TONMOCON VI Monty Award Winner

tonmo

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As announced at the end of the event yesterday, our winner is...

@Taollan (Kirt Onthank)

As announced / presented at TONMOCON VI:

Kirt has exemplified much of what both TONMO and Monty represent. His summer intern YouTube video blog, Octopodium are often featured on TONMO's Facebook page and they add richness to our Education content on TONMO.com. Kirt started as a member of TONMO while studying for his Masters degree at Walla Walla University, focusing on O. rubescens research. After finishing his doctorate he established and now heads an invert lab, concentrating on cephalopods. The vlog series is focused on using octopuses to help monitor the ocean and shows many of the trials and tribulations of a summer internship. Kirt's lab, his active postings and his candid vlog gives first hand insight for conservation students interested in both the ocean and cephalopod research.

As our 2015-2016 Monty Award winner, a donation of $75 will be made in Taollan’s name to the Coral Reef Restoration program at Mote.

He will also receive a 2-year TONMO account upgrade to Supporter, and a TONMO Mug :smile:

Thank You Taollan and Congratulations!

Indeed, congratulations! And well-earned.
 
TONMO COMMUNITY: THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

This community has been so important to me as I have developed as a ceph biologist. Throughout grad school I never studied in a "cephalopod lab" (my master's advisor was a crustacean guy and my PhD advisor was a hydrothermal vent annelid worm guy). Normally people make connections with other people in their field through their major professor, and that never happened for me. I have had to make those connections on my own and TONMO was my most valuable resource in doing that.

I have relished the conversations I have had here and the people I have met. In remembering all of that, and the namesake of this award, I went back through the archives and browsed some of my old interactions with Monty. I remember one particular conversation with him and others about why cephalopods never invaded freshwater. I remember thinking how this was the kind of conversation I could have in virtually no other venues, especially not being in a "cephalopod lab" myself. I actually sent Monty a copy of my masters thesis before my defense for his comments. He sent it back with some great insights that no one on my committee had brought up (none of them were ceph people...).

TONMO brings together such an amazing mix of hobbyists and biologists, making it such an unique and amazing community. There are so many people here with deep love and curiosity of cephalopods and such experience in keeping them in home and professional aquaria. I have been so fortunate to have been a part of it for the last 10 years.

So once again: Thank you TONMO.
 

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