Over the past decade the award, which was established in 2008 by AquaTT and Aqualex Multimedia Consortium (AMC) Ltd, has recognised young students for their contributions to science in honour of the late Scottish scientist Lindsay Laird - a Senior Teaching Fellow in the Zoology Department at the University of Aberdeen, who worked closely with the expanding Scottish aquaculture industry and served as the Chair of the Organic Fish Producersʼ Association, Vice-Chair of the Scottish Fisheries Executive Committee and on the Board of Directors of the European Aquaculture Society from 1994 to 2000.
The award is presented annually for the most innovative English language poster submitted by a student to the annual Aquaculture Europe conference, which concerns research in any one of the following areas:
- Environmental impacts in aquaculture
- New species
- Hatcheries/early life history
- Stock production
- Fish diseases
- New technologies
- Genetics/genomics
In addition to the award, the winning student will receive an iPad mini, books prizes from Springer and Wiley-Blackwell, and a copy of 5m Publishing’s latest book Sea Bass and Sea Bream: a practical approach to disease control and health management, written by Pierpaolo Patarnello and Niccolò Vendramin.
“I first met Lindsay about 25 years ago when I was with the publisher Chapman & Hall,” reflects Nigel Balmforth, 5m’s Head of Publishing, “and I was setting up the journal Aquaculture International for EAS. I remember Lindsay with great fondness. I would see her regularly at EAS conferences, where Lindsay would always take time to stop by my booth and share interesting and often amusing tales. It was a great pleasure to meet and discuss scientific issues with Lindsay and it always struck me how highly she was thought of by her colleagues and students alike. I am delighted to continue support for this important award.”
The victor will join previous winners from Germany, Spain, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Malta, Scotland, the Netherlands and Brazil – all of whom have, according to Margaret Eleftheriou, Chair of AMC, gone on to excel in their chosen fields of research after receiving the award.
“It’s interesting to see what’s happened to the previous award-winners,” Margaret reflects. “All have made an impact in aquaculture and had papers published since receiving the award.”
As this year marks the 10th anniversary of the award, AquaTT and AMC are expecting a bumper crop of entries. As Margaret, continues: “All posters at the event are registered for the award and there are often over 200 for the judges to choose from.”
Presentation of the award will take place at the Aquaculture Europe 2017 conference, which will be held in Dubrovnik, Croatia, from 17-20 October.
