THE HERPETOLOGISTS’ LEAGUE GRADUATE RESEARCH AWARDS

The Herpetologists’ League (HL) is pleased to announce the 2024 competition for The Herpetologists’ League Graduate Research Award (HLGRA). If you are an M.S. or Ph.D. student who has a completed/nearly completed thesis or dissertation (vs. preliminary results or a side project), then the HLGRA selection committee invites you to consider competing for this prestigious award. To participate, you must:

(1) be a member of The Herpetologists’ League,
(2) be a current graduate student or have completed your graduate degree within 14 months of your presentation,
(3) submit an abstract (as the first author and having done most of the work) for the 2024 Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (JMIH) indicating your desire to compete for the Herpetologists’ League Graduate Research Award, and
(4) give the oral presentation at the meeting.
Your presentation should be well-organized, set within a broader conceptual framework, and well-rehearsed (i.e., honed by practice and critical feedback from your advisor and others). A maximum of 10 submissions that meet all competition requirements and are considered among the most competitive (based on review of their submitted abstract) will be selected for inclusion in the competition. Those selected for the competition will be notified via email prior to the meeting.

Awards and Feedback:
• Finalists will be announced in person during the HL Business Meeting at JMIH.
• The student with the top-ranked presentation will receive $750, two years of membership in the
Herpetologists’ League, and an invitation to submit a manuscript based on the work presented to
Herpetologica or Herpetological Monographs. The Herpetologists’ League will commit to
publishing this manuscript (following a successful peer-review process) as the lead paper in an
issue and will identify the first author as the winner of the HLGRA.
• The committee may also be able to award $250 to the second-ranked presentation.
• All competitors will receive evaluations and constructive feedback from the judges within two
weeks following the meeting

For further information or questions about The Herpetologists’ League Graduate Research Award, contact: Dr. Matt Lattanzio, Department of Organismal and Environmental Biology,
Christopher Newport University, 1 Avenue of the Arts, Newport News, Virginia, 23606.
Phone: (757)-594-7044 Email: matthew.lattanzio@cnu.edu Twitter: @TheLattanzioLab

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The Herpetologists’ League is pleased to announce competitive grants for graduate student
research. These awards are named in honor of the late Ernest E. Williams, the
first Distinguished Herpetologist of The Herpetologists’ League.

Overview
1. An award ($1000.00 maximum amount) will be presented to one winner in each category:
Behavior
Conservation
Ecology
Physiology/Functional Morphology
Diversity/Evolution
2. The application form and rules are also available on the HL web site at https://herpetologistsleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/eewilliamsgrant2024_revised.pdf
3. Entries must be received by 5 PM Central Time on 15 December 2024.
4. Send complete application (cover page, proposal, budget, CV) as a single PDF electronically
to: Ann Paterson at apaterson@williamsbu.edu. Please put “EE Williams Research Grant” in
subject line. Check if you do not receive a confirmation e-mail within 24 hours.
5. One letter of support should be sent, preferably by e-mail, directly by the supporter.
6. Proposals will be reviewed by at least two professional scientists, who will provide written
feedback by the following May.

7. Funding will be dispersed when awardees are notified, and winners announced at the
following Herpetologists’ League Business Meeting.

Rules (please read carefully)
1. The applicant must be a member in good standing of The Herpetologists’ League.
2. The applicant must be registered and in good standing in a degree-granting program
(MS and PhD students are eligible).
3. One proposal per applicant per year.
4. Project must be original work, authored and conducted by the applicant.
5. Projects that are already fully supported by other sources are not eligible.
6. The proposal category must be clearly designated. However, HL reserves the right to
judge proposals under a category different from that requested based on evaluation of the
subject matter and the number of proposals received in each category.
7. Previous winners are NOT eligible for the award in subsequent years.
8. A short report (2 pg) summarizing the results of the project and a reprint or .pdf of any
publication arising from the project is due to Secretary of HL when available.
9. All proposals must have an Institutional Care and Use Committee protocol approved
prior to the project start date. If a proposal is recommended for funding and requires an
IUCAC protocol but does not have one, the IUCAC approval must be forwarded upon
receipt or the award will be voided.

Preparation guidelines
1. Word limit: 1200 words not including citations, budget, cover page or CV.

2. Double spaced, 12 pt. font.
3. Margins: 1 inch.
4. Name the file with your name and category (e.g., “Jane Smith Ecology”).
5. Include the cover page provided at the HL website.
6. Include a detailed budget, as well as sources and amounts of current and pending
support.
7. Clearly designate the proposal category on the cover page (one category only).
8. Arrange in advance for one letter of support to be sent separately by the supporter.
9. Include a two-page CV that includes telephone, e-mail, and mailing addresses.