The Luis F. Bacardi Advances in Tropical Conservation Award was established in 2005 to foster high-quality conservation science in the tropics. It is awarded to the early-career conservation scientist who gives the best presentation at the annual meeting of the ATBC. Support for this award was generously provided to the ATBC by an endowment from the Lubee Bat Conservancy,  an international non-profit organization based in Gainesville, Florida. This organization was founded in 1989 by the late Luis F. Bacardi, and is dedicated to protecting biological diversity through the conservation of fruit- and nectar-feeding bats.

Eligibility and Application:

– Eligibility is limited to ATBC members who have received their Ph.D. no more than five years before the meeting date.

– The winner receives a certificate from the ATBC and a $300 award provided by the Lubee Bat Conservancy

– In addition to the honorarium, the winner of the award will have his/her abstract and photo published in BIOTROPICA as well as his/her bio published at Tropicalbio.org (see below, e.g. 2010).

Bacardi Award for Advances in Tropical Conservation

2024 – Meghna Bandyopadhyay – Wildlife Trust of India (India)

2023 – Nicolas Texier – Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)

2022 – Katharine Thompson – Stony Brook University, USA

2021 – Sheherazade – PROGRES (Prakarsa Konservasi Ekologi Regional Sulawesi), Indonesia

2019 – Seheno Andriantsaralaza – University of Antananarivo, Madagascar

2018 – Evan Rehm – University of California Santa Barbara, USA

2017 – Catarina Jakovac -International Institute for Sustainability, Brazil

2016 – Oliver Wearn – Zoological Society of London (ZSL), UK

2015 – Haldre Rogers – Rice University, USA

2014 – Erin Kuprewicz – Smithsonian Institution, USA

2013 – Tremaine Gregory – Smithsonian Institution, USA

2012 – Paulo Brando – IPAM, Brazil

2011 – Joseph W. Veldman – University of Wisconsin-Madison.

2010 – Amy Rodgers – Pinchot Institute for Conservation, Ecuador.

2009 – no award

2008 – Marco Mello – Departamento de Botanica, Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos, Brazil. Article

2007 – J. Nicolas Urbina-Cardona – Instituto de Biologia, UNAM, Mexico. Article

2006 – David P Bickford – National University of Singapore, Singapore. Article

2005 – Cecília P. Alves-Costa – Lab. de Interação Vertebrado-Planta, Departamento de Zoologia, IB/UNICAMP. Campinas, SP, Brazil. Article