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Awards

Early Career Award

The ISAZ Early Career Scholar Award recognizes outstanding scholarly accomplishments in Anthrozoology/Animal Studies by an ISAZ member who is early in his/her career. The award will be offered in even numbered years, starting in 2016.

Not accepting applications until the 2026 awards cycle, please check back in Fall 2025 for application details.

Guidelines for Nominations:

Nomination/Eligibility: To be eligible for the Award, individuals must be current ISAZ members and must be either within 10 years of the terminal degree (e.g., Ph.D., M.D., D.V.M., or equivalent) OR within 10 years from the beginning of their research in the field of anthrozoology. Nominations can be made by any member of the society. Self-nominations are allowed. Each individual may be nominated twice.

Nominations must include:

  • A formal letter of nomination by a person (self-nomination is acceptable) or organization familiar with the candidate’s work describing the value and importance of nominee’s scholarship in Anthrozoology. The letter must also include a clear statement confirming the candidate’s willingness to be nominated for the Award. If the nominee is not within 10 years of their terminal degree, but is within 10 years of beginning their research in the field of anthrozoology, the nominator should explain how they qualify in their letter.
  • A copy of the candidate’s curriculum vitae.
  • Copies of at least 3 publications used to support the scholarly contributions to Anthrozoology by the nominee.

Nominations will be evaluated by a selection committee composed of Board members and ISAZ members, using a forced ranking to select the awardee.

Award announced and awarded at the ISAZ Conference.

Criteria for Early Career Scholar Award:

The award will be based on scholarly work since achieving the doctoral degree that is judged to have made a particularly significant scholarly contribution to our understanding of human-animal interactions and relationships.

Judging criteria will focus on the impact nominees have made on the field, comparing nominees to others at similar stages in their careers in the same discipline/position and based on expectations for their position. For example, some candidates may not have teaching responsibilities, while other candidates may not have position expectations for funding. Quality of journals in which articles are published will be considered based on standards for the nominee’s discipline. Specific factors that will be considered, as applicable to the individual’s position, include:

  1. Overall number of publications
  2. Quality of publications including scientific merit (methods, statistics) as well as journal quality/impact
  3. Innovation in scholarship
  4. History of funding
  5. Commitment to teaching HAI-related courses
  6. Research-related mentorship
  7. Commitment to service work in support of HAI
  8. Current overall impact on HAI
  9. Likelihood of sustained future impact on the field.

*Award winners are only eligible to win one award per conference. If an individual is selected to win an award and has applied for more than one award, they will be removed from the application pool for all other awards.

Please direct questions to awards@isaz.net.

Meet our Early Career Award Winners!

2024

  • Dr. Kerri Rodriguez
    Dr. Kerri Rodriguez

    The University of Arizona
    USA

2022

Dr. Megan Mueller
Tufts University
USA

2020

Dr. Karin Hediger
University of Basel
Switzerland

2018

Dr. Carri Westgarth
University of Liverpool
UK

2016

Dr. Maggie O’Haire
Purdue University
USA

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