SASAqS medals
The society awards medals in gold, silver and bronze in recognition of outstanding contributions to the aquatic sciences.
Recipients
This is an incomplete list.
| Name | Medal | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Tony Ribbink | Silver | 1985 |
| Brian Allanson | Gold | — |
| Mark Chutter | Gold | 1990 |
| Marjorie Scott | Gold | 1993 |
| Graham Noble | Gold | — |
| Jackie King | Silver | 1996 |
| Arthur Harrison | Gold | 1996 |
| Paul Skelton | Silver | 1997 |
| Kader Asmal | Gold | 1999 |
| Charles Breen | Gold | 1999 |
| Tally Palmer | Silver | 1999 |
| Bryan Davies | Gold | 2003 |
| Steve Mitchell | Silver | 2003 |
| Bill Rowlston | Silver | 2003 |
| Jay O'Keeffe | Gold | 2004 |
| Neels Kleynhans | Silver | 2004 |
| Mary-Jean Gabriel | Bronze | 2004 |
| Annelise Gerber | Bronze | 2004 |
| Steve Mitchell | Gold | 2009 |
| Digby Cyrus | Gold | 2011 |
| Bruce Ellender | Bronze | 2012 |
| Ryan Wasserman | Bronze | 2013 |
| Jenny Day | Gold | 2013 |
| Pete Ashton | Gold | 2014 |
| Alan Whitfield | Gold | 2015 |
| Janine Adams | Silver | 2015 |
| O. Nelson Odume | Bronze | 2015 |
| Jackie King | Gold | 2016 |
| Tally Palmer | Gold | 2016 |
| Johan van Vuren | Gold | 2016 |
| Tatenda Dalu | Bronze | 2016 |
| Rob Hart | Gold | 2017 |
| Mike Coke | Silver | 2018 |
| Guy Bate | Gold | 2019 |
| Cate Brown | Gold | 2021 |
| Paul Skelton | Gold | 2021 |
| Olaf Weyl | Gold | 2021 |
| Mmabaledi Buxton | Bronze | 2021 |
| Anya Vermaak | Bronze | 2021 |
| Victor Wepener | Gold | 2022 |
| Helen Dallas | Gold | 2022 |
| Dennis Hughes | Gold | 2022 |
| Takudzwa Madzivanzira | Bronze | 2022 |
| (to be added) | TBC | 2023 |
| Jim Taylor | Silver | 2024 |
| Andrew Birkhead | Silver | 2024 |
| Mark Graham | Gold | 2024 |
Medal award criteria
Eligibility is set out in section 6 of the SASAqS Constitution:
- A Gold medal is awarded on rare occasions in recognition of an exceptionally high standard of research in the aquatic sciences, or an exceptionally valuable contribution to the management, conservation or development of aquatic ecosystems or resources, over an extended period.
- A Silver medal is awarded irregularly in recognition of the exceptionally high standard of a specific piece of research in the aquatic sciences, or of a particular contribution to the management, conservation or development of aquatic ecosystems or resources.
- A Bronze medal is awarded irregularly in recognition of the exceptionally high standard of a specific piece of work by a junior scientist or manager, normally in the form of a dissertation.
The bronze medal is intended for the best student thesis in a year, motivated by the supervisor and judged by the medals committee in the light of the examiners’ reports.
Standing Committee on Awards — 1999 clarifications
The Standing Committee on Awards met in 1999 and clarified some uncertainties in the constitutional wording. Not all awardees need be SASAqS members; this is at the Awards Committee’s discretion, but should be guided by the awardee having contributed to southern African ecosystems and/or having had some involvement with the society. The award for a major work need not have been peer reviewed in an international journal, as the work is not always of a research nature. There is no period of exclusion before a piece of work that was motivated for an award but turned down may be resubmitted. The Awards Committee does not have the power to upgrade or downgrade a nomination in terms of the medal to be awarded; this must be referred back to the proposer with a recommendation to resubmit in the appropriate category. Generally it was agreed that the committee should act in the spirit of the society on the strengths and merits of each motivation. Voting is by secret ballot: members receive nominations from the Awards Committee Secretary with a form to mark acceptance or rejection; the completed form is placed in an unmarked envelope inside a second envelope and posted to the Secretary, who collates the unmarked envelopes and forwards them to the Awards Committee Chairman.