Sewall Wright Award

Last updated
Sewall Wright Award
Sponsored by American Society of Naturalists
Reward(s)$1,000
Website www.amnat.org/awards.html

ASN Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Conceptual Unification of the Biological Sciences, previously known as the Sewall Wright Award, [1] is given annually by the American Society of Naturalists to a "senior-level" and active investigator making fundamental contributions the conceptual unification of the biological sciences. The award was established in 1991 and named after Sewall Wright. The recipient need not be a member of the Society or an American. A plaque and award of $1,000 are presented at a banquet. [2]

Contents

Award recipients

Source: American Society of Naturalists

See also

Related Research Articles

Genetic drift, also known as random genetic drift, allelic drift or the Wright effect, is the change in the frequency of an existing gene variant (allele) in a population due to random chance.

The American Naturalist is the monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Society of Naturalists, whose purpose is "to advance and to diffuse knowledge of organic evolution and other broad biological principles so as to enhance the conceptual unification of the biological sciences." It was established in 1867 and is published by the University of Chicago Press. The journal covers research in ecology, evolutionary biology, population, and integrative biology. As of 2018, the editor-in-chief is Daniel I. Bolnick. According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal had a 2020 impact factor of 3.926.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sewall Wright</span> American geneticist (1889–1988)

Sewall Green Wright FRS (For) Honorary FRSE was an American geneticist known for his influential work on evolutionary theory and also for his work on path analysis. He was a founder of population genetics alongside Ronald Fisher and J. B. S. Haldane, which was a major step in the development of the modern synthesis combining genetics with evolution. He discovered the inbreeding coefficient and methods of computing it in pedigree animals. He extended this work to populations, computing the amount of inbreeding between members of populations as a result of random genetic drift, and along with Fisher he pioneered methods for computing the distribution of gene frequencies among populations as a result of the interaction of natural selection, mutation, migration and genetic drift. Wright also made major contributions to mammalian and biochemical genetics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mutationism</span> One of several alternatives to evolution by natural selection

Mutationism is one of several alternatives to evolution by natural selection that have existed both before and after the publication of Charles Darwin's 1859 book On the Origin of Species. In the theory, mutation was the source of novelty, creating new forms and new species, potentially instantaneously, in sudden jumps. This was envisaged as driving evolution, which was thought to be limited by the supply of mutations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas J. Futuyma</span> American evolutionary biologist

Douglas Joel Futuyma is an American evolutionary biologist. He is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York and a Research Associate on staff at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. His research focuses on speciation and population biology. Futuyma is the author of a widely used undergraduate textbook on evolution and is also known for his work in public outreach, particularly in advocating against creationism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Charlesworth</span> British evolutionary biologist (born 1945)

Brian Charlesworth is a British evolutionary biologist at the University of Edinburgh, and editor of Biology Letters. Since 1997, he has been Royal Society Research Professor at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IEB) in Edinburgh. He has been married since 1967 to the British evolutionary biologist Deborah Charlesworth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Society of Naturalists</span> Professional society dedicated to the biological sciences

The American Society of Naturalists was founded in 1883 and is one of the oldest professional societies dedicated to the biological sciences in North America. The purpose of the Society is "to advance and diffuse knowledge of organic evolution and other broad biological principles so as to enhance the conceptual unification of the biological sciences."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Ricklefs</span> American ornithologist

Robert Eric Ricklefs is an American ornithologist and ecologist. He was the Curators' Professor of Biology at the University of Missouri, St. Louis from 1996 until August 2019.

Mary Jane West-Eberhard is an American theoretical biologist noted for arguing that phenotypic and developmental plasticity played a key role in shaping animal evolution and speciation. She is also an entomologist notable for her work on the behavior and evolution of social wasps.

Russell Scott Lande is an American evolutionary biologist and ecologist, and an International Chair Professor at Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). He is a fellow of the Royal Society and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences.

Robert Treat "Bob" Paine III was an American ecologist who spent most of his career at the University of Washington. Paine coined the keystone species concept to explain the relationship between Pisaster ochraceus, a species of starfish, and Mytilus californianus, a species of mussel.

Sarah Perin Otto is a theoretical biologist, Canada Research Chair in Theoretical and Experimental Evolution, and is currently a Killam Professor at the University of British Columbia. From 2008-2016, she was the director of the Biodiversity Research Centre at the University of British Columbia. Otto was named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow. In 2015 the American Society of Naturalists gave her the Sewall Wright Award for fundamental contributions to the unification of biology. In 2021, she was awarded the Darwin–Wallace Medal for contributing major advances to the mathematical theory of evolution.

Janis Antonovics FRS is an American biologist, and Lewis and Clark Professor of Biology, at University of Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudolf Raff</span> American biologist (1941–2019)

Rudolf Albert Raff was an American biologist, and the James H. Rudy Professor of Biology at Indiana University. He was renowned for his research in, and promotion of, evolutionary developmental biology. Additionally, he served as the director of the Indiana Molecular Biology Institute.

