Great Plains Research presents two annual awards for the best articles published during a volume year: The Charles E. Bessey Award for natural science and the Leslie Hewes Award for social science. The awards are announced at the annual Fellows Luncheon of the Center for Great Plains Studies and include a cash stipend of $250. The Bessey Award was announced in 2000 with first award presented in spring 2000. The Hewes Award was announced in 1997 with first award presented in spring 1998.
Award winners
| CHARLES E. BESSEY AWARD | |
|---|---|
| 2021 | Alfred G. Wheeler Jr. An Introduced Tree, Black Locust, and Its Non-native Treehoppers Augment Nebraska's Biodiversity Volume 31, Number 1, Spring 2021 |
| 2020 | Stephanie Kennedy and Mark Burbach Great Plains Ranchers Managing for Vegetation Heterogeneity: A Multiple Case Study Volume 30, Number 2, Fall 2020 |
| 2019 | Andrew J. Caven, Emma M. Brinley Buckley, Joshua D. Wiese, Bill Taddicken, Brice Krohn, Timothy J. Smith, Andrew Pierson Appeal for a Comprehensive Assessment of the potential Ecological Impacts of the Proposed Platte-Republican Diversion Project Volume 29, Number 2, Fall 2019 |
| 2018 | Larkin Powell, Kelly Powell, Richard Edwards, Katie Nieland Geography of Ecotourism Potential in the Great Plains: Incentives for Conservation Volume 28, Number 1, Spring 2018 |
| 2017 | Dan Licht Bison Conservation in Northern Great Plains National Parks: No Need to Panic Volume 27, Number 2, Fall 2017 |
| 2016 | Alexander J. Smart, Lora B. Perkins, Tara N. Schramm, Matthew J. Nelson, Peter J. Bauman, Sharon A. Clay, and David E. Clay The Effects of Patch-Burn Grazing on Vegetation Structural Heterogeneity in the Northern Tallgrass Prairie of South Dakota Volume 26, Spring 2016 |
| 2016 | Alexander J. Smart, Lora B. Perkins, Tara N. Schramm, Matthew J. Nelson, Peter J. Bauman, Sharon A. Clay, and David E. Clay The Effects of Patch-Burn Grazing on Vegetation Structural Heterogeneity in the Northern Tallgrass Prairie of South Dakota Volume 26, Spring 2016 |
| 2015 | Kevin Gallo and Eric Wood Historical Drought Events of the Great Plains Recorded by Native Americans Fall 2015, Volume 25, No. 2 |
| 2014 | Craig Corpstein, Joseph Arruda, Cynthia Ford, and Ananda Jayawardhana An Assessment of Prairie Restoration at Fort Scott National Historic Site Spring 2014, Volume 24, No. 1 |
| 2013 | Rebecca A. Puta, Paul R. Hanson, Aaron R. Young Late Holocene Activation History of the Stanton Dunes, Northeastern Nebraska Spring 2013, Vol. 23, No. 1:11-23 |
| 2012 | Sharon N. Kahara and Steven R. Chipps, Wetland Hydrodynamics and Long-Term Use of Spring Migration Areas by Lesser Scaup in Eastern South Dakota. Spring 2012, Vol. 22, No. 1:69-78 |
| 2011 | Alexander J. Smart, Matthew J. Nelson, and Gary E. Larson Effects of Herbicides and Grazing on Floristic Quality of Native Tallgrass Pastures in Eastern South Dakota and Southwestern Minnesota 2011 Vol. 21, No. 2:181-90 |
| 2010 | Michael J. Keables A Soil Water Climiatology for Kansas. 2010 Vol. 20, No. 2:229-48 |
| 2009 | Mark P. Vrtiska and Susan Sullivan Abundance and Distribution of Lesser Snow and Ross's Geese in the Rainwater Basin and Central Platte River Valley of Nebraska 2009 Vol. 19, No. 1: 147-55 |
| 2008 | Hugh H. Genoways and Brett C. Ratcliffe Engineer Cantonement, Missouri Territory, 1819-1820; America's First Biodiversity Inventory 2008 Vol. 18, No. 1: 3-31 |
| 2007 | Stephen A. Wolfe, Chris H. Hugenholz, Christopher P. Evans, D.J. Huntley, and Jeff Ollerhead Potential Aboriginal-Occupation-Induced Dune Activity, Elbow Sand Hills, Northern Great Plains, Canada 2007 Vol. 17, No. 2: 173-92 |
| 2006 | Mark E. Burbach and R. Matthew Joeckel A Delicate Balance: Rainfall and Groundwater in Nebraska during the 2000-2005 Drought 2006 Vol. 16, No. 1: 5-16 |
| 2005 | Barbara J. Nicholson and James B. Swinehart Evidence of Holocene Climate Change in a Nebraska Sandhills Wetland 2005 Vol. 15, No. 1: 45-67 |
| 2004 | Mark P. Vrtiska and Nick Lyman Wintering Canada Geese along the Platte Rivers of Nebraska, 1960-2000 2004 Vol. 14 No. 1: 115-28 |
| 2003 | Craig A. Davis Habitat Use and Migration Patterns of Sandhill Cranes along the Platte River, 1998-2001 2003 Vol. 13 No. 2: 199-216 |
| 2002 | Dallas Virchow and Scott Hyngstrom Distribution and Abundance of Black-tailed Prairie Dogs in the Great Plains: A Historical Perspective 2002 Vol. 12 No. 2: 197-218 |
| 2001 | R. Mark Larson, Lawrence C. Todd, Eugene F. Kelly, and Jeffrey M. Welker Carbon Stable Isotopic Analysis of Bison Dentition 2001 Vol. 11 No. 1: 25-64 |
