For those of you who use this blog to keep up with the latest WOS news, there are several updates related to our 2023 meeting that we don’t want you to miss!

First, applications for our 2023 Mentoring Program for students and early-career professionals are now open. Participants in this program will receive free registration and travel funding to attend the 2023 WOS meeting; WOS membership for one year following the award; individual career mentoring; special professional development webinars and workshops; and networking opportunities to meet professionals from diverse fields. Please note we are also currently seeking volunteer mentors to participate in this program!

Second, in case you missed the announcement about this earlier this fall, this will be a hybrid meeting. We will have a full schedule of in-person events at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, but we will also be accepting abstracts for virtual oral presentations. The call for abstracts will open approximately January 1; please keep checking the meeting website for more details on the meeting’s virtual component as they become available.

Finally, proposals for symposiums, workshops, and special events are being accepted until January 31. Now is your chance to help shape the meeting program, so please check out the information on the website and send us your ideas! Prospective vendors interested in selling items or promoting a business at the meeting are also invited to contact Peter Saenger at petersaenger@muhlenberg.edu to discuss arrangements.

We can’t wait to see you in Allentown (or online) next June!

The WOS is accepting applications for our Burtt Undergraduate Mentoring Grants now through January 2. These unique grants provide up to $1,000 to support ornithological research projects to be carried out by an undergraduate student working in collaboration with a mentor. (Mentors are often faculty members at the students’ university, but that is not a requirement!) The mentor and student also receive funding to travel to a subsequent WOS meeting to present their work. See here for full eligibility details and application instructions, and please spread the word to anyone who may be interested!

WOS membership renewal is now open for 2023 via our online member portal! Membership rates, including the reduced rate for those who opt our of receiving print issues of The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, will remain the same as last year.

The recipients of this year’s Jed Burtt Undergraduate Mentoring Grant from the WOS are Trent University’s Lyn Brown (mentor) and Trevor MacLaurin (mentee), whose planned project is titled “The impact of vegetation encroachment on American Oystercatcher nesting distribution and hatching success.”

Established in 2016, this unique grant is named in memory of Jed Burtt, a past president of the WOS and exemplary mentor of many undergraduate ornithologists during his long career. Recipients receive up to $1,000 in funding for a project carried out collaboratively by an undergraduate student and their mentor, plus additional funding to attend an annual meeting of the Wilson Ornithological Society and present their findings. You can read about the experiences of a past undergraduate recipient of this grant here. Congratulations, Lyn and Trevor—we look forward to meeting you and learning about your work at a future WOS conference!

The WOS established the William and Nancy Klamm Service Award in 2005 to honor members who have performed extraordinary service to the society. At the annual WOS meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico, last month, it was announced that the 2022 recipient of the Klamm Service Award is Allan R. Keith, Investing Trustees Chair from 2000 to 2018.

Keith has been a Wilson member for more than sixty years, and through his stewardship, the society grew its financial assets by more than $1,000,000 while also providing more than $1,200,000 of support for annual activities. According to the Klamm Service Award Committee, the WOS could not have kept membership rates low, conference registration affordable, and covered journal publication costs without Keith’s foresight, oversight, and management and practices that he pioneered. “His leadership and stewardship cannot be understated,” the award committee members wrote.

Winners of the Klamm Service Award traditionally receive an original painting commissioned from bird artist Julie Zickefoose. Keith’s painting depicts the Puerto Rican Tody, one of his favorite birds. Please join us in thanking and congratulation Allan R. Keith!