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Great Lakes Science Leaders Honored

For IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 18, 2017

Contacts: Tomas Höök, IAGLR Past-President, [email protected]; Lars Rudstam, Awards Committee Co-Chair, [email protected]

DETROIT — The International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR) honored several professionals Thursday for their contributions to IAGLR and Great Lakes science. The following awards were presented at the association’s 60th Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research in Detroit, Mich.

The Lifetime Achievement Award for important and continued contributions to Great Lakes research was awarded to Thomas Nalepa, a research scientist with the University of Michigan Water Center. He joined the center after working for 35 years at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. Nalepa is probably best known for his seminal work on invasive mussels, including zebra and quagga mussels, and their effects on Great Lakes communities.

The John R. (Jack) Vallentyne Award went to Dan Egan, author of the new book The Death and Life of the Great Lakes and a prize-winning reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. This award recognizes important and sustained efforts to inform and educate the public and policymakers on Great Lakes issues, thereby raising awareness and support for Great Lakes protection and restoration. Its namesake is long-time IAGLR member and environmental scientist and educator, John R. (Jack) Vallentyne (a.k.a. "Johnny Biosphere").

The Chandler-Misener Award went to Lyubov Izmest'eva, Marianne Moore, Stephanie Hampton, Carolin Ferwerda, Derek Gray, Kara Woo, Helena Pislegina, Lyudmila Krashchuk, Svetlana Shimaraeva, and Eugene Silow for their paper Lake-wide physical and biological trends associated with warming in Lake Baikal, Journal of Great Lakes Research 42(1):6-17. IAGLR presents the Chandler-Misener Award annually to the author(s) of the peer-reviewed paper in the most recent complete volume of the Journal of Great Lakes Research judged to be “most notable.” Papers are evaluated based on originality, contribution, and presentation. Established in 1974, the award honors D.C. Chandler and A.D. Misener, IAGLR's first presidents.

The Anderson-Everett Award was presented to Robert Hecky from the University of Minnesota Duluth. Hecky, as editor of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, has guided and grown the journal through the transition to Elsevier. Under his and Stephanie Guildford’s leadership, the journal is more international, publishes more papers, and is developing into a premier outlet for large lakes science. This award recognizes important and continued contributions to the association over a period of years and honors the efforts of David Anderson and Margaret Everett for their significant early contributions to the association and the Great Lakes.

This year's Editor's Award was presented to Robert Michael McKay, Bowling Green University. The Editor's Award honors "outstanding support of the journal's review process." The award recognizes the crucial role played by peer review in assuring the quality of the Journal of Great Lakes Research.

The JGLR/Elsevier Early Career Scientist Award went to Louise Chavarie, University of Alberta, for her article Life-history variation among four shallow-water morphotypes of lake trout from Great Bear Lake, Canada, Journal of Great Lakes Research 42: 193-203. This award, valued at $750, recognizes a scientist at the early stages of his/her career who is first author on a top-ranked article in the Journal of Great Lakes Research. Co-authors include Kimberly Howland, Paul Venturelli, Benjamin Kissinger, Ross Tallman, and William Tonn.

IAGLR Certificates of Appreciation
Outgoing IAGLR President Tomas Höök presented certificates of appreciation to the following people for their service to the association:

  • The JGLR Outgoing Associate Editor's Appreciate Award went to Gerald Matisoff, Case Western Reserve University; Paul Helm, Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change; and Edward Rutherford, NOOA-GLERL.
  • Best Reviewer Award went to David Depew, Environment and Climate Change Canada.
  • IAGLR Board of Directors Appreciation Award certificates went to Christine Mayer, University of Toledo; Sue Watson, Environment Canada; Laura Beecraft, University of Waterloo; and Aaron Fisk, University of Windsor. They have faithfully served on the IAGLR Board and completed their terms of service.
  • The IAGLR Conference Appreciation Award went to site co-chairs James Diana, University of Michigan, and Donna Kashian, Wayne State University; and Program Committee members Donna Kashian and Carol Miller, Wayne State University; Mary Bohling, Michigan Sea Grant; and Catherine Riseng, University of Michigan.
  • An IAGLR Appreciation Award went to Jenilee Gobin (Trent University) for her dedicated service promoting the Journal of Great Lakes Research.