| 2000 | David B. Loope and James B. Swinehart Thinking Like a Dune Field: Geologic History in the Nebraska Sand Hills 2000 Vol. 10 No. 1: 5-35 |
| 1999 | Carolyn Hull Sieg, Curtis H. Flather, and Stephen McCanny Recent Biodiversity Patterns in the Great Plains: Implications for Restoration and Management 1999 Vol. 9 No. 2: 277-313 |
| LESLIE HEWES AWARD | |
|---|---|
| 2021 | Alexandra T. Middlewood A Silver Bullet: Gun Ownership and Political Participation in Rural America Volume 31, Number 2, Fall 2021 |
| 2020 | Matthew R. Sanderson People Pipelines: Channeling and Immigrant Integration in a Great Plains New Destination Region Volume 30, Number 2, Fall 2020 |
| 2019 | Vanessa Hamilton, Carlton LeCount, Nicole Parker Cariaga, and Kristine Sudbeck Research On vs. Research With: 21st Century Cross Cultural Collaboration and American Indian Education Volume 29, Number 1, Spring 2019 |
| 2018 | Joshua T. Fergen, Jeffrey B. Jacquet, Bishal Kasu, Matthew Barnett, Anne Junod, and Sandeep Kumar Out where the West Begins: Measuring Land Use Preferences and Environmental Attitudes across the Great Plains Transition Zone Volume 28, Number 2, Fall 2018 |
| 2017 | Joan M. Blauwkamp Free Exercise and the Fashion Police: Nebraska’s Ban on Religious Dress Volume 27, Number 1, Spring 2017 |
| 2016 | Terry Huffman Native American Educators and Their Leadership Roles on Reservations in the Northern Great Plains Volume 26, Spring 2016 |
| 2015 | Christina Dando Virtually Constructing a Great Plains: Booster Impacts on Plains Viewing Fall 2015, Volume 25, No. 2 |
| 2014 | Miguel Ceballos and Oksana Yakushko Attitudes toward Immigrants in Nebraska Fall 2014, Volume 24, No. 2 |
| 2013 | William R. England, Edmund T. Hamann Segregation, Inequality, Demographic Change, and School Consolidation: A Micropolitan Case Fall 2013, Vol. 23, No. 2:171-183 |
| 2012 | Robert Pahre Reconsidering National Park Interpretation of the Great Plains and Trans-Mississippi West Fall 2012, Vol. 22, No. 2:99-122 |
| 2011 | Peter J. Longo and Joan M. Blauwkamp Workplace Religious Accommodation for Muslims and the Promise of State Constitutionalism 2011 Vol. 21, No. 1:3-16 |
| 2010 | Richard Edwards and Eric Thompson The Role of Conservation Research and Education Centers in Growing Nature-Based Tourism 2010 Vol. 20, No. 1:51-70 |
| 2009 | Peter Bleed and Douglas D. Scott Archeological Interpretation of the Frontier Battle at Mud Springs, Nebraska 2009 Vol. 19, No. 1: 12-25 |
| 2008 | Dean A. Bangsund and F. Larry Leistritz Producer Responses to Carbon Sequestration Incentives in the Northern Great Plains 2008 Vol. 18, No. 2: 165-76 |
| 2007 | Suzanne Walker-Pacheco, Susan Dollar, and Ravindra G. Amonker Population Characteristics and Health Service Use by Latino Immigrants to Southwest Missouri 2007 Vol. 17, No. 1: 87-100 |
| 2006 | Susan Hautaniemi Leonard and Myron P. Gutmann Land Use and Transfer Plans in the U.S. Great Plains 2006 Vol. 16, No. 2: 181-93 |
| 2005 | Ana-Maria Gonzalez Wahl, Steven E. Gunkel, and Bennie Shobe, Jr. Becoming Neighbors or Remaining Strangers? Latinos and Residential Segregation in the Heartland 2005 Vol. 15, No. 2: 297-327 |
| 2004 | Mary S. Willis and Constance J. Fernald A View of Sudanese Refugee Resettlement through Nebraska’s Print Media 2004 Vol. 14 No. 2: 271-92 |
| 2003 | Alexander C. Vias and Charles O. Collins Differential Population and Income Migration in the Great Plains, 1995-1998 2003 Vol. 13 No. 2: 321-52 |
| 2002 | Bruce B. Johnson and John D. Cole Was Old Jules Right?: Soil Stewardship on Leased Land 2002 Vol. 12 No. 2: 339-51 |
| 2001 | Joe Truett, Michael Phillips, Kyran Kunkel, and Russell Miller Managing Bison to Restore Biodiversity 2001 Vol. 11 No. 1: 123-44 |
| 2000 | Ana-María Wahl, Steven E. Gunkel, and Thomas W. Sanchez Death and Disability in the Heartland: Corporate (Mis)Conduct, Regulatory Responses, and the Plight of Latino Workers in the Meatpacking Industry 2000 Vol. 10 No. 2: 329-57 |
| 1999 | Larry R. Peterson Is the Family Disappearing? Northern Great Plains vs. National Trends in Family Structure 1999 Vol. 9 No. 1: 143-63 |
| 1998 | Jane H. Bock and Carl E. Bock Tallgrass Prairie: Remnants and Relicts 1998 Vol. 8 No. 2: 213-30 |
| 1997 | Russel Lawrence Barsh, Michelle Fraser, Faye Morning Bull, Toby Provost, and Kirby Smith The Prairie Indian Vote in Canadian Politics, 1965-1993: A Critical Case Study from Alberta 1997 Vol. 7 No. 1: 3-26 |