2025 Award Nominations deadline - December 31, 2024
View a list of all awards and nomination requirements here
Each year, ORTWS presents five awards to wildlife professionals and stewards in Oregon, who have shown exemplary achievements in the professional or civic arenas. We ask our members, and other representatives from the wildlife community, to submit nominations for individuals and groups they believe deserving of this recognition. Our Awards Committee will review all nominations, and announce winners at our 2025 Joint Meeting this February. Please submit all nominations through the link above.
ORTWS also encourages the highest level of professionalism in scientific presentations at our Joint Meeting. As such, each year we distribute three presentation awards, to individuals who give exemplary oral and poster presentations of their original research at our 2025 Joint Meeting. To be considered for the student presentations awards, students should indicate interest in having their presentations reviewed when submitting their abstract for the 2025 Joint Meeting.
Check out our list of all past ORTWS Award winners
ORTWS Professional Awards
David B. Marshall Award
This award recognizes an individual for outstanding contributions and accomplishments in wildlife research, management, education, law enforcement, or public service over the course of their lifetime. Individuals are acknowledged for promoting the advancement of science, the principles of ecology, and the goals of The Wildlife Society by advocating sound wildlife stewardship. Nominee’s actions must have resulted in significant contributions in the conservation and increased long-term security of wildlife populations, wildlife habitats, and natural resource values within the state of Oregon. We face many challenges with limited resources and know there are many dedicated biologists out there who deserve special acknowledgment for the extra time and effort they contribute to the management of our wildlife resources.
Originally established as the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1967, this award’s name was changed in 2007 in honor of David B. Marshall’s lifelong contributions to conservation of wildlife and wildlife habitats, to the wildlife profession, and for his commitments to the ORTWS chapter since its inception.
2024 Award Winner
- David B. Marshall Award Winner Announced - Congrats Kevin Blakely!
We are pleased to announce the winner of the 2024 David B. Marshall Award - Kevin Blakely
Kevin’s career spanned multiple decades, all the while possessing a passion for a very wide array of wildlife conservation and management. A true representation of someone who could walk the walk and talk the talk, Kevin was knowledgeable and had a personal interest in wildlife ranging from herps, to birds, to large mammals, their habitats, and the practices and policies surrounding their conservation and management. Those diversity of interests and infectious personality made him relatable to nearly all wildlife professionals regardless their age, experience, or discipline. Most notable was Kevin’s passion for his staff and colleagues and his unmatched energy was mostly focused on supporting, mentoring, and challenging those individuals. Kevin was a major advocate for ORTWS and always encouraged engagement with the Chapter and other professional organizations to ensure the wildlife profession continues to advance. He also regularly encourages staff to seek opportunities for professional development. He is well-known as a welcomed collaborator and colleague by current and former Chapter members representing state and federal agencies, NGOs, and academia and is considered a peer, mentor, and/or friend by numerous previous David B. Marshall award recipients.
Outstanding Service Award
This award recognizes outstanding contributions in wildlife management in the past year. Nominees may be recognized for contributions in research, management, conservation, public involvement, education, or law enforcement.
Established in 1982
2024 Award Winner
- Outstanding Service Award Winner Announced - Congrats Melissa LeRitz!
We are pleased to announce the winner of the 2024 Outstanding Service Award - Deputy DA Melissa LeRitz.
Poaching, wildlife trafficking, and other wildlife crimes negatively affect wildlife species populations, the livelihoods of people that depend on wildlife for food security, and biological diversity across the landscape. In addition to harming species through population losses, wildlife overexploitation can cause long term ecological problems such as creating sex-ratio imbalances and slowing the reproduction rate of vulnerable species (2019 UNODC). Through the cases she prosecutes, DDA LeRitz holds poachers accountable for their actions and sends a message that poaching will not be tolerated in Oregon and there are real consequences for committing wildlife crimes. The fact that she has been named Wildlife Prosecutor of the Year by OSP Fish & Wildlife Division twice indicates that her participation in holding poachers accountable has made lasting positive impacts towards wildlife conservation. DDA LeRitz is deserving of this award because she recognizes that wildlife belongs to all of us in Oregon, and she takes action to ensure that when hunting laws are broken, it affects us all.
