Simoneta Negrete-Yankelevich and Ezatollah Karami win the #ESA2016 Whittaker Award

Simoneta Negrete-Yankelevich

The Robert H. Whittaker Award recognizes an outstanding ecologist in a developing country who does not currently reside in the United States and is not a U.S. citizen.

Whittaker, a prolific plant community ecologist, is most widely known his five-kingdom taxonomic classification system for living things, which drew from his early, influential work on trophic levels, environmental gradients and community classification and became a standard feature of late twentieth century biology textbooks. His diplomatic efforts to mend tensions with European ecologists brought him recognition and respect internationally.

The Whittaker Award is open to ecologists at any career stage and covers expenses up to $1,200 for travel to the United States for research or to attend a meeting.

Ezatollah Karami

Simoneta Negrete-Yankelevich is an outstanding researcher (equivalent to “senior scientist” at U.S. institutions) at the Instituto de Ecología A.C. (INECOL), in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. Her research focuses on soil ecology, its application to indigenous agroecosystems, and spatial ecology. She has a very active research career and many high profile accomplishments. She will present her research on “Coupling of above and belowground diversities sustain soil functions in traditional agriculture in Mexico” at ESA’s 2016 Annual Meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida this August.

Ezatollah Karami, a professor at Shiraz University in Iran, does applied research in agroecology and water sustainability. The selection committee was impressed with his contributions, and welcomes the re-integration of outstanding ecologist colleagues from Iran after the country’s many years of isolation. He will present his research on “Socio-ecological impacts of dams in developing countries in the context of climate change” at the 2016 Annual Meeting.

ESA will present the 2016 awards during the 2016 Annual Meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Fl. The awards ceremony will take place on Monday, August 8, at 8 AM in the Floridian Ballroom AB, Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center.

Read about all of the 2016 award winners in the awards master post.