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The Rohlf Medal for Excellence in Morphometric Methods and Applications was established in 2006 by the family and friends of F. James Rohlf to mark his 70th birthday. He has been a longtime Stony Brook University faculty member and is currently Emeritus Distinguished Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution, and Research Professor in the Department of Anthropology.

Recipients of the Rohlf Medal will be recognized for excellence in their sustained body of work on the development of new morphometric methods or for their applications in the biomedical sciences, including evolutionary biology, population biology, physical anthropology, and medicine. The term “morphometrics” is to be interpreted in a very general way as its understanding will undoubtedly evolve over time. It will include multivariate statistical approaches to the study of variation in biological form and its covariation with other variables, especially those methods that analyze shape in a comprehensive way such as by including size. Specifically, the Committee is to consider this term as extending to the gathering, analysis, and reporting of information dealing with locations and extents of body parts and their components as derived from biological images by manual or algorithmic techniques. The term is not intended to be restricted only to discrete representations of low dimension (e.g., landmark locations) but to extend more broadly to geometric approaches surveying data from image-derived anatomical curves, surfaces, or volumes, subject to either manual or automated mark-up, and to data analyses whether or not aligning with the classic thrusts (principal components, linear regression, discriminant functions) of twentieth-century multivariate statistics. Domains of application can focus on either animals or plants, either extinct or extant lineages, and, when humans are involved, either historical or living populations, juveniles or adults, or the relation between them, and similarly any degree of health or classification of disease. Studies may include any of a wide range of data structures from phylogenetics and genomics to epigenetics and ecology.

Explicit nomination may be made either by the nominee himself/herself or by a colleague. The Committee itself may suggest nominations at its own discretion. Each nominee shall be informed of their nomination and, should they agree to be considered, the chair of the selection committee will ask them to submit a two-page statement of their past accomplishments and future plans along with electronic copies of up to five relevant publications and the names and contact information for two potential references. The deadline for receipt of these nominations is June 15, 2023. 

The winning candidate must agree to attend the award ceremony in person in order to accept the Rohlf Medal and then deliver the award lecture.

Nominations must be uploaded to the Rohlf Medal nomination Google Form and received by 5 pm, EDT, 15 June 2023 to be assured of full consideration. Note that upon request nominations from prior years can be retained for future years (though updates of some of the information will likely be needed).

The successful candidate will receive the Rohlf Medal and a cash prize at Stony Brook University, planned for on or about October 24th, 2023. She or he will deliver a lecture that is appropriate for a broad audience, ranging from the exact sciences to the humanities, concerning the morphometric methodology, software, or findings for which the Rohlf Medal was awarded.

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