ORTWS Civic Acheivement Awards
Private Landowner Stewardship Award
This award recognizes private landowners who demonstrate ongoing wildlife conservation programs or positive actions in conjunction with their commercial operation. We will consider the sustainability, scope, and significance of the resulting benefits to wildlife and will recognize innovation, integrity, advocacy, and goodwill as desirable characteristics for the award recipient.
Established in 1996
Conservation Award
This award recognizes individuals, city or county agencies, corporations, or conservation organizations for demonstrating ongoing, positive wildlife conservation or advocacy efforts. We will consider the sustainability, scope, and significance of the resulting benefits to wildlife and will recognize innovation, integrity, advocacy, and goodwill as desirable characteristics for the award recipient.
Established in 1996
2024 Award Winners
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Conservation Award: Bill Richardson - Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Jon Paustian - ODFW and Steve McClelland - Manulife Investment Management
In late 2023, Phase II of the Minam River Acquisition Project was completed. This two-phase effort added 15,573 acres to the Minam River Wildlife Area and protects overwintering deer and elk herds, including an elk herd numbering 1,400. The project area improves habitat connectivity, serves as transitional and migration range for elk, mule deer and other species, and includes 114 miles of riparian habitat that benefits Snake River spring/summer run Chinook salmon (federal and state threatened), Snake River Basin Steelhead (federal threatened), Grande Ronde bull trout (federal threatened) and Pacific lamprey (state sensitive). Perhaps one of the most impressive demonstrations of the positive wildlife conservation benefit of the project, ODFW and tribal co-managers documented coho salmon redds in the Minam River in 2021, after a 40-year absence. This property includes six miles of the historic Minam River Trail and will put nearly 99 percent of the Minam River in permanent conservation status or public ownership. The wildlife area also shares a 2.5-mile boundary with the Eagle Cap Wilderness and together with surrounding national forestland, it creates a large block of public land for fish and wildlife conservation and recreational access. The new acreage is now part of the Minam River Wildlife Area. ODFW plans to manage it as a working landscape, utilizing grazing to improve forage condition for wildlife and to enhance habitat through active forest management in partnership with the Oregon Department of Forestry.
Conservation Policy Award
The award is given to legislators, policy professionals, individuals, or entities who demonstrate leadership in advancing local, state, and/or federal policy(s) that benefits wildlife conservation in the state of Oregon. Specifically, this award seeks to recognize demonstrated leadership in one or more of the following areas: (1) Exemplary relationship building: Building strong relationships between state officials, policy makers, stakeholders, and wildlife conservationists across the state; (2) Effective outreach: Supporting wildlife conservation legislation, and/or mobilizing grassroots support for wildlife policy; and (3) Outstanding results: Producing measurable results in the form of policy creation that benefits wildlife conservation.
Established in 2018
Best Graduate Poster Award
This award will be granted to a graduate student with an outstanding poster presentation at the Annual Conference each year.
Best Undergraduate Poster Award
This award will be granted to an undergraduate student with an outstanding poster presentation at the Annual Conference each year.
Presentation Awards
Les Eberhardt Student Presentation Award
The Les Eberhardt Award is granted to an outstanding student paper presented at the Annual Conference. To be considered, applicants must either be actively pursuing a degree in wildlife biology or related fields (e.g. wildlife management, ecology, natural resources, fisheries biology, entomology, forestry, soil science, etc.) OR have recently (within 1 year) received a degree in wildlife biology or a related field, and are presenting results of information obtained as a student.
The award is in honor of Les Eberhardt, who was a renowned wildlife ecologist dedicated to studying the impacts of energy development and radio activity on wildlife throughout the United States. He died in an airplane crash while conducting wildlife surveys. Established in 1993.
The award winner will receive: their name printed on the Les Eberhardt Award plaque in Nash Hall (OSU); full funding for early bird registration at the next National TWS meeting (if the same abstract is submitted and accepted); free 1-year student membership to National TWS.
Dimick Professional Presentation Award
The Dimick Award is granted to the best paper given during the general session at the Annual Conference.
The award is named after Roland Eugene Dimick. Dimick received degrees from Oregon State College, and went on to help establish the Department of Fish, Game, and Fur Animal Management. He was Established in 1967.
The award recipient will receive: their name printed on the Dimick Award plaque in Nash Hall (OSU).