<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The Xerces Society is
thrilled to announce the two winners of the 2016 Joan Mosenthal DeWind Awards.
>From among the exceptional applications we received, the following two students
were selected:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Paola Olaya-Arenas – Purdue University</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><i><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Non-target effects of neonicotinoid insecticides on monarch
butterflies</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><i><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Monarch butterflies
are undergoing a long-term population decline. Although different factors are
hypothesized to cause this decline, one potential factor is the exposure of
their milkweed host plants to neonicotinoid insecticides when growing in close
proximity to agricultural fields. Neonicotinoids are a relatively new class of
pesticides that were recently associated with the decline of widespread
butterflies inhabiting farmland in England and result in lethal and sublethal
effects on insects feeding on nectar, pollen, and leaves. Evaluating the effect
of neonicotinoids in the monarch–milkweed system will help guide restoration
efforts that aim to protect monarchs and other Lepidoptera specialized on
milkweed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Cameron Thomas – Washington State University Vancouver, School
of Biological Sciences</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><i><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Factors associated with ant tending in Fender’s blue butterfly
(Plebejus icarioides fenderi): assessing an understudied and potentially
significant mutualistic relationship</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><i><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Fender’s blue
butterfly, <i>Plebejus icarioides fenderi </i>(Macy), survives in remnant
prairie habitat in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Research involving habitat
restoration has focused primarily on how invasive vegetation affects the adult
stage, but recent work suggests ant tending of caterpillars may significantly
increase population growth rate. In this project, we will systematically
document ant tending and associated biotic and abiotic factors in Fender's blue
larvae by its ant mutualists with a specific focus on the vegetation gradient
among nine sites. Results aim to inform restoration efforts relative to
vegetation structure during the larval phase, a stage that may be more
significant for conservation of this butterfly than previously documented.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The DeWind committee
and the board and staff of the Society congratulate Paola and Cameron and thank
all the applicants for their outstanding efforts in invertebrate conservation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The DeWind Awards are
given to individuals engaged in studies or research leading to a university
degree related to Lepidoptera research and conservation, and working or
intending to work in that field. Joan Mosenthal DeWind was a pioneering member
of the Xerces Society. A psychiatric social worker by profession, she was also
an avid butterfly gardener and an accomplished amateur lepidopterist. Her contributions
of time, organizational expertise, and financial support were essential to the
growth and success of the Xerces Society over the past 40 years. Joan also had
a keen interest in young people, supporting what became the Young
Entomologists’ Society. In Joan’s memory, Bill DeWind established a student
research endowment fund in her name.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">For more information
on the DeWind Award, visit </span><a href="http://www.xerces.org/joan-dewind-award/">http://www.xerces.org/joan-dewind-award/</a>
and read our blog post on this year’s winners here <a href="http://www.xerces.org/blog/investing-in-the-future-of-lepidoptera-conservation/">http://www.xerces.org/blog/investing-in-the-future-of-lepidoptera-conservation/</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </p><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><b style="font-size:12.8px"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">Candace
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