BACKGROUND
The Young Women Conservation Biologist (YWCB) working group of the Africa Section of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) has great pleasure in announcing its Young Women Conservation Biologists Award for 2011. The YWCB Working Group was established in 2005 by the Africa Section of the SCB, based on an urgent need to fill the gap created by the limited numbers of women professionals in the field of conservation science in Africa. It was further mandated to act as a platform for young African conservation biologists to share experiences (albeit with a major emphasis on women), generating incentives and mentorship opportunities to strengthen conservation biologists in their careers.

THE AWARD
The award is non-monetary and aimed at recognizing and applauding the contributions of early to mid-career African professional women in conservation. The nominee should have demonstrated, during their career so far in Africa:
- Evidence of leadership, creativity, self-motivation and enthusiasm in the execution of conservation work;
- Evidence of service (scientific research, educational, policy etc.) to conservation biology;
- Ability to work with others across gender, social class and ethnicity to achieve concrete conservation outcomes. The 2011 award will be presented at the 25th International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB 2011) www.conbio.org/2011 in Auckland, New Zealand to be held from 5-9 December 2011, along side SCB's Global Distinguished Service Award, LaRoe and Early Career Conservationist Awards. SCB shall support the winner to travel from her workplace to New Zealand for the congress, receive the award in person, network professionally, and ideally to present a paper on the recognized work.

SCOPE OF AWARD
The scope of the award is open to any area of conservation science directed towards practical conservation action. A nominator of high professional standing should submit the application on behalf of an exceptional nominee. Nominations should be supported by at least two letters of recommendation. Self-nominations may be considered under unusual circumstances only if a highly accomplished candidate works in such isolation that a nominator is not available (such circumstance will require description and justification). The application should clearly explain the nominee's role within the conservation community and evidence of her professional accomplishments, including her ability to work with diverse interests to achieve balanced, pragmatic solutions to conservation challenges. The Awards Panel will not normally make awards to African women working outside the continent, or to early career students with no outstanding practical accomplishments.

NOMINATIONS
Nominations on behalf of potential awardees are invited from the conservation community (e.g., scientists, managers, activists). The nominee must, however, work explicitly in the field of conservation biology, rather than advocacy or education without explicit conservation biology content. Nominations will be peer-reviewed by an Awards Panel of SCB conservation scientists and managers. To submit a nomination, please download nomination form from www.conbio.org/ywcbawards or use attached form. E-mail the completed form to the chair of the Awards Panel, Dr Phoebe Barnard (a 2002 winner of SCB's Distinguished Service Award) at ywcb@conbio.org. Submission Deadline is 31 August, 2011 to ywcb@conbio.org, No incomplete nominations will be processed. Please note, those for whom nominations were submitted in 2009-2011 will be reconsidered by the Awards Panel and need not re-apply.
For more information on the YWCB and past recipients of the award, visit: http://www.conbio.org/sections/africa/ywcb

SPONSOR & PARTNER INFORMATION
Potential sponsors of the award are warmly invited to contact the Awards Panel Chair, Dr Phoebe Barnard, South African National Biodiversity Institute, p.barnard@sanbi.org.za or +27 21 799 8722, or the Executive Director of Society for Conservation Biology, Anne Hummer ahummer@conbio.org.

<< Download the Nomination Form Here >>