In 2019, the members of the Society for Marine Mammalogy (SMM) voted to establish a Fellows membership category. From our Constitution, a Fellow is a member who has “rendered conspicuous service or made truly notable contributions to the advancement and diffusion of the knowledge of marine mammal science or the fostering of its practical applications through conservation of marine mammals.” The Society recognized that the first Fellows would be setting a standard for evaluation of future candidates. The inaugural class of Fellows presented below meets the benchmarks both as exemplary in one or more of the evaluation criteria and in the standard they set for what it means to be a Fellow of the Society for Marine Mammalogy.
2021 Fellows of the Society for Marine Mammalogy (alphabetical order by last name):
Dr. Dan Costa: For pioneering work in field physiology, biologging development, and global syntheses, and for training the next generation of marine mammalogists.
Dr. Enrique “Kike” Crespo: For contributions to the knowledge and conservation of the marine mammals of the Patagonian Shelf.
Dr. Ailsa Hall: For being a leader and role model for Women-in-STEM and for contributions to understanding disease pathology and spread in marine mammals.
Dr. Janet Mann: For efforts to improve the participation of women in marine mammal research and contributions to longitudinal studies of dolphin behavior.
Dr. Joy Reidenberg: For cetacean sound production research and teaching the world about marine mammal anatomy through television documentaries.
Suzanne Yin: For the consistent collection of high quality cetacean abundance and behavioral data.