Murray F. Buell Award

Initiated in 1977, the Murray F. Buell Award is given annually for the outstanding paper presented orally at the Annual Meeting of the Society by an undergraduate or graduate student or a person with a doctorate who has defended their thesis within the previous nine months.
Award year terminology in the Bulletin and ESA press releases has varied over the years. In the table below the year shown is the year the paper was presented.

YearFull NameLast NameESA BulletinCitationHonorable Mentions
2022Sarah E. RothmanRothmanLinkDetritus communities representative of socioeconomically diverse urban neighborhoods affects the outcome of competition between Aedes albopictus and Culex pipiens mosquitoes
2021Reut VardiVardiLinkiNaturalist insights illuminate COVID-19 effects on large mammals in urban centers
2020Mahi PuriPuriLinkThe balancing act: Maintaining leopard-wild prey equilibrium could offer economic benefits to people in a shared forest landscape of central IndiaNicole Nova
2019Gaurav Sunil KandlikarKandlikarLinkHow microbially mediated fitness differences influence plant diversityAnna Sjodin
2018Sara P. BombaciBombaciLinkRestoring animal populations in fenced mammal-free sanctuaries increases bird-mediated seed dispersal in New Zealand
2017Benjamin J. WilsonWilsonLinkBiogeochemical effects of a freshwater marsh experiencing simultaneous saltwater intrusion and nutrient enrichment: A stress-subsidy experiment
2016Michael J. M. McTavishMcTavishLinkSelective granivory of exotic earthworms within commercial grass seed mixes: Implications for seeding-based restoration in invaded ecosystems
2015Cody S. ClementsClementsLinkSeaweeds protect corals from predatory starfish: competitors become accomplices as reefs degrade
2014Nina LanyLanyTop-down vs. bottom-up is a function of temperature for forest LepidopteraMichael Barber, Dustin Ranglack
2013No award due to significant technical problems with judging
2012Kate BoersmaBoersmaLinkTop predator extinctions in drying streams modify community structure and ecosystem functioning
Sophie McCoy
2011Ebony MurrellMurrellLinkDo tradeoffs among colonization ability, competitive ability, and predation govern succession in an aquatic insect community?
2010Jennifer M. TalbotTalbotLinkDoes lignin composition control litter decay rates?
2009Divya UmaUmaLinkChemical mediation of prey recognition by spider-hunting wasps.
2008Elizabeth Mary WolkovichWolkovichLinkInvasive annual grasses enhance native shrubs and their arthropod communities through abiotic soil effects.
2007Charles A. PricePriceLinkAllometric covariation in botanical form and functionMatthew Helmus, Shelly Lachish
2006Carolyn Kurle Kurle LinkIntroduced rats indirectly alter marine communities.Meghan Duffy, Volker H. W. Rudolf, Jennifer L. Williams
2005Sean Menke Menke LinkAbiotic factors control invasion by ants at the community scale.Benjamin Houlton  
2004Cynthia Hays Hays LinkEcological consequences of gene flow in an intertidal alga.Jennifer Lau , Jason S. McLachlan , Louie H. Yang
2003James Vonesh Vonesh LinkMulti-predator effects across life-history stages: non-additivity of egg- and larval-stage predation in an African treefrog.Nicholas S. G. Williams
2002Jacqueline E. MohanMohanLinkDo evolutionary legacies impact ecosystem functioning? Genetic variation in decomposition responses to atmospheric CO2.
2001Melinda SmithSmithLinkLoss of subordinate species affects productivity of C4-dominated grassland.
2000Jennifer KlugKlugLinkInteractions between bacteria and phytoplankton affect algal response to nutrients and dissolved organic matter.
1999Lynn AdlerAdlerLinkAlkaloids increase plant fitness via reduced herbivory and increased pollination.
1998Valerie T. Eviner Eviner LinkEffects of plant species, elevated CO2, and nutrients on microbial substrate utilization patterns.Anurag A. Agrawal , David A. Boughton
1997Paul GrogonGrogonLinkBelowground CO 2 flux in Alaskan tundra: effects of climate and vegetation type with regional extrapolation.
