James R. Koplin Travel Award
The James R. Koplin Travel Award is given to a student who is the senior author and presenter of a paper or poster to be presented at the RRF meeting for which travel funds are requested. A recipient from a previous year cannot apply in following years if working on the same degree. Applicants with the greatest financial need will receive the greatest consideration. The selection committee must receive all application materials by the deadline for regular abstracts. That date is included in the announcement of RRF’s annual meeting sent each year to the membership.
IN MEMORIAM: JAMES R. KOPLIN 1934-1987
Application materials include:
- A cover letter.
- A project description not to exceed one page, single spaced. The project description should be as detailed as one page will permit, and must include a brief introduction outlining the significance and importance of the research, a description of methods, including the analytical approach, and results.
- An itemized budget of costs associated with attending the meeting and an explanation of how the expenses not covered by this award will be met.
- A letter of recommendation from the student’s major professor. The letter of recommendation is extremely important, and should contain a thorough evaluation of the applicant’s academic abilities, the significance of the research, the student’s relative contribution to the research, and his or her potential for future contributions to the field of raptor biology.
Amount: Up to $500 can be requested. The award will also include a free 1 year membership to RRF.
Number of Awards Issued per Year: up to 6
Deadline: Conference Abstract Deadline
Application Method: Apply online. The online application opens in January each year.
Recent Recipients:
| Year | Koplin Recipient | Project Title |
| 2021 | Mercy Melo | Rapid Urbanization Alters Winter Abundance and Sex Ratio in the American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) |
| 2021 | Jaime Carlino | Barn Owl (Tyto furcata) Nest Box Selection in Napa Valley, California: Is It Adaptive? |
| 2021 | Laura Echavez | Does Degree of Reddishness Matter? Polymorphism in Barn Owls (Tyto furcata), Diet Patterns, and Habitat Choice in Napa Valley |
| 2021 | Christopher Vennum | Agriculture As a Driver of Population Dynamics in a Hemispheric Migrant |
| 2019 | Matias Juhant | What we know about raptor migration within South America |
| 2019 | Haruki Natsukawa | Breeding-sites of the northern goshawk indicate high year-round species richness for birds in an urban ecosystem |
| 2019 | Katie Harrington | Seasonal time-energy allocation of an island restricted Falconid, the Striated Caracara, using a low-cost, open-source inertial movement GPS logger |
| 2019 | Rebecca A. McCabe | Wintering space use of an irruptive species south of the Tundra |
| 2019 | Sandra Cuadros | Overwintering habitat use by a secretive forest raptor: the Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus) |
| 2019 | Shivangi Mishra | Breeding Ecology of endangered Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus (Linnaeus,1758) in Gangetic Plains of Uttar Pradesh, India |
| 2018 | Ryan Steiner | Linking local and regional weather variables to migration phenology in North American raptors |
| 2018 | Ivan Starikov | Phylogenetic analysis of Elaninae Kites based on nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA |
| 2018 | Vincent Slabe | Continental-Scale Patterns of Lead Exposure of Facultative Avian Scavengers |
| 2018 | Haruki Natsukawa | Breeding-state determinants of the endangered Mountain Hawk-eagle revealed by a dynamic multi-state occupancy model |
| 2018 | Anthony Lowney | Sleeping with the enemy: the extreme associations of the African Pygmy Falcon to Sociable Weaver colonies |
| 2018 | Ron Efrat | Effects of early life experience on the behavior of reintroduced Egyptian Vultures |
| 2018 | Ariana Dickson | Non-target exposure of toxins to raptors: anticoagulant rodenticides and Ferruginous Hawks |
| 2017 | Katheryn A. Watson | Do Swainson’s Hawks use the Stopover or Staging Strategy to Complete Long-distance Migration? |
| 2017 | Mathieu Tétreault | The Effect of Prey Abundance and Nestling Demand on the Foraging Patterns of Arctic-breeding Peregrine Falcons |
