Alumni Special Recognition Award

Diana Hallett 

From pioneering coyote research to becoming the first woman to lead major state and national wildlife organizations, Diana Hallett built a career defined by firsts. Diana Hallett graduated in 1977 with her MS degree through the Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (CRU) at the University of Missouri (MU) under the mentorship of Tom Baskett, Unit Leader. Her master’s research focused on Missouri coyote populations, but she has since spent the following 5+ decades focused on research, mentorship, and breaking barriers.

Outstanding Ph.D. Student Award

Neil Paprocki 

Neil Paprocki was a PhD student with Dr. Courtney Conway at the Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (ICFWRU). Dr. Paprocki received a prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP) from the National Science Foundation to fund his exceptional dissertation research which involved testing 8 hypotheses to explain variation in migration distance in birds.  

Outstanding M.Sc. Student Award

Haley Turner

Haley Turner is a master’s student working with Dr. Angela Fuller, with additional mentorship from Dr. Joshua Twining, at the New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. Funded by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Haley works closely with agency biologists and managers to coordinate statewide data collection efforts.

Best Student or Post-Doc led publication award

Caroline Cappello 

Caroline Cappello worked as a post-doc with Dr. Javan Bauder at the Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife from 2022-2024. Funded by Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD), Caroline’s research covered a diversity of topics ranging from Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nest parasites, to modeling habitat selection by subadult eagles to inform electrocution risk, to describing the migratory patterns of subadult eagles born in Arizona.

Cappello, Caroline D., Kenneth V.Jacobson, James T.Driscoll, Kyle M.McCarty, and Javan M.Bauder. 2024. “Evaluating the Effects of Nest Management on a Recovering Raptor Using Integrated Population Modeling.” Ecosphere15(10): e4943. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4943

Jeremiah Shrovnal  

 Jeremiah Shrovnal was a Master’s student at the Wisconsin Cooperative Fishery Research Unit (WICFRU) working with Dr. Daniel Isermann from 2019-2021. Working with Dr. Isermann, Jeremiah collaborated with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) to devise and employee an innovative approach to statistical models allowing WICFRU to include a “known fate” aspect to the models and account for tagged, harvested fish. 

Jeremiah S Shrovnal, Margaret H Stadig, Joshua K Raabe, Daniel A Isermann, Estimating mortality of Lake Sturgeon in the Lake Winnebago system using traditional age-based approaches and capture–recapture models, North American Journal of Fisheries Management, Volume 45, Issue 4, August 2025, Pages 616–632, https://doi.org/10.1093/najfmt/vqaf044