Jamie Smith Memorial Mentoring Award

Jamie Smith Memorial Mentoring Award

In recognition of Jamie Smith’s contribution to fostering ornithological research, the Society of Canadian Ornithologists created the Jamie Smith Memorial Award for Mentoring in Ornithology.

This award honours established ornithologists (professional or amateur) from academia, industry, non-government or government agencies who have been nominated by students, colleagues and/or peers in recognition of displayed excellence in mentoring a new generation of professional or amateur biologists.

Throughout the time that Jamie Smith was a faculty member at the University of British Columbia’s Zoology Dept, he mentored countless budding ornithologists at postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate levels. Well known for his ability to ask the hardest and most penetrating questions, Jamie pushed all those who encountered him to take their science farther. Nothing appeared to please him more than to see students rise to, and meet, his challenges. Jamie took his role as a mentor to generations of new scientists very seriously, and his influence on Canadian Ornithology is evident in the many former students now working in academia, industry and government.

A tribute to Jamie Smith was published in ACE-ECO (Martin 2007) .

The award consists of a plaque bearing the logo of the Society, as well as the name of the award, the recipient, year and purpose of the award. The award is generally presented at the Society’s annual meeting.

Nominations

To be eligible, the candidate must have contributed to the training and fostering of ornithologists in Canada. There are no requirements that the candidate work in a specific field; individuals in academia, public sector, industry, conservation agencies and government are eligible for consideration, providing they exhibit the desired qualities of Jamie Smith himself.

The candidate must be recognized by those trained as being a consistent motivator, as well as being diligent in pushing students/colleagues to excel. The candidate should demonstrate a passion for their discipline that is transferred to those that they have trained. The candidate should also instill a sense of integrity in those that they mentor.

Nomination Process

Candidates are nominated by former/current students, colleagues and/or peers.
There is no formal nomination form, but the nominator should provide a nomination letter addressed to the chair of the committee that includes a short statement (max. 1000 words) indicating how the nominee has influenced the development of other ornithologists through mentoring. Nomination letters can be written individually or by a group of co-authors. For tips on writing a nomination letter, the resources here and here may be helpful.
Nomination letters should be in either Word or .pdf format, and emailed to the Chair of the committee to allow for distribution to other committee members.
In the nomination letter or the accompanying email, the full contact information for the candidate should be provided.
The nomination must be accompanied by at least two additional letters of support from others (these can be in the form of separately submitted emails). Support letters should not exceed 500 words, and should indicate they have seen and support the nomination letter. They may then add their own comments on the nominee.
If a candidate is not chosen to receive the award in the first year nominated, the nominee will be automatically considered for next successive years' competition. The nominator may update the file in the second year if they so chose, otherwise the existing file will be reconsidered.
This year's nominations are due by 31 January 2026

Nominations Should Be Sent To:

Oliver Love
Chair, Jamie Smith Memorial Mentoring Award Committee
Email: olove@uwindsor.ca

Review Process:

Nominees will be reviewed by an SCO subcommittee of 3 individuals. The committee members will be chosen to represent as broad as possible a spectrum of academic, government and non-government agencies. The current committee consists of:

Oliver Love, University of Windsor (Chair),
Theresa Burg, University of Lethbirdge
Kara Lefevre, Thompson Rivers University

Contributing To The Endowment

Donations to the endowment for this award can be made through Zeffy. As with other funds, donors who provide a return address will receive a tax receipt for charitable donation.

Past Recipients

2025 - Rodger Titman and David Bird

2024 - Dan Mennill

2023 - Geoff Holroyd

2022 - Bridget Stutchbury

2021 - Kathy Martin

2020 - Bill Montevecchi

2019 - Scott Forbes

2018 - Nicky Koper

2017 - Gary Kaiser

2016 - Raleigh Robertson

2014 and 2015 - no award given