The Permafrost Young Researchers Network hosted its third annual outstanding presentation award series at the recent Ninth International Conference on Permafrost (NICOP) in Fairbanks, USA. Initiated at the regional Asian Conference on Permafrost in Lanzhou, China in 2006, this annual award series recognizes outstanding oral and poster presentations by young scientists and engineers on the general topic of permafrost. Held during each year's primary permafrost conference, the competition is aimed exclusively at the PYRN community.

In addition to being members of PYRN, competitors must also be both first authors and presenters of their research, and both the quality of the presentation and the scientific/engineering merit are evaluated by a panel of eminent permafrost researchers. PYRN would like to particularly thank Jennifer Harden for coordinating the evaluation process, together with eight judges. PYRN also gratefully acknowledges the generous sponsorship of the International Permafrost Association and the U.S. Permafrost Association, allowing each recipient to receive a $200 cash prize, together with a certificate and a personalized plaque.

Because the 2008 competition was held at an International Conference on Permafrost (ICOP), in addition to the two PYRN-IPA awards for outstanding presentation, the Troy L. Pewe award for outstanding oral scientific presentation and the Pavel I. Melnikov award for outstanding oral engineering presentation were recognized on July 3, 2008 during NICOP's closing ceremony. Because the quality of the presentations was very high and because there were approximately 70 competitors (over 40 oral and over 30 posters), one honorable mention was also presented.

The winners of PYRN's 2008 Outstanding Presentation Awards:

The 2008 IPA Troy L. Pewe Award for Outstanding Oral Presentation (Science):

Gregory De Pascale (William Lettis & Associates, Inc.) for "Geophysical Mapping of Ground Ice in the Western Canadian Arctic"

The 2008 IPA Pavel I. Melnikov Award for Outstanding Oral Presentation (Engineering):

Kevin Bjella (CRREL) for "The Effect of Near-Freezing Temperatures on the Stability of an Underground Excavation in Permafrost"

The 2008 PYRN-IPA Award for Outstanding Poster Presentation:

Gustaf Hugelius (Stockholm University), for "Patterns in Soil Carbon Distribution in the Usa Basin (Russia): Linking  Soil Properties to Environmental Variables in Constrained Gradient Analysis"

The 2008 PYRN-IPA Award for Outstanding Poster Presentation:

Tezera Firew Azmatch (University of Alberta) for "Measuring Ice Lens Growth and Development of Soil Strains during Frost Penetration Using Particle Image Velocimetry (GeoPIV)"

The 2008 PYRN-IPA Honorable Mention Award for Outstanding Poster Presentation:

Alexandra Zemskova (Moscow State University), for "Study of Western Taymyr Permafrost in the Framework of the IPY Education Program"

Alexandra Zemskova, receiving her honorable mention from IPA President Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten and USPA President Ken Hinkel on July 3, 2008 in Fairbanks, USA during NICOP's closing ceremony.

PYRN, IPA, and USPA congratulate the winners for the quality of their research, and their effective presentation during NICOP!

Oliver W. Frauenfeld, on behalf of the PYRN Core Group