Winter 2005 Newsletter
ERF 2005 18TH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE
ESTUARINE INTERACTIONS:
biological-physical feedbacks and adaptations
John Hobbie
Co-Director and Senior Scientist
The Ecosystems Center at the Marine Biological Laboratory
Woods Hole, MA
John Hobbie is an aquatic ecologist. In his research he has attempted to identify the factors controlling decomposition and productivity within aquatic ecosystems. He is primarily interested in the role natural assemblages of microbes play in ecosystems.
John's other research interests include seeking understanding of what controls bacterial numbers, learning how much land-derived organic matter is used in Arctic lakes and in the coastal zone, and developing an understanding of the controls of nutrient fluxes from terrestrial ecosystems to rivers, lakes and coastal oceans.
The criteria for the Federation's Odum Award call for the recipient to have a sustained record of important contributions to our understanding of estuaries. John Hobbie has been sustaining an impressive array of research and outreach activities for over 40 years and shows no signs of slackening of his pace.
Hobbie has published over 140 research articles and has edited several books. His 1975 paper with Ralph Daley, "Direct Counts of Aquatic Bacteria by a Modified Epifluorescene Technique," won a "Citation Classic" award and has been among the most cited papers in environmental science. He is noted as an author whose writings cover a wide range of topics ranging from arctic limnology to coastal ocean biogeochemistry and microbial activity in oceans, lakes and soils.
One of the nominations letters recommending John Hobbie for the Odum award included the following; " he is a true systems thinker and interdisciplinarian in the same sense as the Odums". This aspect of John's work is certainly reflected in many of his papers and clearly the focus of a recent book on synthesis in estuarine science.
Finally, John has made huge contributions to the process of estuarine research via his many-decades of active support, leadership and encouragement for NSF programs such as LMER and LTERs focusing on estuarine ecosystems. He has served in numerous leadership and executive posts for several research agencies and scientific societies.
The Odum award is the latest recognition of John Hobbie's research excellence, and joins an impressive array of other such recognitions. Earlier this year the Marine Biological Laboratory named him a Distinguished Scientist for his achievements.
Parker MacCready
Physical Oceanography
Department
University of Washington, Seattle
The Donald W. Pritchard Award recognizes the author or authors of a paper judged to make the most meritorious contribution to the field of estuarine physics that is published in Estuaries in the 24-month period ending December of the year preceding the award. The 2005 Donald W. Pritchard Award was presented to Parker MacCready for his 2004 paper, "Toward a Unified Theory of Tidally-Averaged Estuarine Salinity Structure", which was published in Estuaries and Coasts, 27, 561-570.
Professor MacCready is a faculty member in the Physical Oceanography Department at the University of Washington. He is an unusually gifted scientist with a broad range of interests. He specializes in the theoretical interpretation of coastal and estuarine flow with particular emphasis on stratified flow over bottom topography combining theory, modeling, observations and laboratory experiments. Early in his career he won acclaim for his use of flappingwing propulsion for a human--powered hydrofoil boat.
The paper for which he receives the Pritchard award describes a novel theory of how rapidly and how much the circulation and stratification in an estuary would change following a change in river flow or tidal mixing. He has reconsidered the classical, tidally-averaged steady theories and used his own earlier work to significantly improve what we know about estuarine circulation.
Dr. Scott W. Nixon
Professor
Graduate School of Oceanography
University of Rhode Island
This award recognizes and honors and individual for outstanding service to the Federation. Scott Nixon has been the Federation's Co-Editor- In-Chief of Estuaries since 1988. Dr. Nixon's dedication to constantly improving and upgrading the journal has been rewarded by the journal's high impact factors and its prominent position in the estuarine and coastal science world.
Scott joined the GSO staff in 1970 after receiving his doctorate with Dr. H.T. Odum at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and has advised over 25 masters and doctoral students. His many outreach activities include: member National Research Council Ocean Studies Board, NRC committees on Everglades Restoration, the Florida Keys Carrying Capacity Assessment Model, and the Louisiana Coastal Restoration Plan, Director of the Rhode Island Sea Grant Program and member on numerous National Academy of Sciences boards and committees. His current research interests focus on productivity and biogeochemical cycling of coastal ecosystems, with emphasis on estuaries, lagoons, and wetlands. He also conducts ecosystem- level experiments using mesocosms and is interested in comparative and historical ecology.
Ivan Valiela
Professor
Boston University Marine Program and The Marine Biological
Laboratory
Woods Hole, MA
Since obtaining his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1968, Ivan has advised more than 50 M.A. and Ph.D. students and produced over 200 publications. A number of them are seminal papers in the estuarine field.
In their letters of support for his nomination for the William A. Niering Award, colleagues and former students wrote about the many ways that Ivan contributed to their education and growth as estuarine scientists. From informal meetings to help students think critically about their research, to two textbooks one on estuarine ecology and one on doing science that are used by students and faculty internationally, Ivan educates students in ways that are meaningful and inspirational.
The awards committee found it remarkable to read the many testimonials from students whose careers in science were influenced by Ivan's mentoring and motivation. Ivan has not created a world of scientists in his own professional image, but instead he has encouraged his students to grow in very diverse directions. The awards committee noted, "Ivan has always been about the real world. He lives by example for his students to share with him. An estuarine- and life-educator who has given freely and fully of himself; he is truly deserving of the William A. Niering Outstanding Educator Award."
Peter Raymond
Assistant Professor
Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
New Haven, CT
Dr. Peter Raymond is the 2005 recipient of the Cronin Award. Pete completed his PhD degree at the School of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, under the tutelage of Dr. Jim Bauer in 1999. His dissertation research was on Carbon Cycling in the York River Estuary: An Isotopic and Mass Balance Approach Using Natural 14C and 13C Isotopes.
After completing postdoctoral fellowships at the Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Labs in 2001 and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 2002, Pete moved on to a tenure track assistant professorship at Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies where he uses stable and radioactive carbon isotopes to study the fluxes, turnover, and reactivity of carbon in riverine, estuarine, and coastal ecosystems.
Thus far Pete has authored or coauthored 16 papers, two published in Science and one in Nature and three in Estuaries. One colleague's letter of support noted that Pete is the lone "water person" amongst many foresters and terrestrial ecologists at Yale, and continued saying " he has had an enormous impact here in opening many eyes to the significance of estuaries as ecosystems of critical importance." Other recommenders' letters describe the large impact Pete's research has had on the ecological community, his creativity, networking skills, and educational contributions at Yale.
We are pleased to recognize and honor the breadth and interdisciplinary nature of Pete Raymond's research interests, the quality of his publications, his teaching accomplishments and the impact he has had on the field of coastal ecology with the Cronin Award.
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