Anne-Marie Hodge, a UW Ph.D. student in the Program in Ecology, traps a black-backed
jackal at the Mpala Research Centre in central Kenya. Hodge was live-trapping small
carnivores for research on the effects of land management on mammal diversity and
abundance. Hodge recently received the 2017 American Society of Mammalogists Fellowship.
(Simon Lima Photo)
A University of Wyoming Ph.D. student recently received the highest honor bestowed
by the American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) on a graduate student.
Anne-Marie Hodge, a Ph.D. student in the Program in Ecology and Department of Zoology and Physiology, received the 2017 ASM Fellowship. The award, worth $10,000, is intended to recognize
current outstanding accomplishments in mammalogy, service to ASM and the potential for a productive, future role in professional mammalogy.
“This award was first and foremost an honor. The ASM is the professional organization
that I’ve put the most time and energy into over the course of my career, and is the
forum through which I’ve met many of my scientific role models,” says Hodge, of Chattanooga,
Tenn. “Being selected for the award meant quite a bit to me personally. The fellowship
money was used as a stipend over the summer and into the fall that will allow me to
add additional analyses into my doctoral dissertation.”
“This is the highest honor bestowed upon a graduate student by the ASM, and is awarded
for a combination of research achievements in mammalogy and service to the ASM,” says
Jacob Goheen, a UW associate professor of zoology and physiology.
Hodge has been a member of ASM since 2008; is a founding member of the African Graduate
Student Field Research Fund committee; and has given multiple presentations at ASM
meetings. She organized a crowdfunding campaign to support the African Graduate Student
Field Research Fund, and has reviewed for the Journal of Mammalogy.
Hodge says the award was announced at the closing banquet of the ASM’s annual meeting
June 24 in Moscow, Idaho. Hodge has been attending the annual meeting almost every
year since 2008.
“The ASM has been a foundational part of my academic career. I met both of my graduate
advisers at ASM meetings, in addition to other valuable collaborators and colleagues,”
Hodge says. “I learned how to present a professional scientific talk for ASM meetings,
which was made possible by the generous travel funding they have awarded me over the
years. They also previously funded part of my Ph.D. research via $3,000 in Grants-in-Aid
between 2013 and 2015. Most of all, it is a collegial and energetic organization that
I feel lucky to participate in.”
Hodge previously received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship,
a NASA Space Grant Fellowship and numerous other grants and awards. She has published
multiple papers from her dissertation, master’s thesis and a Research Experiences
for Undergraduates project. She also has an impressive record of writing for a general
audience, with several pieces published in Scientific American; and has been the primary
instructor for an undergraduate mammalogy class at UW.
