Great Lakes science leaders honored

For IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 24, 2024

Contact: Neil Rooney, IAGLR Past President & Awards Committee Co-Chair, awardschair@iaglr.org

WINDSOR, ONT — The International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR) honored several professionals this week for their contributions to IAGLR and large lake science. The following awards were presented at the association’s 67th Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research in Windsor.

Lifetime Achievement Award
Robert Hecky and Stephanie Guildford received IAGLR's Lifetime Achievement Award for important and continued contributions to large lake research. Both are professors emeriti in the Biology Department and Large Lakes Observatory (LLO) at University of Minnesota-Duluth. Their colleagues note that Hecky and Guildford are "a true team in science and in life."

"Together, Stephanie and Bob have been trailblazers in limnology, making important contributions that furthered our understanding of diverse topics," writes Ted Ozersky, LLO associate professor. "This work includes seminal papers about the role of nutrients in eutrophication and its remediation, how light and different nutrients interact to limit productivity in lakes and oceans, how lake food webs are connected across habitats, the impacts of anthropogenic disturbance on the African Great Lakes, and how invasive mussels have re-engineered the nutrient cycle of the Laurentian Great Lakes."

When notified of their award, the couple shared via email, "It is always a pleasure to receive positive recognition from peers, but we greatly appreciate and especially value receiving this recognition from IAGLR, an organization so rich in peers and colleagues with whom we have shared so much of our lifetime experiences and success."

The couple met at the Freshwater Institute in Winnipeg and worked together there for several years. They eventually married and have been working on large lakes in North America and Africa (and elsewhere) ever since. They are well known to the research communities globally. Hecky is an advisor for several groups in Africa and North America including the Great Lakes Fishery Commission for which he serves as a commissioner, and his work has been honored by multiple awards. Since 2012, Hecky and Guildford also have served as co-editors of IAGLR’s Journal of Great Lakes Research.

In addition to their contributions of high-quality science, the couple has made a large imprint on the field of large lake research as mentors and team builders. Throughout their careers, they guided dozens of young researchers from North America and Africa through their undergraduate and graduate degrees and postdoctoral training.

"Bob and Stephanie have mentored numerous students, promoted collaboration, and built capacity to advance the science of the great lakes of the world with a zeal to improve capacity in the global south to which I and many other scientists and institutions have been beneficiaries," notes Richard Ogutu-Ohwayo, with the African Lakes Network.

In addition, the example they set raising five children while pursuing two busy academic careers was not lost on their students. “They served as fantastic role models of a healthy work-life balance,” says Rebecca North, an associate professor of limnology at the University of Missouri. “I had my first child while I was a Ph.D. student working with Stephanie. She was the most supportive advisor a student could have in that situation. At a point where many women leave academia due to the demands of young children, it was her support and encouragement that kept me going.”

Large Lake Champion Award
IAGLR is pleased to announce three recipients of the Large Lake Champion Award this year:

• Jennifer Boehme (Great Lakes Observing System), was recognized for her committed efforts to address Great Lakes water quality and pollution issues to protect human health, collaborating across borders, organizations, and agencies. Boehme's dedication to linking research to policy has helped to safeguard human health and the health of the ecosystem.
• John Hartig (University of Windsor) has championed ecosystem restoration for 45+ years, leading to some of the most successful restoration and revitalization stories in North America. Hartig helped nurture, operationalize, and implement an ecosystem approach in restoring the most polluted areas of the Great Lakes. Now ecosystem-based management is accepted in water policy worldwide. There is no better example of his impact than his work on the Detroit River. Cleaning up the river led to its economic revitalization including the award-winning Detroit Riverwalk.
• Henry Lickers (Haudenosaunee citizen of the Seneca Nation, Turtle Clan) has spent a career bridging knowledge systems and sharing stories to encourage others to recognize that science and Traditional Knowledge need each other. Lickers have been instrumental in incorporating First Nation’s people and knowledge into environmental planning and decision-making throughout the Great Lakes region.

This award recognizes and honors individuals whose work has made significant contributions to sharing the social, economic, and ecological understanding of large lakes of the world. IAGLR looks to pay tribute to the luminaries and rising voices for large lakes that will help shape the association for years to come and pave the way for IAGLR’s future.

Anderson-Everett Award
Mary Ginnebaugh received this award in recognition of her long-time service to IAGLR. Ginnebaugh, who is retired from Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, joined the association in 1985. Her recent service includes a term on the IAGLR Board of Directors, where she provided an important voice in financial strategy and the hiring of a new executive director. She also took on co-chairing the Conference Committee during a critical time as we returned to in-person meetings after the pandemic. In 2013, Ginnebaugh established the David D. Dolan Scholarship in memory of her husband and continues to provide oversight and financial support to the benefit not only of the graduate students conducting the research, but to the understanding and management of Great Lakes ecosystems. Ginnebaugh and Dolan, who also served on the board, received the Anderson-Everett award jointly in 2001.

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.

Chandler-Misener Award
This award went to Thomas Binder, Christopher Holbrook, Charles Bronte, Ji He, and Charles Krueger for their paper “Does hatchery rearing of lake trout affect their reproductive behavior in the wild?” published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research 49, 288-302 (2023). 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 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.

Elsevier Early Career Scientist Award
Elaine Ho-Tassone (NORDIK Institute/ Algoma University) received this recognition for the article “Collaborative watershed analysis: A ‘groupthink’ assessment of cumulative effects,” Journal of Great Lakes Research 49, S104-S115 (2023). Coauthors include Andrew Judge, Andrew Trant, and Simon Courtenay.

Editor's Awards
These awards are given by the journal editors for outstanding support of the review process for the Journal of Great Lakes Research.

• The Outstanding Associate Editor 2023 Award was presented to Marlene Evans (Environment and Climate Change Canada).
• The journal editors also designated Bernard Crimmins (Clarkson University) as recipient of the Outstanding Reviewer 2023 Award.

IAGLR Appreciation Awards
The following people received appreciation awards for their service to the association:

• The IAGLR Board of Directors Appreciation Award went to Alfred Achieng (University of Toronto), Jean Adams (retired), Susan Daniel (Great Lakes Center), Rene Sabha Shamohamadloo (University of Guelph), and Les Warren (Purdue University), who have faithfully served on the IAGLR board and completed their term of service. 
• The IAGLR Committee Chair Appreciation Award went to Jennifer Boehme (GLOS) and Michael Twiss (Algoma University), outgoing Investment Committee Co-Chairs, and Paul Sibley (University of Guelph), outgoing Communications & Outreach Committee Chair. 
• The JGLR Editor Appreciation Award went to Robert Hecky and Stephanie Guildford (University of Minnesota Duluth, Large Lakes Observatory) for their service as editors of the Journal of Great Lakes Research since 2012.
• The JGLR Outgoing Associate Editor's Appreciation Award went to Robert McLaughlin (University of Guelph) and Ronald Hites (Indiana University), who was recognized posthumously.
• The IAGLR Conference Appreciation Award went to IAGLR 2024 Conference Site Chair Mike McKay (University of Windsor) and IAGLR 2024 Program Co-Chairs Catherine Febria (University of Windsor) and Carol Miller (Wayne State University).