One award is given to a student from each North Central Division chapter for travel assistance to the Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference. Each chapter is responsible for selecting its respective recipient and forwarding such information to the North Central Division chair prior to the annual meeting. The NCD matches Chapter student travel awards up to $100. Students will be honored and checks presented during the NCD Business Meeting. Interested students should contact their local chapters.

On 11 June 1999 the fisheries community lost a friend and dedicated professional when Ms. Joan Duffy was killed in an automobile accident. At the time of her death Joan was the Southern Lake Michigan Fisheries Management Unit Supervisor with the Michigan DNR. Joan was also a committed member and leader in the North Central Division of AFS.

Joan became an AFS member in 1975 and quickly assumed leadership roles in the Michigan Chapter (Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, then President of the Chapter), and the North Central Division (Secretary-Treasurer of NCD, contributor to many Division committees). She also played a key role in organizing the Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference in 1995, followed immediately by the AFS meeting in Dearborn in 1996.

Joan was a strong advocate for the NCD student travel award program. The program was conceived while Joan was an NCD Governing Board member and her enthusiasm and conviction were an important catalyst in the process. When the program was established she was Secretary-Treasurer and was responsible for writing checks to students at the Midwest. The first students receiving checks from Joan will likely never forget the glee on her face as she wrote out and handed over the awards.

Joan's commitment to the travel award arose from her own experience as a student at Michigan State University. She frequently spoke of how important those trips were in her professional development. They remained important in her professional life, as she often took personal leave to attend AFS meetings when agency rules restricted her paid travel. Student travel support was at the core of what Joan valued in AFS.

In honor of Joan's commitment to AFS and student travel, the NCD has renamed the student travel award program the Joan Duffy Student Travel Award. The NCD is also establishing an endowment that, when fully funded, will insure stable funding for the award. The Michigan Chapter proposed initiating the fund with gifts from the NCD and from member chapters and has committed $500 to the endowment. However, individual donations to the fund will also be needed to bring the endowment to full funding. Individual donations to the endowment can be made through Randy Schultz, NCD Secretary-Treasurer. Anyone interested in making a donation to the fund should contact Randy by phone at 641.774.2958 or randy.schult@wisconsin.gov.

Purpose: To financially assist students who might not otherwise be able to attend the Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference.

Description: A grant of $100 from the North Central Division (Joan Duffy Student Travel Award) and $100 from the Wisconsin Chapter.

Eligibility Criteria: The recipient of this award must be someone who is currently enrolled in a Wisconsin college or university for a degree program.

Documentation required: An application letter from the student nominee that includes: student’s name, address, telephone number, educational institution, department, degree level, a short description of current research, reasons for wishing to attend the meeting (paper presentation, pertinent paper session, sub-unit business and/or technical meetings), and reasons why financial assistance is needed.

Selection Criteria: The committee will evaluate the nominee or nominees based on the following criteria (numerical values may be assigned):

a. AFS involvement (reasons for attending the meeting).

b. Financial need.

Frequency of Award: The committee will select one attendee each year.

Deadline: The deadline for receipt of completed application forms by the chair is October 15. E-mail submittals are preferred, although mail and fax submittals will be accepted.