AIBS honors outstanding contributions to biology

Washington, DC. Each year the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) recognizes eminent individuals or groups for outstanding contributions to the biological sciences. The AIBS Board of Directors and Awards Committee are pleased to announce the following award winners for 2009:

• Distinguished Scientist Award: Joseph Felsenstein, PhD, University of Washington
• Outstanding Service Award: Robert T. Pennock, PhD, Michigan State University
• Education Award: Bruce Alberts, PhD, Science magazine, University of California, San Francisco
• President's Citation Award: Michael Pollan, author In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, University of California, Berkeley
• Past-President's Award: Rita Colwell, PhD, University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University
• Media Award: Chip Rowe, Playboy Magazine

Awards will be presented on May 18, 2009, at the AIBS Annual Meeting, "Sustainable Agriculture: Greening the Global Food Supply," during a ceremony to be held at the Westin Arlington Gateway in Arlington, Virginia.

AIBS President Dr. May Berenbaum and Executive Director Dr. Richard O'Grady said in a joint statement: "AIBS is pleased to honor such exceptional and dedicated individuals. Though they are from diverse backgrounds, they have all made significant positive contributions to the field of biology."

Below are brief descriptions of the award winners:

Dr. Joseph Felsenstein will receive the Distinguished Scientist Award. This Award is presented to individuals who have made significant scientific contributions to the biological sciences. Felsenstein is Professor of Genome Sciences and Biology at the University of Washington. He trained at the University of Wisconsin and earned his Ph.D. in the laboratory of Dr. Richard Lewontin at the University of Chicago in 1968. After postdoctoral work in Edinburgh, he began a career at the University of Washington and has been at the university for the past 40 years. He has worked in theoretical population genetics, but is best known for work on statistical inference of phylogenies (evolutionary trees), including likelihood and bootstrap methods and phylogenetic comparative methods. He has also worked on likelihood inference using coalescent trees within species. He is author of PHYLIP, the first widely-distributed package of programs for inferring phylogenies, and the book Inferring Phylogenies. By playing a major role in establishing a rigorous basis for phylogenetic inference, Felsenstein has enhanced the field of systematics, has helped to reestablish a historical perspective as a way of thinking in evolutionary biology, and has helped to provide an evolutionary framework and toolkit to molecular biology and genomics.