The Crustacean Society

Purpose of the Award: To honour a living or recently deceased researcher for his/her significant contributions to crustacean biology.

Eligibility: All persons are eligible regardless of research specialty or nationality. The honour will be given to those scholars who have contributed a substantial body of research to the study of Crustacea.

The Award: A plaque is presented, at the annual meetings of the Society if possible. The plaque bears, in addition to the recipient's name, the following: AWARD FOR RESEARCH EXCELLENCE, THE CRUSTACEAN SOCIETY.

Frequency: Awarded at infrequent intervals. There are no restrictions on the frequency of this award; i.e., the award might not be given in a particular year, or several such awards may be given in one year. An attempt is made to present the award at the annual meeting, although this often is not possible.

How To Apply: A given member is allowed to nominate no more than one name in any calendar year. There are no application forms. Nominations are received at any time by the president and can come from any member of the Society. Nominations should consist of: (1) a formal letter of nomination including a summary of the candidate's qualifications; (2) a current and complete curriculum vitae for the candidate, and; (3) at least one additional letter supporting the nomination. Other pertinent support materials may be provided by the nominator or may be requested by the Committee to assist in deliberations later. Nominations should be sent directly to the TCS Past President, who assembles and oversees the TCSERA Awards Committee. Other pertinent support materials may be provided by the nominator or may be requested by the Committee to assist in deliberations later.

Each January, the Past President collects all nominations received during the previous calendar year and provides them to the TCSERA Awards Committee. The Past President asks the Committee members for their comments concerning the nominations during February or March. Evaluation criteria for the award include, but are not restricted to: productivity, quality, creativity, generation of concepts, and overall influence on a field of study. Where appropriate, contributions to research education of crustacean biologists may also be considered.

Each Committee member returns comments to the Past President by 15 May. Responses must be confirmed in writing (mail or email). ThePast President compiles the responses of the Committee. If there is a consensus, thePast President forwards this information to the president. If there is no consensus, the Past President will forward the Committee responses to the president for additional deliberation by the Board.

The recipient of the TCSERA award will be invited to submit a manuscript to be published in Journal of Crustacean Biology as an “Invited review by the 202x TCSERA-award winner.” The manuscript’s subject will be on any field of crustacean research to be chosen by the recipient. Submission of the manuscript should be within one year after the announcement of the award. Moreover, the nominator of the TCSERA-award recipient will be invited to submit a short article on the awardee to be published in The Ecdysiast. The award will also be highlighted in JCB’s “News from TCS,” which is published online four times a year.

Judging Procedures:

1. Nominations, which can be made by any member of the Society, are sent at any time during the calendar year to the president elect of the Society. Additionally, the TCS Board may solicit nominations for the award at any time.
2. Each January, the president elect collects all nominations received during the previous calendar year and provides them to the TCSERA Awards Committee.
3. The president elect or their designee asks the Committee members for their comments concerning the nominations during February or March. Evaluation criteria for the award include, but are not restricted to: productivity, quality, creativity, generation of concepts, and overall influence on a field of study. Where appropriate, contributions to research education of crustacean biologists may also be considered.
4. Each Committee member returns comments to the Past President by 15 May. Responses must be confirmed in writing (mail or email).
5. The Past President compiles the responses of the Committee. If there is a consensus, the Past President forwards this information to the president. If there is no consensus, the Past President will forward the Committee responses to the president for additional deliberation by the Board.
6. The Board may take one of the following actions: (1) approve the recommendation(s), (2) reject the recommendation(s), (3) send the recommendation(s) back to the Committee for further documentation, (4) table the recommendation(s) for consideration at a future time, or (5) select the recipient(s) if the Committee could not reach a consensus. The Board will in all cases other than (1) send a rationale to the Past President.  
7. Upon approval by the Board, or upon selection of a recipient by the Board if the Committee could not reach a consensus, the president requests that a plaque be engraved for the recipient.
8. It is the responsibility of the Society Treasurer to obtain the plaque, to have it engraved, and to send it to the president of the Society upon notification by the president that the Board has approved a new recipient.
9. The president awards the plaque to the recipient at an annual meeting of the Society or, in the event that the recipient can not attend the meeting, the president writes a congratulatory letter and sends this along with the plaque to the recipient.
10. Nominations that were not selected are automatically considered for the following year's deliberations and remain active for three years, after which time the person must be nominated again for consideration.

The president notifies the editors of JCB and The Ecdysiast for publication announcement of the award(s).

Below is the awardess of TCSERA from previous years:

The Crustacean Society Excellence in Research Award

Soon after it’s founding, The Crustacean Society established its Excellence in Research Award.  This is intended to honor outstanding contributions towards the furthering of carcinology as a science. The year, the honoree, and the reason for the award being bestowed are provided here along with a reference to a printed version.

1982, Horton H. Hobbs, Jr., National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, for his contributions to knowledge of the freshwater decapods [JCB 3(3): 491].

1985, Fenner A. Chace, Jr., National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, for his contributions to knowledge of marine decapods, especially caridean shrimp [JCB 6(3): i-vi].

1987, Dorothy E. Bliss, American Museum of Natural History, New York, for her contributions to knowledge of the biology and physiology of decapods, especially land crabs [JCB 8(4): 706-709].

1989, Talbot H. Waterman, Yale University, New Haven, for his contributions to the knowledge of physiology and vision of crustaceans [JCB 10(2): 372].

