Awards and Prizes

• The Rangeland Journal Student Paper Prize
• CSIRO Publishing – The Rangeland Journal Conference Prizes

The Rangeland Journal is pleased to announce the launch of the Student Paper Prize, an annual award that recognizes outstanding research by an author that advances our understanding of the biophysical, social, cultural, economic, and policy influences affecting rangeland use and management. This prize aims to encourage and support the next generation of researchers who are contributing to the field's development through innovative and high-quality research.

The Student Paper Prize will be awarded to a paper that demonstrates:

• Scientific Contribution: The paper must make a significant contribution to advancing basic or applied research within the scope of the journal.
• Relevance and Impact: The research should offer new insights into the understanding of rangeland management as defined by the scope of the journal.
• Clarity and Rigor: The paper should be clearly written, methodologically sound, and accessible to the diverse readership of the journal, which includes researchers from physical, biological, and social sciences.
• Quality of Language and Writing: When making their decision, the committee will consider the quality of the author’s first submission of the paper.

1. Eligibility: To be eligible for the Award, the publication must comprise original research that represents student work – i.e. research as part of a degree programme, such as honours, MSc or PhD – and must have been published within 2 years of the student completing the degree. The student should have made the primary contribution to the paper. Certification is required from the student's supervisor when requested by the editorial team. The student must be the first author of the paper and will need to identify themselves as eligible for the prize via the ScholarOne tick-box relevant to this prize.
2. Nominations: The editorial board will review all eligible papers and create a shortlist of outstanding submissions based on the prize criteria.
3. Evaluation: The shortlisted papers will be evaluated by a dedicated committee of editorial board members, considering the scientific merit, innovation, and potential impact of the research.
4. Decision: The winning paper will be selected by a majority vote of the editorial board members. The decision will be based on a thorough assessment of the shortlisted papers.
5. Announcement: The winner will be announced on the journal’s website and through our social media channels in the first quarter of the following year.

The winner of the Student Paper Prize will receive:

• A certificate of recognition from The Rangeland Journal
• A spotlight feature on the journal's website
• A $250 CSIRO Publishing Book voucher

*The Rangeland Journal Student Paper Prize will be presented for the first time in 2026, considering papers that have been published in 2025.

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At the biennial Conference of the Australian Rangeland Society, CSIRO Publishing and The Rangeland Journal jointly sponsor prizes for the Best Poster and the Best Oral Presentation for work relevant to the interests and scope of the journal.

The prize consists of an amount of cash, a certificate and a year’s subscription to the journal. Following the conference, we will promote the prize winners more widely through social media channels and on this website.

Posters and oral papers presented at the conference are assessed by the society’s publishing committee, comprising the Editor-in-Chief of the journal and their nominees. The judging committee considered two main criteria for the prizes, as follows:

• Impact of the poster or presentation (clear and concise language, good supporting graphs/tables/photographs etc).
• Strength of the case being made (e.g. sound scientific method used, logical and robust case study evidence, strong logic and supporting evidence for a management technique)

(Presenter’s name in bold)

2023 Winners

Best presentation

• Andrea Tschirner
  Digging deep to better manage pastoral country – understanding soils in arid landscapes

Best Lightning Presentation

• Geoff Moore
  Risk of agricultural plants becoming environmental weeds in the northern rangelands

Best Early Career Presentation

• Lucy Gardner
  Rapid assessment of Mitchell Grass on Southern Gulf rangelands using drone imagery and machine learning

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2021 Winners

Best presentations

• Luke Mashford¹, Sarah Mashford¹, Paul Theakston², Hugh Pringle³, Sarah McDonald⁴, Simon Clarendon⁵, Kirsty Yeates⁶, Ian Toole⁴ and Susan Orgill^{7
  1}Katalpa Station, White Cliffs, Australia, ²Western Local Land Services, Cobar, Australia. ³Ecosystem Management Understanding, White Cliffs, Australia, ⁴NSW Department of Primary Industries, Trangie, Australia, ⁵NSW Department of Primary Industries, Tamworth, Australia. ⁶Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. ⁷NSW Department of Primary Industries, Wagga Wagga, Australia.
  Rangelands rehydration: a landscape scale approach to increasing ground cover and soil carbon
• Paul McDonald
  Southern Queensland Landscapes Toowoomba, Australia and University of Queensland
  First Nations and Water

Best Lightning Presentation

• Jane Tincknell and David Phelps
  Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Longreach, Australia
  Pots of hope: Assessing landscape recovery through seedbank viability testing

Best Poster

• Greg Bath¹, Kate Brown¹, Col Paton², Megan Willis¹ and Megan Gurnett¹
  Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Brisbane¹, Townsville and Toowoomba. ²Ecorich Grazing, Goombungee, Australia.
  Stocktake GLM – the App for Grazing Land Management

​

Best presentation

• Sarah McDonald (Research Officer, Pastures & Rangelands, Department of Primary Industries, Trangie, NSW)
  Grazing with rest: what we know and where to from here?

Commendations

• Cecile Godde (Research Scientist, CSIRO – The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD)
  Global rangeland systems at threat under climate change and variability
• Enke-Orchlin Lkhagvadorj (PhD Student, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT)
  Herders’ preference for different grassland management policy in Mongolia
• Mick Kelly¹, Geoff Simpson, Mal Ridges and Eren Turak
  (¹ACH Mapping Senior Project Officer, Department of Planning, Industry and the Environment, Buronga, NSW)
  Community based monitoring for tracking biodiversity change in Rangelands

Best poster

• Brian Dohnt¹ and Russell Grant²
  (¹Senior Land Services Officer, Western Local Land Services, Cobar, NSW
  ²Formerly Operations Manager, Western Local Land Services, Cobar, NSW)
  Assessing the effectiveness of kangaroo management through total grazing managemenmt pressure fencing

Commendations

• Matthew Fletcher and Kath Ryan
  (Development Officers, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Kununurra, WA)
  What can WARMS tell us about White Grass (Sehima nervosum) in Kimberley pastures?
• Milou Dekkers (PhD Student, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD)
  Watching the grasses grow: using UAVs and satellites to monitor rangeland species composition
• Hayley Macmillan (Senior Scientist, Beef & Sheep, Animal Science, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Brisbane, QLD)
  Low volume, high concentrated splatter gun technology – a useful tool for opening up dense 'bellyache bush' (Jatropha gossypilifolia) infestations

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