This award recognizes the best student poster presentation in the PIE section at the CSZ Annual Meeting.
Terms of Reference
Objectives
The Mick Burt Award is a $300 prize award for an outstanding student poster presentation presented at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Society of Zoologists. It is intended to encourage excellence in scientific research and communication by students and is presented by the Parasitism, Immunity and Environment (PIE) Section.
Award
Cash prize of $300 and a scroll.
Source of Prize
Funded through the PIE Section, and donations are accepted for specific allocation to the Mick Burt Award.
Frequency of Availability
The award is presented once per year, but the PIE Section judges reserve the right to not present the award if either the quantity or the quality of applications is deemed insufficient.
Eligibility
The individual must be a student (i.e. registered in an undergraduate or graduate degree program) at the time the abstract is submitted.
The student must have membership affiliation with the PIE Section.
The student should indicate at the time they submit their abstract that they want to be considered for a PIE Section Student Award, although the judges may at their discretion decide to evaluate all presentations they identify dealing with PIE topics.
The student must submit a .pdf file of their poster to the Chair of the PIE Section no later than 1 week prior to the start of the conference.
The student must present their poster at the Annual Meeting.
Selection of Prize Recipients
Prior to the conference, a committee of at least 3 judges will evaluate the posters by .pdf.
If there are more than 6 submissions, the judges will determine a maximum of 6 and a minimum of 4 finalists prior to the poster presentations at the AGM.
Finalist’s posters are evaluated and ranked by a panel of at least 3 judges.
Under some circumstances, judges may choose to recognize additional posters for honorable mention.
The decision of the judges is final.
Judging Criteria
Prior to the conference, the committee of judges will evaluate the submitted poster .pdfs and, if there are more than 6 submission, determine the finalists. During the poster session the committee of judges will select the Prize recipient by consensus based on communication of the research and poster presentation in the areas of parasitism, immunity, the environment, or relevant work related to the student’s membership in the PIE Section.
Previous Awardees:
2023 – Sophie Visser, Acadia University. Effects of microplastics on vector physiology and on susceptibility of hepatozoon clamatae in Culex territans.
2022 – Jeffrey Zbarsky, Dalhousie University. Haemolymph nutrient and metabolite changes in caterpillars experiencing parasite-induced feeding suppression.
2021 – Ali Kandil, University of Manitoba. Costs of trematode metacercarial exposures to freshwater snails.