| 2017 | Mitchell L. Pruitt | Winter Occurrence of Roosting Behavior of Northern Saw-whet Owls in NW Arkansas |
| 2017 | Danielle Vaguine | Sexual Segregation in American Kestrels in North Texas |
| 2017 | Ben Dudek | The Role of Disease and Ectoparasites in the Ecology of Nesting Golden Eagless |
| 2016 | Christopher Vennum | Demographics and recruitment of Swainson’s Hawks |
| 2016 | Sara Pourzamani | Vocalization and nest defense of Burrowing Owls in the Snake River Birds of Prey Area |
| 2015 | J Rowen Van Eeden | Martial Eagles in Kruger Park |
| 2015 | Marie-Sophie Garcia-Heras | Assessing the health status of a scarce and threatened raptor endemic to southwestern Africa, the Black Harrier |
| 2015 | Megan Judkins | Genomics of Bald Eagles |
| 2015 | Tempe Regan | Barn Owl Roadway Mortality in Southern Idaho |
| 2015 | Robert Spaul | Recreation disturbance to Golden Eagles |
| 2014 | Jamie Wade | Behavioral Responses of Burrowing Owls to Experimental Brood Parasitism |
| 2014 | Julio Gallardo | The Puerto Rican Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus vennator): An Insular Species on the Edge of Extinction |
| 2014 | Joseph Eisaguierre | Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) Movements and Home Ranges on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska |
| 2013 | Luis Cruz-Martinez | Exposure and effects of oil sands-related emissions on American Kestrels in Western Canada |
| 2013 | Helena Aguiar | Harpy Eagle habitat use and home range size at different scenarios in the Brazilian Amazon |
| 2012 | none | not awarded (joint meeting with other North American ornithological societies) |
| 2011 | Kristin Keyes | Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) spatial origins across North America: a stable isotope approach |
| 2011 | Jean-Francois Therrien | Avian predators play a key role in population regulation and energy flux of the arctic tundra food web |
| 2011 | Ben Skipper | Is aggressive nest defense by urban Mississippi Kites (Ictinia mississippiensis) triggered by landscape features? |
| 2010 | Romeo Tinajero | Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on the Breeding Ecology and Territory Size of Harris’s Hawks in the Desert of Baja California Sur, México |
| 2009 | No applications received | |
| 2008 | Sofi Hindmarch | Habitat Transformed: How is Barn Owl (Tyto alba) Distribution and Breeding Success Influenced by Land Use in The Fraser Valley, British Colombia? |
| 2007 | Unknown | |
| 2006 | none | RRF contributed its travel award to the NAOC pool of student travel funds |
| 2005 | Jessi L. Brown | Exploring Aplomado Falcon Nest Success by Modeling Daily Nest Survival Rates |
| 2004 | Nicole Taylor | Nestling sex ratio variation in Burrowing Owls |
| 2003 | Colleen Moulton | Territory defense of nesting Burrowing Owls: responses to simulated conspecific intrusion |
| 2002 | Unknown | |
| 2001 | Unknown | |
| 2000 | Unknown | |
| 1999 | Caroline E. Deppe | Do eyespots on Northern Pygmy Owls influence avian mobbing behaviour? |
| 1999 | Brian W. Smith | Ectoparasites on Burrowing Owls: potential effects on nest site re-use and growth, body condition and survival of juveniles |
| 1998 | Not awarded | |
| 1997 | Brian Smith | Burrowing Owls prefer large nest chambers: results of experiments using artificial burrows |
| 1996 | Ruth Tingay | Philopatry and inter-year nest site fidelity in American Kestrels near Hawk Mountain, PA |
| 1995 | Daniel R. Ardia | Effect of time of day and weather on survey route efficiency for non-breeding American Kestrels |
| 1994 | Johanna M. Ward | Effects of experimental food addition on the reproductive ecology of the Northern Goshawk during brood rearing |
| 1993 | Elsie V. Schmidt | Morphological and genetic variation in migratory raptors |
| 1992 | Laura B. Rivera-Rodriguez | Breeding ecology of the Crested Caracara in the Cape Region, B.C.S., Mexico |
| 1991 | James R. Duncan | |
| 1990 | Bryan Kimsey | |
| 1989 | Vanessa M. Dickinson | |
| 1989 | Gustavo D. Danemann | Breeding ecology of the Osprey in the high density, ground nesting colony of Ballena Island, San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur, Mexico |