The Research Awards Committee of the Waterbird Society has selected recipients for the 2017 Nisbet and Kushlan Awards. The Nisbet Research Award is open globally to any student, professional, or amateur with a focus on research and conservation of terns and gulls in the Laridae family. The goal of the Kushlan Research Award in Ciconiiform Biology and Conservation is to encourage significant scientific advances in the biology, ecology, or conservation biology of wading birds.

Kimberly Maute (University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia) and Andrew Tongue (University of Birmingham, Birmingham, U.K.) were the recipients of the Nisbet Research Award. Receiving the Kushlan Research Award was Simone Santoro and Alejandro Centeno-Cuadros (University of Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain).

Dr. Kimberly Maute will be researching the role of Salmonella in the decline of breeding numbers of Silver Gulls on the Five Islands colony in New South Wales, Australia. Doctoral candidate Andrew Tongue's research will examine the role of landfills in the possible transfer of brominated flame retardants to three species of gulls nesting near Argyll in mid-western Scotland. Finally, Drs. Simone Santoro and Alejandro Centeno-Cuadros will be investigating the worldwide population genetic structure and connectivity of Glossy Ibis using nuclear and microsatellite markers to aid in conservation efforts.

These grants are funded by endowments provided by the generosity of two former Presidents of the Waterbird Society: Dr. Jim Kushlan and Dr. Ian Nisbet and his wife Shirley ( https://waterbirds.org/research-grants/).