Awards and Recognition
The BEPS recognizes scientific excellence and service to the society by bestowing three different awards to qualified recipients. The three awards include the BEPS Lifetime Achievement award, the Outstanding Young Scientist award, and the Jim Hammar Service award. The criteria for each award are detailed below. BEPS will accept nominations for each award through March 30th. An Awards Committee in collaboration with (or through) the chair of the upcoming BEPS Annual Conference receives nominations or self-nominations for each award. The award committee normally includes the Past President, President, and the prior year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Should one of these consider themself in conflict of interest, another committee member will be selected from the BEPS Board to ensure an impartial committee of three. The committee will recommend award recipients to the Executive Committee three months prior to the annual BEPS Conference. Two student awards, an Outstanding Student Presentation Award and Student Poster Award, may also be selected from all (PhD, MSc, undergraduate) students at the BEPS Conference as determined by a Students Award Committee, which will be organized by the Conference Chair.
Submitting an Awards Nomination
Nominations should be sent to the Chair of the Awards Committee via email. This email should include a brief statement (<200 words) as to why the nominee should be presented with any one of the above awards. The email address of the nominee must be provided in the email. The Chair of the awards committee will contact the nominee for their CV if required. Self-nominations are also permitted. Self-nominees should send attach their abbreviated CV (maximum 2 pages) in their nomination email.
This year’s Chair is Srikanth Pilla. Please submit nominations to him at spilla@clemson.edu
Reminder: Nominations for 2021 are accepted through March 30th of current year.
BEPS Lifetime Achievement Award
This prestigious award is given to BEPS members who have made outstanding contributions that have advanced the scientific field and/or technological development of biopolymers, biobased materials, or bioplastic/materials related to bioenergy. The nominee is recognized as a leader in their field and hold a position of full professor or equivalent (i.e., GS15, senior scientist, and/or engineers) for two years or longer.
BEPS Outstanding Young Scientist Award
This award is given to individuals who have made significant scientific contributions and have demonstrated outstanding ability and scholarly accomplishments in scientific research in the fields of biopolymers, biobased materials, or bioplastic/materials related to bioenergy. The nominee must hold a tenure-track position at the assistant/associate/full professor level or the equivalent in government research or industry (i.e., GS11-GS14, scientists, and/or engineers). This individual will be under the age of 40 by December 31st the current year of the BEPS annual meeting.
James Hammar Memorial Service Award
The James Hammar Memorial Service Award was created in 2000 in honor of W. James Hammar who worked tirelessly for eight years in helping to establish the BioEnvironmental Polymer Society (formerly Bio/Environmentally Degradable Polymer Society) before his untimely death in 1999. Jim was a Division Scientist at 3M with a long, distinguished research career and a strong passion for scientific excellence. Jim’s devotion to the Society was inspirational and the standards of service and excellence he set were instrumental to the success of the Society during the early years. The Jim Hammar Memorial Service Award is presented to a member of the BioEnvironmental Polymer Society who best exemplifies the qualities of service and dedication inspired by Jim Hammar. The Hammar award is presented to BEPS members who have been involved with the Society for at least three years.
Past Award Recipients
2021
- Manjusri Misra - BEPS Lifetime Achievement
- Cecily Ryan - BEPS Outstanding Young Scientist (co-recipient)
- Wil Srubar - BEPS Outstanding Young Scientist (co-recipient)
- Jinwen Zhang - James Hammar Memorial Service
2019
- Katrina Cornish - BEPS Lifetime Achievement
- Gregg Beckham - BEPS Outstanding Young Scientist
2018
- Philippe Dubois - BEPS Lifetime Achievement
- Keiji Numata - BES Outstanding Young Scientist
2017
- Richard A. Gross - BEPS Lifetime Achievement
- Srikanth Pilla - BEPS Outstanding Young Scientist
2015
- Amar Monhanty - BEPS Lifetime Achievement
- Nandika D’Souza - James Hammar Memorial Service
2014
- William J. Orts - James Hammar Memorial Service
2012
- Xiuzhi Susan Sun - BEPS Lifetime Achievement
- Michael Meier - BEPS Outstanding Young Scientist
- Manjusri Misra - James Hammar Memorial Service
2010
- Ramani Narayan - BEPS Lifetime Achievement
- Greg Glenn - James Hammar Memorial Service
2006
- Ramani Narayan - James Hammara Memorial Service
Last updated: 28 JUN 2021