The ISAZ Best Student Presentation Competition is open to ISAZ Student Members who are presenting at an ISAZ Conference.
Opt-in to the competition through the conference submission portals when making a submission.
To be eligible for the ISAZ Best Student Conference Presentation Competition, you must meet the following criteria:
- The work must represent independent work done as a student,
- The individual must be a student at the time of abstract submission
- The individual must be the first (presenting) author, and
- The individual must be a paid ISAZ Student Member
- The presentation must be either a standard oral presentation, poster presentation, or symposium oral presentation (emerging trends oral presentations will not be included in the competition)
The winning presentations are announced during the ISAZ conference awards ceremonies.
*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 visit the Awards Overview page for a complete list of awards, values, and deadlines.
Please direct questions to awards@isaz.net.
Meet our Student Presentation Award Winners!
2024
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Oral Presentation - 1st Place:Bree Merritt
Royal Veterinary College, UK
"The Burden of Unwanted Behaviour: Risk Factors for the Dog Owner Bond in the UK" -
Oral Presentation - 2nd Place:Maël Theubet
University of Lausanne, Switzerland
"How Do You Feel About Owls? An International Survey" -
Poster Presentation - 1st Place:Jennifer Link
University of California, Davis, USA
“Social Kittens: A Quantitative Survey of U.S. Cat Caregiver Attitudes Towards Kitten Socialization Programs” -
Poster Presentation - 2nd Place:Colleen Winkelman
University of Virginia, USA
“The Power of Human Stories in Shaping Horse Worlds and Welfare”
2023
Oral Presentation - 1st Place:
Lexis H. Ly
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
"Home-to-Home Rehome: Predictors of Successful Diversion of Cats and Dogs Away from Animal Shelter Intake Through a Self-Rehoming Website"
Oral Presentation - 2nd Place:
Heidi A. Monkman
Flinders University, Australia
“Could cats help solve crime?”
Poster Presentation - 1st Place:
Rohan Sarkar
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, India
“Hierarchy of human-generated signals in free-ranging dogs' approach decision”
Poster Presentation - 2nd Place:
Shantelle Tjaden
Idaho State University, USA
“Relationships and Resilience at the Zoo”
2022
Long Presentation:
Courtney Bolstad
Mississippi State University, USA
"Dog Tired: Examining the Relation between Dog and/or Cat Ownership and Owners’ Sleep"
Short Presentation:
Carol Tinga
University of Guelph, Canada
"Exploring the Validity of Published Human-Animal Scales for Use with Companion Rabbit Owners"
Long Presentation:
Bridget Hladky-Krage
Canisius College, USA
"Expectations Versus Reality of Designer Dog Ownership in the United States"
2021
Long Presentation - 1st Place:
Cora Wagner
University of Basel, Switzerland
"Towards a Deeper Understanding of the Mechanisms of Animal-Assisted Intervention in Pain Treatment: Is it the Animal or the Context that Matters?"
Long Presentation - 2nd Place:
Clare Jensen
Purdue University, USA
"Service Dogs’ Trained Tasks for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Military Veterans’ Associated Symptom Severity"
Short Presentation - 1st Place:
Charlotte Solman
Swansea University, UK
"Cortisol Coregulation between Dogs and Owners in One- but Not in Two-Dog Households"
Short Presentation - 2nd Place:
Gwen Wirobski
University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna
"Measuring Human-Animal Relationships: Hand-raised, Pack-living Dogs and Wolves Show Similar Hormonal Responses to Human Contact, But Pet Dogs Stand Out"
2020
Oral Presentation:
Carmen Glanville
University of Melbourne, Australia
"Animal Cruelty and Neglect in Victoria, Australia: Prevalence, Reporting, and Community Attitudes"
Flash Presentation:
Rahel Marti
University of Basel, Switzerland
"Effect of the Presence and Contact of a Dog on the Neuronal Activity of Healthy Persons"
Poster Presentations:
Clare Jensen
Purdue University, USA
"Role of the Human-Animal Bond Between Facility Dogs and Pediatric Healthcare Professionals"
Jennifer Applebaum
University of Florida, USA
"Emotional Reliance on Pets: Effects of Mental Health Stigma, Mental Illness Diagnosis, and Consideration of Relationship Quality Amongst a National Sample of U.S. Pet Owners"
2019
Oral Presentation:
Meggie Callahan
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC Canada
"Perceptions of Animal Abilities: Smarts, Sensitivity, or Something Else?"
Poster Presentation:
Molly Sumridge
Canisius College, USA
"Owner-Reported Attachment and Behavior Characteristics of New Guinea Singing Dogs Living as Companion Animals"
2018
Oral Presentation:
Megan LaFollette
Purdue University, USA
"PTSD Service Dogs: Associations between Training Techniques, Service Dog Behaviours, and Human–Animal Bond"
Poster Presentation:
Rachel Yerbury
Southern Cross University, Australia
"Human-dolphin Interactions: Relationships, Connections and the Reinforcement of an Ongoing Nature Relationship"
2017
Oral Presentation:
Molly Crossman
Yale University, USA
"The Dog Person Scale: Development and Validation"
Poster Presentation:
Stephanie Roeter
Washington State University, USA
"Evidence to Action: Integrating Empirical Evidence into a Family-Level Equine Assisted Learning Program"
2016
Oral Presentation:
Lisa Gunter
Arizona State University, USA
"Purebreds are like Unicorns: Understanding the Breed Ancestry of Shelter Dogs & the Influence of Breed labels on Potential Adopter Perception"
Poster Presentation:
Sara Owczarczak-Garstecka
University of Liverpool, UK
"Using YouTube to Study Dog Bites. Analysis of Context and Perception of Risk"
2015
Oral Presentation:
Paula Calvo
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
"Attitudes towards Animals: A Population-Based Study (N=2500)"
Poster Presentation:
Béatrice Auger
Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
"Extending the Pet as Ambassadors Hypothesis"
2014
Oral Presentation:
Lisa Wallis
University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria
"Dogs can Follow Human Gaze Despite Training to Maintain Eye Contact"
Poster Presentation:
Verena Ziemen
University of Vienna, Austria
"Adopted Street Dogs: Owner and Dog Personality and Relationship"
2013
Oral Presentation:
Zenithson Ng
Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, USA
"The Effect of Dog-Human Interaction on Cortisol and Behavior in Registered Animal-Assisted Activity Dogs"
Poster Presentation:
Heather J. Svoboda
Canisius College, USA
"A Novel, Empirical Test of Black Dog Syndrome"
