Caesar Kleberg Award for Excellence in Applied Wildlife Research

This award recognizes those who have distinguished themselves in applied wildlife research. While the Aldo Leopold Award recognizes individuals for much broader contributions and is truly a lifetime achievement award, the Caesar Kleberg Award is focused on those whose body of work, in both inquiry and discovery, has resulted in application of management and conservation “on the ground”. The award is presented each year at the TWS Annual Conference and in addition to an award plaque and commemorative medal, it includes conference registration, travel expenses, and a small honorarium.

Caesar Kleberg was one of the great conservationists of his time. Born in Cuero, Texas, in 1873, he went to work for his uncle, Bob Kleberg, Jr., on the King Ranch at the age of 27. Distressed at what he saw, wildlife being decimated by unregulated hunting, Caesar set rules for hunting on the ranch as early as 1912. He served for 20 years on the Game, Fish, and Oyster Commission (the precursor to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department), and as a member of this body, was effective in stopping all hunting of wild turkeys in the state to promote their conservation. Subsequently, he enlisted the help and support of private landowners to work at restoration efforts for deer, turkey and quail.

Before his death in 1946, he personally drafted his will to create the Caesar Kleberg Foundation for Wildlife Conservation. Over the past 60 years, his Foundation has given in excess of $40 million to wildlife research projects across the globe. It has created endowed positions at San Diego State, Texas Tech, Texas A&M - College Station, and Texas A&M - Kingsville. In 1981, it founded and created the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute. In 2007, the Foundation made a substantial gift to The Wildlife Society to endow this award.

Criteria

1. The nominee must have been a member of The Wildlife Society for much of his or her career.
2. The nominee must have a sustained record of productivity in applied wildlife research. This award is intended to honor an individual’s record of applied research over a substantial period of time, rather than accomplishments involving a single research endeavor. The research must have had direct context and value for managing or conserving wildlife resources, with a focus on vertebrate species excluding fish. Any intellectual endeavors that result in acquired knowledge about wildlife and physical, biological, or social processes that affect wildlife are eligible for this award.
3. The nominee’s research responds to or has potential application to high-priority needs in wildlife management and conservation.
4. Applications from nominee’s research are realizing significant improvements in wildlife management or conservation, on-the-ground management practices, or wildlife policies, either by the researcher, wildlife managers, policy-makers, or other applied scientists or practitioners.
5. The nominee has a national or international reputation for excellence in applied wildlife research.

Heads of research organizations may be eligible for the award if they were intellectually involved in the research; i.e., contributed to the experimental design, analysis, and/or application of said research.

The award is not intended to honor the outstanding career accomplishments of research administrators or practitioners of wildlife management or conservation, for whom the Leopold Award is a better fit.

Nomination Instructions

1. The nominee’s point of contact with phone numbers and e-mail address, 
2. Name and affiliation of nominee, 
3. Nomination statement, 
4. Nominee’s curriculum vitae, and 
5. Names and contact information for at least five references.

Previous Winners