The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is pleased to give the 2017 William Brewster Memorial Award, which recognizes an exceptional body of work on birds of the Western Hemisphere, to Dr. James D. Nichols.
Jim is a senior scientist emeritus at the Patuxent Research Center in Maryland, where he spent a distinguished 40-year career with the Migratory Bird and Habitat Research Laboratory (associated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and now the U.S. Geological Survey). His research has made major contributions to the development of quantitative analysis of wildlife populations, with special emphasis on birds, including the development and refinement of mark–recapture models, occupancy modeling, and other approaches to understanding the dynamics of animal populations. His analytical approaches to ornithology in particular and to animal conservation in general are embodied in the theme of adaptive management, a principle that he championed for waterfowl and that is now the backbone of wildlife management.
Jim received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1976. Since then, he has produced more than 400 publications and reports, including 294 peer-reviewed scientific publications and four books. These works have been cited more than 43,000 times. Through associations with 21 universities, Jim has also mentored more than 50 graduate students.
Therefore, in recognition of his meritorious body of research over a long and distinguished career, we bestow the 2017 Brewster Award on Dr. James D. Nichols.
The William Brewster Memorial Award is bestowed each year by the AOS on the author or coauthors of the most meritorious body of work on birds of the Western Hemisphere published during the ten calendar years preceding a given AOS Annual Meeting. The award consists of a medal and an honorarium provided through the endowed William Brewster Memorial Award Fund of the AOS. The award is in honor of William Brewster, one of the founding members of the AOU. To read about the award, go to http://www.americanornithology.org/content/aos-brewster-award. To see a list of previous recipients, go to http://www.americanornithology.org/content/aos-brewster-award-recipients.