The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) consists of a set of theoretical concepts argued to be more comprehensive than the earlier modern synthesis of evolutionary biology that took place between 1918 and 1942. The extended evolutionary synthesis was called for in the 1950s by C. H. Waddington, argued for on the basis of punctuated equilibrium by Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge in the 1980s, and was reconceptualized in 2007 by Massimo Pigliucci and Gerd B. Müller.

Ruth Geyer Shaw is a professor and principal investigator in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota. She studies the processes involved in genetic variation, specializing in plant population biology and evolutionary quantitative genetics. Her work is particularly relevant in studying the effects of stressors such as climate instability and population fragmentation on evolutionary change in populations. She has developed and applied new statistical methods for her field and is considered a leading population geneticist.

Jonathan B. Losos is an American evolutionary biologist, herpetologist and ailurologist.

Maria R. Servedio is a Canadian-American professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research spans a wide range of topics in evolutionary biology from sexual selection to evolution of behavior. She largely approaches these topics using mathematical models. Her current research interests include speciation and reinforcement, mate choice, and learning with a particular focus on evolutionary mechanisms that promote premating (prezygotic) isolation. Through integrative approaches and collaborations, she uses mathematical models along with experimental, genetic, and comparative techniques to draw conclusions on how evolution occurs. She has published extensively on these topics and has more than 50 peer-reviewed articles. She served as Vice President in 2018 of the American Society of Naturalists, and has been elected to serve as President in 2023.

Mark A. Kirkpatrick is a theoretical population geneticist and evolutionary biologist. He currently holds the T. S. Painter Centennial Professorship in Genetics in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin. His research touches on a wide variety of topics, including the evolution of sex chromosomes, sexual selection, and speciation. Kirkpatrick is the co-author, along with Douglas J. Futuyma, of a popular undergraduate evolution textbook. He is a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences.

Douglas Schemske is an evolutionary ecologist who made major contributions to research on pollination, the latitudinal gradient in species diversity, the evolution of polyploidy, and plant mating systems.

References

  1. https://www.amnat.org/announcements/conceptual-unification-award-2022.html [ bare URL ]
  2. Secretary's Report. 1992. (1992) American Naturalist 140:1058. JSTOR   2462935
  3. Wilbur, H. M. (1998). "1996 Sewall Wright Award: Robert T. Paine". The American Naturalist. 151 (1): i–t. doi:10.1086/513833. PMID   18811418.
  4. Gill, D. E. (1998). "Sewall Wright Award 1997: Douglas Joel Futuyma". The American Naturalist. 152 (1): i–vi. doi:10.1086/513674. PMID   18811396.
  5. Holt, R. D.; McPeek, M. A.; Moran, N. A.; Seger, J. (1999). "1998 Sewall Wright Award: William Donald Hamilton". The American Naturalist. 153: i–ii. doi:10.1086/303156.
  6. Jaenike, J. (2000). "1999 Sewall Wright Award: Janis Antonovics". The American Naturalist. 155: i–ii. doi:10.1086/303305.
  7. Antonovics, J. (2002). "2001 Sewall Wright Award: Ilkka A. Hanski". The American Naturalist. 159 (1): i. doi:10.1086/338777. PMID   18707395.
  8. Huey, R. B. (2003). "Linda Partridge". The American Naturalist. 161 (1): i–ii. doi:10.1086/367716. PMID   12650458.
  9. Zuk, M. (2004). "2003 Sewall Wright Award". The American Naturalist. 163: i–ii. doi:10.1086/381946.
  10. McPeek, M. (2005). "2004 Sewall Wright Award". The American Naturalist. 165: i. doi:10.1086/427345.
  11. Turelli, M. (2006). "2005 Sewall Wright Award". The American Naturalist. 167 (1): i. doi:10.1086/498280. PMID   17209245.
  12. Lande, R (2007). "2006 Sewall Wright Award. Brian Charlesworth". The American Naturalist. 169 (1): iii. doi:10.1086/510731. PMID   17209244.
  13. Price, T. (2008). "2007 American Society of Naturalists Awards". The American Naturalist. 171: iii. doi:10.1086/524694.
  14. Antonovics, J. (2009). "2008 American Society of Naturalists Awards". The American Naturalist. 173: iv–v. doi:10.1086/593708.
  15. Ketterson, E. (2010). "2009 American Society of Naturalists Awards". The American Naturalist. 175: ii–iii. doi:10.1086/649134.
  16. "Sewall Wright Award: Ruth Shaw". American Society of Naturalists. February 24, 2017.
  17. https://www.amnat.org/announcements/conceptual-unification-award-2022.html [ bare URL ]