The winner of the 2014 OTS Student Paper Award is Susan Whitehead for the paper "Chemical ecology of fruit defense: synergistic and antagonistic interactions among amides from Piper" published in the journal Functional Ecology. Susan is an alum of the 2008 Tropical Biology course and all of her research was conducted at La Selva Biological Station. This research was part of her doctoral work at the University of Colorado under the direction of Deane Bowers. Susan is currently a Post-doctoral Research Associate in the Department of Entomology at Cornell University.
Honorable mention goes to Camilla Crifò for her paper "Variations in angiosperm leaf vein density have implications for interpreting life form in the fossil record" published in the journal Geology. Camilla is an alum of the 2014 Tropical Plant Systematics course. This was her Master's research at Miami University (Ohio) under the direction of Ellen D. Currano. Camilla is now a doctoral student at the University of Washington. The Awards Committee was Kimberly G. Smith (Chair), University of Arkansas; Erin K. Kuprewicz, Smithsonian Institution; Kyle E. Harms, Louisiana State University; and the 2013 award winner Samantha R. Weintraub, University of Utah. Look for the announcement for the 2015 competition this fall. Best, Kim Kimberly G. Smith University Professor of Biological Sciences Department of Biological Sciences University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR 72701 Phone: 479-575-6359 fax: 479-575-4010 Email: kgsm...@uark.edu<mailto:kgsm...@uark.edu>
