetic analysis of Cremnops (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) incorporating the minibarcode region of COI”
  • 3rd Place – Mabel Alvarado (University of Kansas, USA): “Revision of the South American wasp genus Alophophion (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ophioninae)”
  • 3rd Place – Candice Owen (Rhodes University, South Africa): “Wingless wasps in the water -What?!?”

2012 International Congress of Entomology (ICE) – Daegu, Korea

  • Jason Mottern (University of California – Riverside, USA): “Morphology and phylogeny of the enigmatic wasp genus Cales (Chalcidoidea: Calesinae)”
  • Elizabeth Murray (University of California – Riverside, USA): “Uncovering the evolutionary history of a unique family of ant parasitoids (Eucharitidae: Hymenoptera)”
  • Elijah Talamas (Ohio State University, USA): “Olfactory and gustatory receptor genes in Trissolcus basalis
  • Anu Veijalainen (University of Turku, Finland): Award declined

ISH Endowment Student Awards

Established in 2012, the ISH Endowment Student Award may be used for any purpose that makes a contribution to a student’s research, including attendance at a conference, fieldwork, direct research costs, and the purchase of equipment.

2012 – Aline Christina Martins (Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil): Ph.D. research on the evolution of Centridini oil-collecting bees