1990, Donald Anderson, University of Sydney, for his contributions to cirripede biology, and understanding of early arthropod ontogeny. [JCB 10(4): 754-755].

1993, Dorothy M. Skinner, Oak Ridge National Laboratories, Tennessee, for her contributions to molecular approaches to problems of growth, development, regeneration in crustaceans, and for mentoring new trainees in the field. [JCB 14(4): 803-804].

1993, Lipke B. Holthuis, Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden, for his contributions to the taxonomy and nomenclature of crustaceans, especially decapods and stomatopods. [JCB 14(4): 805-806].

1995, William A. Newman, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, for his contributions to knowledge of cirripedes and crustacean biogeography [JCB 16(4): 814-816].

1997, Robert R. Hessler, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, for his contributions to crustacean morphology, phylogeny, and biogeography in particular cephalocarids and mystacocarids [JCB 17(2): 374-375].

1997, Austin Beatty Williams, Systematics Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service, Washington, for his leadership in studies of the systematics of eastern American decapods. [JCB 18(3): 619-620].

1998, Geoffrey A. Boxshall, Natural History Museum, London, for his activities in the forefront of research on Copepoda and other crustacean groups such as Tantulocarida and Branchiura. [JCB 19(2): 432-433]

1999, Raymond B. Manning, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, for his contributions furthering the science of carcinology as well as the systematics of stomatopods and decapods. [JCB 20(suppl. 2): ii-xi].

2000, Arthur Humes, Boston University Marine Program, Woods Hole, (posthumously) for his contributions towards furthering crustacean studies. [Ecdysiast 19(1): 3].

2000, Milton F. Fingerman, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, for his research in the field of crustacean endocrinology [Ecdysiast 19(1): 3-4].

2001, Alain G. P. Crosnier, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, for his leadership in advancing knowledge of Indo-Pacific crustaceans especially his initiation of the MUSORSTOM program [JCB 22(1): 210-212].

2005, Frederick R. Schram, University of Amsterdam, for his diverse publications on almost all groups of crustaceans, his books, his promotion of the uses of cladistic methods in crustacean phylogeny, and his role as a mentor [JCB 26(1): 99-101].

2005, J. Stanley Cobb, University of Rhode Island, for advancing the study of lobster biology [JCB 26(4): 543-544].

2007, Jacques Forest, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, for his efforts in documenting the biodiversity of decapods and his editorial efforts producing the Traité de Zoologie for Crustacea [JCB 28(2): 424-430].

2007, Liu Rui-Yu., Institute of Oceanology, Qingdao, People’s Republic of China, for his contributions towards documenting the biodiversity of the crustaceans of China, advancing conservation of aquaculture of crustaceans, and foundation of the Crustacean Society of China [JCB 28(3): 584-585].

2008, Danièle Guinot, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, for her efforts at promoting revolutionary insights into the taxonomy and evolution of Brachyura [JCB 28(4): 746-752].

2009, Darryl L. Felder, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, for his mentoring of graduate students and post-docs, his fostering of institutions in Louisiana furthering the study of crustaceans, and his contributions to decapod systematics and ecology.  [JCB 30(2): 340-343].

2010, Gary C. B. Poore, Museum Victoria, Melbourne, for his work on anthuridean and valiferan isopods, and diverse decapods, for the exploration and documentation of the Australian marine fauna, and for facilitating the study and documentation of crustacean biodiversity on a world platform [JCB 31(1): 217-220].

2011, Gerhard Scholtz, Humboldt University, Berlin, for his contributions to the field of crustacean evolutionary biology, especially in the elucidation of developmental patterns and phylogenetic pathways within this diverse taxon.  [JCB 32(2): 341-344].

2012, Raymond T. Bauer, University of Louisiana – Lafayette, for his research on, and cooperative efforts to advance the study of, the caridean shrimp and the sexual biology of crustaceans; and in recognition of his talents as a gifted teacher. [JCB 33(4): 598-601]

2013, Jens T. Høeg, University of Copenhagen, for his ground breaking research on the biology, morphology evolution, and life cycles of cirripedes, especially Rhizocephala. [JCB 34(2): 289-291]

2014, Klaus Anger, Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Alfred Wegener Institut fur Polar- und Meeres-forschung, for his distinguished research on larvalbiology, embryonic development, and adaptations of life history stages to transitional environments; and his efforts mentoring students and cooperating with many international collaborators. [JCB 35(1): 116-119]

2015, Amir Sagi, Professor in the Department of Life Sciences and the National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel. Amir contributes on the applied side in crustacean aquaculture, and on the research side he has contributed significantly to advances in the production of aquatic crustaceans as a protein source. He also was one of the first carcinologists to demonstrate the functional significance of crustacean intersexuality based on genetics and glandular function.  [JCB 36(6): 865-866]

2016, Michel E. Hendrickx, Institute of Ocean Sciences and Limnology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

https://academic.oup.com/jcb/article/37/3/363/3068814?searchresult=1

2017, Jianhai Xiang, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

https://academic.oup.com/jcb/article/38/4/519/5066215?searchresult=1

2021, Martin Thiel, Facultad Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Catolica del Norte, Larrondo 1281, Coquimbo, Chile

2023:

Ka Hou Chu, School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong

Neil Cumberlidge​, Department of Biology, Northern Michigan University Marquette, MI 49855, USA