This award is given for the best contributed oral paper at the annual meeting by a junior professional with a degree for no more than five years. The award is a certificate plus $500.00. The paper is invited to be published in Economic Botany, subject to normal review. When sending an abstract for a paper to be presented at the annual meeting, the applicant should indicate that they are eligible for this award. At the meetings, a three person ad-hoc committee judges papers presented at the annual meeting.

2011
Janna Rose, Florida International University
Bacterial inhibition and Cytotoxic properties of Plants used to Treat Diarrhea in Central Anatolian Villages.

2010
Ashley DuVal, Yale University
Selection, management and diffusion of Açaí Branco by smallholder farmers in the amazon estuary.

2009
Anna Bailie, McGill University
Phytogeographical and genetic variation in mountain ash, Sorbus spp., a traditional medicinal plant of the James Bay Cree.

2008
Nanci Ross, University of Connecticut
Impacts of ancient Maya forest gardens of Mesoamerican tree species composition: How to approach this idea?

2007
Cassandra Quave, Florida International University
The Search for New Anti-staphylococcal Leads: Comparing the Antibacterial Efficiency of Italian Plants Based on Ethnobotanical Use Categories.

2006
Joanna L. Michel, University of Illinois at Chicago
Medical Ethnobotany of the Q'wqchi Maya: Perceptions and botanical treatments related to women's health.


2005
Joanne Birch, University of Hawai'i at Manoa
The Gideon Lincecum Herbarium: The floristic analysis of an ethnobotanic collection.

Selima M. Campbell, Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
The spatial and temporal distribution of sanguinarine alkaloid in Sanguinaria canadensis L. (bloodroot).

2004
My Lien Nguyen, University of Hawai`i at Manoa
Some Like it Hot...and Sour. The Ethnobiological Evolution of "Canh Chua Cá Lóc" in Vietnamese Migrations.

2003
Eve Emshwiller
Conservation and evolution of clonally-propagated crops: what do we need to know?

2002
Adriana Otero, Alejandro Casas, Carmen Bartolo, Edgar Pérez-Negrón, and Alfonso Valiente-Banuet
Evolutionary changes in reproductive biology of Polaskia chichipe (Cactaceae) associated with domestication in the Tehuacán Valley, central Mexico.

2001
Puanani Anderson-Wong, University of Hawai`i at Manoa
Returning the beloved plant laua¹e maoli to the Hawaiian people and clarifying the role of the invasive alien laua'e (Phymatosorus grossus) holds significance for cultural and natural conservation efforts.

2000
Tamara Ticktin
Impacts of harvest on populations of Aechmea magdalenae: considering the effects of ecological and human variation.

1999
No Award granted
Annual Meeting was held in St. Louis, Missouri in conjunction with the XVI International Botanical Congress.

1998
Patti Anderson
Demography and Sustainable Harvesting of the Palm, Iriartea deltoidea in Amazonian Ecuador.

Julie V. Runk
Non-timber Forest ProductsUsed for Crafts in Panama's Darien: Preliminary Findings.

1997
Christiane Ehringhaus
Medicinal Uses of Piper (Piperaceae) in an Indigenous Kaxinawa Community in Acre, Brazil.

1996
Will McClatchey
A Role for Linguistic Data in Determination of Phylogenetic Relationships of Western Pacific Species of Metroxylon (Arecaceae).

Andrew Brown
Pharmacologically Active Plants from the Genus Tanacetum.

1995
Melinda Ostraff
A Fuzzy Set Alternative to Clustering Methods to Analyze Dissemination of Indigenous Technical Information.

1994
A. I. Batis-Munoz
The Quantitative Ethnobotanical Analysis of Vegetable Products of Five Hectares in the Selva Alta in Tropical Mexico.

Daniela Soleri
Morphological, Phenological and Genetic Comparisons of Two Maize Varieties In Situ and Ex Situ.

1993
Ellen Dean
Ethnobotany of Lycianthes series Meizonodontae in Mexico.

1992
Oliver Phillips (co-authored with Alwyn Gentry)
Implications for Conservation of a New Approach to Quantitative Ethnobotany

1991
Lyn A. Bohs-Sperry
New Perspectives on the Origin and Evolution of the Tree Tomato, Cyphomandra betaceae (Solanaceae).

1990
David M. Spooner
Current Status, Recent Work, and Long Range Collecting Priorities for IRT1.

1989
Diane Ragone
Collection and Evaluation of Breadfruit Germplasm in the Pacific Islands.

1988
David E. Williams
Evidence for the Origin of the Erect Peanut, Arachis hypogaea ssp. fastigiata Waldron.

1987
David G. Campbell (co-authored with Arito Rosas, Jr.)
Socioeconomic Aspects of Amazonian Rubber Tapping.

1986
Linda E. Newstrom
The Origin of Chayote (Sechium edule (Jacq.) Sw.), Cucurbitaceae.

1985
Timothy Johns
A Chemical Ecological Perspective on the Domestication of the Potato.

1984
Charlotte Gyllenhaal
Nutrient Dynamics of Shifting Cultivation: An Experimental Approach.

1983
Janis B. Alcorn
Commercial and Subsistence Products for Huastec Managed Forests in Northeastern Mexico.

John F. Doebley (co-authored with Major M. Goodman and Charles W. Stuber)
Isoenzymatic Varieties in Zea (Gramineae).

1982
Thomas C. Andres (co-authored with Hugh D. Wilson)
Biosystematic Analysis of the Cucurbita pepo/C. texana complex: Phenetic Variation.

1981
Robert Bye, Jr. and Tilton Davis, IV
Ethnobotanical Notes on Jaltomata (Solanaceae) in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Wilma Wetterstrom
Ecology and Agriculture in Predynastic Egypt.

1980
Hugh D. Wilson
Chenopodium quinoa Willd. of Southern South America: Variation, Relationships and Agronomic Value.