Latin American Fellowship

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 pdf files under the "Files" tab.

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 pdf file titled "Latin American Fellowship Application" under the "Files" tab.

2012 Oliver P. Pearson Award Recipient

The Oliver P. Pearson Award supports a young professional in Latin America within 5 years of receiving a Ph.D. or equivalent degree.  This award honors Oliver Pearson’s remarkable 6 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 $5,000 award is granted each year.   $2000 is also provided for travel to the following year’s ASM annual meeting.

The 2012 recipient of the Oliver Pearson Award is Dr. María Encarnación (“Pati”) Pérez.  Dr. Pérez holds a post-doctoral fellowship from CONICET, Argentina’s equivalent of the NSF.  Her training in paleontology has been integral to her developing expertise in the evolutionary biology of mammals.  Her PhD research at the University of La Plata (Argentina) focused on the systematics and phylogeny of “eocardiids,” the stem group of Cavioid rodents.  She is continuing her exploration of the evolution and diversification of the cavioids in her post-doctoral work, which combines fossil data with phylogenetic analyses of morphological and molecular data from extant taxa.  Dr. Pérez completed her PhD only 2 years ago, but already has published papers in the Argentine journal Ameghiniana, as well as Paläontologische Zeitschrift, the J. of Vertebrate Paleontology, and Journal of Mammalian Evolution.  One of her nominators noted that “her work in progress and that proposed will surely identify her as a true leader in the study of mammalian evolution.”

Chair

K. Ernest (ernestk@cwu.edu)

Members

S. T. Álvarez-Castañeda, J. A. Cook, M. M. Diaz, E. A. Lacey, T. E. Lacher, Jr., M. A. O'Connell, J. A. Salazar-Bravo, S. Solari

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 are provided in the pdf file under the "Files" tab.

To be considered, all application materials must be sent electronically to Dr. Kristina Ernest, (ernestk@cwu.edu) by 15 APRIL.

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)

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:

  • a Ph.D. or equivalent terminal degree conferred within the previous 5 years
  • an academic (post-doctoral, teaching, curatorial, or other comparable research-oriented) position in a Latin American institution
  • 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:

  • A one-page statement that describes
    • the nature and responsibilities of his or her academic position
    • professional interests and goals for the next few years
    • detailed justification documenting how and why the award would benefit the applicant’s research program.
  • A curriculum vitae
  • Copy of one published or accepted research paper.
  • 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. Kristina Ernest, (ernestk@cwu.edu) by 15 APRIL. Details are provided in the pdf file titled "Latin American Fellowship Application" under the "Files" tab.

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.