1997Steven S. Perakis Perakis LinkNitrogen-starved forest retain tracer-level additions of 15 N.Rebecca Ostertag
1996Sara C. Hotchkiss Hotchkiss LinkA 29,000-year record of vegetation and fire history from Kohala Mountain, Hawaii.Gary A. Krupnick, Nora C. Underwood
1995Sally D. Hacker Hacker LinkKeystone plants: community consequences of a positive plant interaction.Carla E. Cáceres, Robert E. Espinoza, William T. Pockman
1994Michael J. Childress Childress LinkThe ontogenetic habitat shift of juvenile Caribbean spiny lobsters: a test of the growth-mortality trade-off. ESA Bulletin 75(Suppl):36.Milan C. Vavrek
1993M. Denise Dearing Dearing LinkThe manipulation of secondary compounds by the North American pika.  ESA Bulletin 74(Suppl):210.Ann L. Herzig , Suzanne E. Worchester, James B. Ferrari
1992Sarah E. Hobbie Hobbie LinkIncreased temperatures in Alaskan tussock tundra result in enhanced net ecosystem CO2 uptake. ESA Bulletin 73(Suppl):209.Catherine E. Pake, Collette M. St. Mary, Fernando E. Vega
1991Lisa J. Petit Petit LinkHabitat selection by Prothonotary Warblers: A test of the Fretwell-Lucas models.  ESA Bulletin 72(Suppl):218-219.Erik P. Hemerlynck, Nancy Collins Johnson
1990Robert B. Jackson Jackson LinkRapid physiological adjustment of roots to localized soil enrichment.  ESA Bulletin 71(Suppl):200.Pierre O. Berner, Reuven Josef
1989Don R. Levitan Levitan LinkThe effect of body size regulation on the population ecology of the sea urchin Diadema antillarum. ESA Bulletin 70(Suppl):181.Martha E. Mather, Robert D. Podolsky
1988Shahid Naeem Naeem LinkResource-mediated interactions can structure arthropod assemblages in Heliconia wagneriana microcosms.  ESA Bulletin 69:244.Neil Cobb, Michele Holbrook
1987Sharon Y. Strauss Strauss LinkEffects of herbivory by two different herbivores on the susceptibility of smooth sumac to abiotic factors .  ESA Bulletin 68:424.Susan Mopper, Shahid Naeem
1986Kate Lajtha Lajtha LinkBiogeochemistry of phosphorus cycling along a calcareous desert soil chronosequence . ESA Bulletin 67:147.Colleen K. Kelly, Christopher F. Sacchi, Sharon Y. Strauss 
1985Deborah O. RaphaelRaphaelLinkParent-ramet interactions: effect on water relations and ramet survival for a desert perennial. ESA Bulletin 66:252.
1984Stephen R. PalumbiPalumbiLinkEvolution of phenotypic plasticity: evidence that the jack of all trades is the master of none. ESA Bulletin 65:268.
1983Elaine M. BirkBirkLinkNitrogen availability, N cycling and N use efficiency on the Savannah River Plant. ESA Bulletin 64:93.
1982Deanna J. StouderStouderLinkEffects of a severe weather disturbance on the foraging patterns by a guild of five temperate reef surf-perches. ESA Bulletin 63:124-5.
1981Becky J. BrownBrownLinkProductivity and herbivory in high and low diversity tropical successional ecosystems. ESA Bulletin 62:166.
1980Andrew SihSihLinkOptimal foraging and the need to avoid predators. ESA Bulletin 61:109.
1979John DaceyDaceyLinkA physical pump circulates air through the yellow waterlily. ESA Bulletin 60:95.
1978Paul A. DelcourtDelcourtLinkGoshen Springs, Alabama: Late Quaternary plant fossil record for the Gulf Coastal Plain. ESA Bulletin 59:97.
1977James R. EhleringerEhleringerLinkThe implications of quantum yield on the distribution of C3 and C4 grasses.