Amy Strauss (OEB PhD Candidate) was awarded the Association of Field Ornithologists' 'Best Student Poster Presentation Award' at the 2020 North American Ornithological Conference, held virtually this summer. This award recognizes 'outstanding student presentations', and her poster on vocal communication in song sparrows was described as, "an excellent presentation of a well-designed study". Mariamar Gutierrez Ramirez's (PhD Candidate) talk on the ecology and physiology of long-distance migration received honorable mention. 

It is our great pleasure to introduce Laura Figueroa as the newest OEB Darwin Mentoring Fellow! She will be replacing former Fellow, John Rowan, who accepted a faculty position in the Anthropology Department at SUNY Albany. Laura will assist with teaching the proseminar for incoming OEB students and serving as a near-peer mentor more generally in OEB. We are thrilled that Laura is able to serve in this role. Laura completed her PhD in 2020 from the Dept of Entomology at Cornell University. She is joining UMass remotely this Fall as she begins a combined NSF Postdoc Fellowship and Postdoctoral Pathway Fellowship in the ECo department. Welcome Laura!

I echo the sadness and concern expressed by our Chancellor and others about the recent acts of violence and intimidation against Black people and other marginalized groups. I know that we in the OEB community reject racism and violence, and we send our condolences and support to the families and friends of those who have been killed. I also recognize that some of our community members are currently feeling devastated by recent events, and may be finding it hard to focus on their work. I encourage advisors and peers to be kind, patient, and generous; ask if your students and colleagues need help. While diversity in OEB has increased over the time I have been at UMass, our community still has no Black graduate students and very few Black faculty members. Among the important actions that we can take going forward is to consider why that is and how we can change it. I will be talking with our newly formed Diversity Equity and Inclusion committee about other actions that we can take to continue fostering the inclusive community we aim to be. I welcome and encourage others to contribute to this effort. The Ecological Society of America has shared a message that provides some helpful suggestions for becoming a positive force for change in our communities, our disciplines, and in the wider world: 

https://www.esa.org/esablog/ecology-in-the-news/news-events/letter-to-th...

One article I'd like to highlight provides a call for graduate advisors to openly discuss the impacts of racism with our lab groups:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05646-4

Every member of our community is responsible for creating a safe, inclusive work environment. I encourage everyone to consider steps that they can take to help achieve this, both within OEB and at UMass Amherst. Individual actions matter, even small ones.

Lian Guo received the Irwin Martin research award for her proposal on "Testing Thermal Sensitivity to Understand Differential Climate Effects in River Herring." The Irwin Martin Award is provided by a generous OEB donor to support graduate student research. 

Elsa Cousins and Kadambari Devarajan each received an OEB research grant award for their proposed research on secondary defense chemicals in non-native mustard (Elsa) and effects of species interactions on carnivore community structure (Kadambari).