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One of the most exciting components of ICCB is the Best Student Presentation Competition, which celebrates the outstanding student research at ICCB and the ability to clearly and effectively communicate it.
Nearly 500 students from around the world entered their abstracts for consideration for the ICCB 2025 Best Student Presentation Competition. The applicant pool was narrowed to 157 of the highest-scoring submissions based on reviews from the ICCB 2025 Scientific Subcommittee. Following a second round of reviews, 20 finalists were selected to compete in one of three presentation categories: Best Oral Talk, Best Speed Talk, and Best Poster Presentation.
Presentations from the 20 finalists were judged onsite at ICCB 2025 by a panel of reviewers, with winners from each category recognized during a special Awards Ceremony at the conclusion of ICCB. Winners were called onstage to receive a certificate of recognition. These rising stars in conservation also receive a prize from SCB, including a complimentary membership.
In parallel, the Society for Conservation Biology Oceania organized the SCB Oceania Best Student Publication and Best Student Presentation contest, and presented a prize from their affiliate journal Pacific Conservation Biology for an Outstanding Student Presentation. An impressive array of entries made it difficult to select just one winner for each category, and five students were awarded prizes to celebrate these exemplary contributions from within the ICCB host region.
Congratulations to all the finalists and award winners for their outstanding contributions to conservation science!
WINNERS - BEST ORAL TALKS
1st Place
Laura Luethy
Cascading Effects of Climate Change on Activity Budgets and Feeding Ecology in an Endangered Primate
2nd Place
Kyra Rolfe
The Challenge of Conserving Sensitive Species in Rapidly Industrializing Landscapes: Systematic Conservation Planning for Renewable Energy Development
3rd Place
Nuwanthika Dharmaratne
What factors are influencing protected and conserved area establishment in countries around the world?
WINNERS - BEST POSTER PRESENTATIONS
1st Place
Natasha Stoudmann
Managing with fire: Insights from Australia’s protected areas
2nd Place
Eilish McMaster
Combining spatial, genetic, and environmental risk data to define and prioritize in situ conservation units
3rd Place
Kelsey Hannah
The Availability of Knowledge: Language Bias on Wikipedia for Global Issues
WINNERS - BEST SPEED PRESENTATIONS
1st Place
Mu-Ming Lin
Survival Differences Among Non-breeding Populations of the Endangered Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor)
2nd Place
Haradhan Ruidas
Assessing the Impact of Microplastics on Gonadal Health of the Spadenose Shark (Scoliodon laticaudus) on the West Coast of India
3rd Place
Priyanka Justa
Competition and Coexistence: Effects of Free-Ranging Dogs on Native Carnivores in the Trans-Himalaya
WINNERS - SCB OCEANIA STUDENT PUBLICATION AWARDS
Zoe Meziere
Exploring coral speciation: Multiple sympatric Stylophora pistillata taxa along a divergence continuum on the Great Barrier Reef, published in Evolutionary Applications
Jonathan Rutter
Immersion patterns alone can predict vessel following by albatrosses, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology
WINNER - PACIFIC CONSERVATION BIOLOGY AWARD FOR BEST STUDENT PRESENTATION
Sidney Stiefel
Speed Talk - Gathering Oral Histories to Guide Kia’i Kāhuli
WINNERS - SCB OCEANIA BEST STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
Charlotte Lassaline
Oral Talk - Understanding and Managing the Risks of Australia’s Invertebrate Trade
Angela Liu
Oral Talk - State of Protection for Marine Migratory Connectivity
ICCB 2025 Best Student Presentation Finalists
Nicole Acosta Vsconez
Yi Fei Chung
Lamuel C.H. Chung
Marina Cobos-Mayo
Nuwanthika Dharmaratne
Fangzhou Gu
Hannah Kelsey
Priyanka Justa
Tom Lansley
Mu-Ming Lin
Angela Liu
Laura Luethy
Eilish McMaster
Shlomo Preiss-Bloom
Kyra Rolfe
Haradhan Ruidas
Sidney Stiefel
Natasha Stoudmann
Tz-Hsuan Tseng
Wuji Zheng
Thank You to Reviewers, Judges and Coordinators!
We'd like to thank the following reviewers from the ICCB Scientific Subcommittee who helped to review the 157 abstracts that made it to the pool of potential finalists:
Vanessa Adams, Phillip Cassey, Francisco Gelves-Gomez, Malavika Hosahally Narayana,
Carolyn Lundquist, Debora M De Freitas, Jack Pascoe, Paula Prist, Ret Thaung Nakau, and Rebecca Weeks.
We’re especially grateful for the leadership and work of Ret Thaung for coordinating the global competition, Rebecca Weeks who coordinated the Oceania Awards, as well as the individuals who served as the onsite panel of judges.