The Cooper Ornithological Society held its 81st annual meeting in conjunction with the Association of Field Ornithologists and Wilson Ornithological Society in Kearney, Nebraska, 9–12 March 2011. MARY BOMBERGER BROWN and EILEEN KIRSCH chaired the Local Committee on Arrangements. SCOTT ROBINSON chaired the Scientific Program Committee, which included BOB CURRY and MARY BOMBERGER BROWN.
The program included 3 plenary sessions, 4 symposia (Our expanding understanding of Cerulean Warbler breeding biology and migratory behavior; Research on prairie grouse in North America; Avian conservation and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes; Long-term population effects of Piping Plover and Least Tern management on the Great Plains), 193 contributed papers, 76 contributed posters, and one workshop (COS Student Publishing Workshop).
The plenary presentation for the COS was given by THOMAS B. SMITH, Center for Tropical Research, University of California, Los Angeles, who spoke on the “Diversification along ecological gradients in the tropics.”
The Society's Loye and Alden Miller Research Award for lifetime achievement in ornithological research was presented to SUSAN M. HAIG, wildlife ecologist with the U. S. Geological Survey's Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Corvallis, Oregon. A full citation will be published in the Condor.
The Katma Award, for an outstanding paper related to ornithology that offers unconventional ideas or innovative approaches, was presented to SIEVERT ROHWER, KEITH HOBSON, and VANYA ROHWER for their 2009 paper, “Migratory double breeding in neotropical migrant birds,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 106:19050–19055.
The Painton Award, which is presented in odd years to the author(s) of an outstanding paper published in the Condor during the preceding four years, was given to MARK F. RIEGNER for his 2008 paper “Parallel evolution of plumage pattern and coloration in birds: implications for defining avian morphospace,” Condor 110:599–614.
Two Young Professional Awards were given to MATTHEW D. CARLING, Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center, University of Wyoming, for “Genetics of speciation: insights from Passerina buntings,” and KARL S. BERG, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, for “Vertical transmission of vocal memes in wild parrots.”
Two awards were presented to students for outstanding presentations. VANYA ROHWER, for his paper with Paul Martin, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, received the A. Brazier Howell Award for “Fitness consequences and selective mechanisms favoring local nest morphologies in Yellow Warblers: nest transplant experiments between subarctic and temperate populations.” KYLE HORTON, for his paper with Sara Morris, Canisius College, Buffalo, New York, received the Frances F. Roberts Award for “Flight calls in wood-warblers: do migrants respond to conspecifics' calls?”
Two Mewaldt—King Student Research Awards were presented, to ANN MCKELLAR, Queen's University, for her proposal “Does winter rainfall influence breeding phenology and behavior in a long-distance migratory songbird?” and JOANNA WU, University of Hawai'i at Hilo, for her proposal “Seed dispersal ecology in endemic versus exotic birds in Hawai'i”.
The Grinnell Student Research Award was given to BENJAMIN WINGER, University of Chicago, for his proposal “Understanding variability in population differentiation across a biogeographic barrier.”
The members of the Society, through on-line balloting, elected ANNA CHALFOUN, VICTORIA DREITZ, and SCOTT SILLETT to three-year terms as members of the Board of Directors.
In the Board of Directors' meetings, the following individuals were elected to or continue in office: KIMBERLY A. SULLIVAN, President; FRANK MOORE, President-elect; ABBY POWELL, Secretary; T. J. FONTAINE, Assistant Secretary; KATIE DUGGER, Treasurer; MARGARET PETERSEN, Assistant Treasurer, MICHAEL PATTEN, Editor-in-Chief of the Condor, and BRETT SANDERCOCK, Editor of Studies in Avian Biology.
The next annual meeting of the Cooper Ornithological Society will be held in conjunction with the 5th North American Ornithological Conference at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, 15–18 August 2012. BOB ELNER and KATHY MARTIN are the local host and conference chairs.
