[Taxacom] A New Award for Insect Taxonomy – J O Westwood Medal

[Frank Krell]

A New Award for Insect Taxonomy – J O Westwood Medal


In response to the urgent need to expand the research effort in insect taxonomy and to encourage monographic revisionary work, the Department of Entomology of the Natural History Museum, and the Royal Entomological Society, plan to launch a new joint award for excellence in insect taxonomy.   A medal will be awarded biennially for the best comprehensive taxonomic work on a group of insects or related arthropods (including terrestrial and freshwater hexapods, myriapods, arachnids and their relatives), typically a taxonomic revision or monograph, as judged by an independent, international panel of experts and agreed by representatives of the two organisations.   The award of this medal will recognise only the highest standards in descriptive taxonomy.   

The award is named in honour of the leading 19th century British entomologist, John Obadiah Westwood (1805-1893).   Westwood was the inaugural holder of the Hope Chair of Entomology at the University of Oxford, when it was established by the Reverend F.W. Hope in 1863.   Westwood was one of the original group of founding members of the then Entomological Society of London in 1833 and served as President for three separate periods, 1851-52, 1872-73 and 1876-77.   In 1883 he was elected to the unique position of Honorary Life President of the Society.   He was a prolific author and published on most groups of insects and illustrated his own works, and those of many others, with his exquisite drawings and paintings.   Perhaps his most influential work was An Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects published in two volumes in 1839, pp 1-462, and 1840, pp 1-587, by Longman, Orme, Brown, Green and Longmans, London.   As a major appendix to volume 2 he added his Synopsis of the Genera of British Insects, pp 1-158.    In this latter he first clearly established the concept of a type species for a genus, analogous to the type specimen for a species, and thus helped to provide a stable foundation for insect nomenclature.   It is particularly appropriate that our new award should be dedicated to this early pioneer of insect taxonomy.

We shall announce the winner of the inaugural Westwood medal early in 2008, appropriately the 250th anniversary of the publication of the 10th edition of Linnaeus’s Systema Naturae.   The medal will be presented at an appropriate occasion later in the year when the winner will have the opportunity to give a presentation on his/her work.   

Leading taxonomists who have agreed to serve on the first selection panel for this award include Ralph Harbach, Norman I. Platnick, Edward O. Wilson, Quentin Wheeler and James Woolley.   All interested in applying themselves, or in nominating another author, should submit a nominating letter, two letters of support from acknowledged experts, and three copies of the work by no later than 30 March, 2007, to Westwood Medal, Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD,UK, or electronically to j.westwood at nhm.ac.uk


Mike Claridge, Royal Entomological Society

Martin Hall, Natural History Museum

August, 2006

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Dr Frank-T. Krell
Head, Coleoptera Division
Editor, Systematic Entomology
Commissioner, International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
Department of Entomology
The Natural History Museum
Cromwell Road
London SW7 5BD, U.K.
Tel. +44 (0) 20 7942 5886
Fax +44 (0) 20 7942 5229
f.krell at nhm.ac.uk
http://www.nhm.ac.uk//research-curation/staff-directory/entomology/cv-3566.html
http://myprofile.cos.com/ftkrell