Robert P McIntosh Award
The Vegetation Section gives the Robert P. McIntosh Award to the best paper in vegetation ecology published in the previous year, nominated for the award by a section member (self-nominations are accepted). The winning paper should represent an excellent, creative, and rigorous work that clearly advances the theory, methods, or applications of vegetation ecology. The award is open to any paper regardless of the section membership of the authors, but section membership is used as a tiebreaker. The winning lead author receives a certificate or plaque.
Nominations by section members are due to the Chair of the Section via email by February 1 each year and they must include (1) a copy of the paper and (2) a cover letter that explains how the paper advances the theory, methods, or applications of vegetation ecology. Nominated papers are evaluated by the executive committee of the Vegetation Section which selects the winning paper that best represents the above criteria. Each member of the committee ranks the papers and the paper with the lowest summed rank is selected as the winner. In the event of a tie, Vegetation Section membership determines the winner by first considering the lead author’s and then (if needed) co-authors’ memberships (if that is not sufficient, the executive committee re-vote).