On September 26, 2013, Dr. Nicolas Gutierrez, MSC’s Senior Research and Policy Development Manager, was presented the W.F. Thompson Best Student Paper Award at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Annual Science Conference in Iceland.

The award is given annually by The American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists (AIFRB) to recognize excellence in research as well as to encourage student professionalism in fisheries and aquatic sciences and publication of research results.

Nicolas won the award for the best paper in fisheries science of 2011, entitled "Leadership, Incentives and Social Capital Promote Successful Fisheries," which was published in Nature as part of his PhD at the School of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, University of Washington (UW). Nicolas graduated from UW in 2011 and began working at the MSC the same year. Congratulations Nicolas!