ASM | ASM Committees

Latin American Fellowship Committee

Membership:

Joseph A. Cook, Chair (cookjose@unm.edu)
Sergio Ticul Álvarez Castañeda (sticul@cibnor.mx)
Jim Kenagy (Kenagy@u.washington.edu)
Eileen A. Lacey (ealacey@berkeley.edu)
Yuri Leite (yleite@gmail.com)
Enrique P. Lessa (eplessa@unm.edu)
Eduardo Palma (epalma@genes.bio.puc.cl)

Committee Charge:

History and Mission

The Latin American Fellowship Committee grants two awards:

1) The Latin American Student Field Research award supports field projects by Latin American graduate students (details below). Each of five awardees will receive $1,500. The deadline for applications is 15 April. Details are provided in the paragraphs and pdf files below.

2) The Oliver P. Pearson award supports a young professional who holds an academic position in a Latin American institution within 5 years of receiving a Ph.D. or equivalent degree (details below). A single $5,000 award is granted each year. In addition, up to $2,000 is offered for the recipient to attend the ASM meetings of the year following the award. The deadline for each application is 15 April. Details are provided in the paragraphs below. There are no application forms.

Responsibilities

The Chair of the Latin American Fellowship Committee sends a copy of the announcements to the Editor of the Journal of Mammalogy by 1 September each year. Application instructions are available from the Committee chair or via the ASM website.

Committee Notes:

LATIN AMERICAN STUDENT FIELD RESEARCH AWARD
(deadline for the receipt of application materials: 15 APRIL)

The Latin American Student Field Research Award is made annually to support field research projects by Latin Americans in Latin America. Eligible students must be citizens of Latin American countries (excluding Puerto Rico) and currently enrolled in a graduate program. Projects must be field-oriented investigations of natural history, conservation, ecology, systematics, wildlife biology, biogeography, or behavior of mammals. The selection committee, whose membership reflects these diverse fields and has field experience in Latin America, considers each of these areas of research equally important.

Application materials include a 2-page application and two letters of recommendation from persons familiar with your scientific background and current academic program, one of which must be from your graduate advisor. All application materials must be sent to the Committee Chair in files attached to email messages. Acceptable formats include pdf (preferred) and Word (doc and rtf files). Letters scanned in jpg format also are acceptable. Although we encourage applications and letters in English, documents written in Spanish or Portuguese are acceptable. Detailed instructions can be downloaded from this site (below).

To be considered, all application materials must be sent electronically to Dr. Joseph A. Cook, (cookjose@unm.edu) (Phone: 505-277-1358) by APRIL 15.

The recipients will be announced at the Annual Banquet of the American Society of Mammalogists, but awardees need not be present to receive the award.

OLIVER P. PEARSON AWARD
(deadline for the receipt of application materials: 15 April)

NOTE - For 2010 only, eligibility for the Oliver P. Pearson Award will be extended to those individuals with a Ph.D. or equivalent terminal degree conferred within the previous 6 years, because we were unable to consider applications for this award in 2009.

This award honors Oliver P. Pearson’s remarkable six decades of work in Latin America and his steadfast support for Latin American mammalogists of all ages and degrees of professional development. The award offers financial support to young professional mammalogists who hold academic or curatorial positions in Latin America, to help them establish or consolidate their research programs. A single award in the sum of $5,000 will be given each year. Up to an additional $2,000 is offered for the recipient to attend the mammal meetings of the year following the award. The funds may be used to carry out fieldwork, purchase supplies or specialized equipment, attend scientific meetings, visit collections or other academic institutions, and other research-related activities.

Applicants may be of any nationality. At the time of application, he or she must have the following qualifications:

1) a Ph.D. or equivalent terminal degree conferred within the previous 5 years;
2) an academic (post-doctoral, teaching, curatorial, or other comparable research-oriented) position in a Latin American institution;
3) membership in the American Society of Mammalogists.

Acceptable formats for application materials include pdf (preferred) and Word (doc and rtf files). Letters scanned in jpeg format are also acceptable. Applications should include the following elements:

1) A one-page statement that describes
    a) the nature and responsibilities of his or her academic position;
    b) professional interests and goals for the next few years; and
    c) detailed justification documenting how and why the award would benefit the applicant’s research program.
2) A curriculum vitae.
3) Copy of one published or accepted research paper.
4) Two letters of recommendation from established professionals familiar with the applicant, based either in Latin America or abroad.

To be considered, all application materials must be sent electronically to Dr. Joseph A. Cook, (cookjose@unm.edu) (Phone: 505-277-1358) by APRIL 15.

The recipients will be announced at the Annual Banquet of the American Society of Mammalogists, but awardees need not be present to receive the award.