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The rationale for IAGLR's lifetime achievement award (LTA)

Article  in  Journal of Great Lakes Research · September 2006

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Hunter J Carrick
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J. Great Lakes Res. 32:653–655
Internat. Assoc. Great Lakes Res., 2006

COMMENTARY

The Rationale for IAGLR’s Lifetime Achievement Award (LTA)

Hunter J. Carrick*
School of Forest Resources
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvania 16802

JUSTIFICATION FOR THE
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
It is common practice for any cultural group to
recognize its constituency with some form of dis-
tinction that is of value to the entire group (Kuhn
1962). Such accolades not only benefit and honor
valuable activities of the individual being recog-
nized, but also can serve as a “guidepost” to the
cultural group regarding collective values that are
beneficial to the function and existence of the group
(see Covey 1999). Most professional societies tend
to commemorate the activities of its members with
various awards, and professional awards are usually
directed toward individual excellence in scholarship
(merit) or service to the society.
The International Association for Great Lakes
Research (IAGLR), which promotes a wide range
of research interests, has been in existence for some
40 years (Phillips and Veinot 1977). IAGLR
evolved from the annual Conference for Great
Lakes Research (Kramer 1977, Sweeney 1982).
The mission of the society is to “promote all as-
pects of large lakes research, and communicate re-
search findings through publications and meetings”
(see www.iaglr.org). Until recently, however,
IAGLR recognized meritorious contributions
among its members with one award (Chandler-Mis-
ener Award, for the most notable paper in each vol-
ume of the journal). This award was established in
1971 to recognize research excellence presented in
the best paper published each year; the name of the
award honors the international roots of the society
founders D. Misenser and D.C. Chandler (Mc-
Naught 1993, Beeton and Schneider 1998). Despite
its mission, the number of IAGLR merit-oriented
awards is low compared with that given by other
*E-mail: hjc11@psu.edu
societies in aquatic science (Table 1). For instance,
sister societies such as the American Water Re-
sources Association (AWRA) and American Soci-
ety for Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO)
confer four and five meritorious awards, respec-
tively (Table 1). ASLO’s award scheme recognizes
excellence by young, mid-level, and senior re-
searchers within the society, as well as excellence
in applied research (Patrick Award). A similar con-
figuration has been adopted by the AWRA for early
and senior research awards (Pyramid and Csallany
Awards, respectively), although they also recognize
excellence in several thematic areas of aquatic sci-
ence as well (e.g., Ackerman Award for manage-
ment and Icko Iben Award for understanding).
With this in mind, IAGLR established a new
award in 2005 designed to recognize research ex-
cellence by its senior members. The Lifetime
Achievement Award (LTA) was established to ac-
knowledge the role its senior members have played
in shaping Great Lakes research. Specifically, the
LTA recognizes “important and continued contribu-
tions to the field of Great Lakes research” over a
period of 20 years or more. Nominees are evaluated
on the basis of their contribution, originality, and
impact to the science of Great Lakes research.
Thus, the award embodies excellence as defined by
three main attributes: (1) Contribution: sustained
and substantial theoretical, experimental, or field
research, (2) Originality: outstanding body of origi-
nal work, and reporting on unique datasets, and (3)
impact: long-term influence on research in a spe-
cific subdiscipline. The naming of the award “Life-
Time Achievement in Great Lakes Research” is in
line with that done in other professional societies.
The purpose of this commentary is to communicate
the rationale, nomination, and evaluation proce-

653
654 Hunter J. Carrick

TABLE 1. Awards routinely conferred to regular members by several aquatic science societies prior to
2005 (International Association for Great Lakes Research- IAGLR, American Society of Limnology and
Oceanography- ASLO, and the American Water Resources Association- AWRA).
Type IAGLR ASLO AWRA
Merit Chandler-Misener Lindeman (early) Pyramid (early)
Hutchinson (mid) Csallany (research)
Lifetime Achievement (late) Ackerman (management)
Ruth Patrick (applied research) Icko Iben (understanding)
Citations for Excellence

Service Anderson-Everett Distinguished Service Marsh Medal (public)

Editor’s Award

TABLE 2. The breakdown of awards conferred by the International Association for Great Lakes
Research (IAGLR).
Name Description of Award Process for Evaluation
Merit
Chandler-Misener Most notable paper (annual) Awards Sub-Committee
Lifetime Achievement Long-term research excellence Awards Sub-Committee

Service
Anderson-Everett Contributions to IAGLR Awards Committee
Editor’s Award Support of JGLR JGLR Editor

dures behind the LTA, as well as encourage mem-
bers to participate in the process.
Nomination and Evaluation for the LTA
All regular members of IAGLR who have 20
years or more of professional experience beyond
their terminal degree in the field of ecology, fish-
eries biology, limnology, environmental engineer-
ing, or resource management in the Great Lakes are
eligible for this award (assuming the nominee has
not previously received the award). To be consid-
ered for this award, individuals are nominated by
members of IAGLR in the form of a nomination let-
ter, a copy of the nominee’s resume, and three let-
ters of support.
Nominations for the LTA are evaluated through a
democratic process, that is comparable to other pro-
fessional awards conferred by IAGLR (Table 2).
Each year, a sub-committee of the IAGLR Awards
Committee is convened to evaluate LTA nomina-
tions (see IAGLR website for information on
awards; www.iaglr.org). Nominees are reviewed on
the basis of scientific contribution, originality in
their research, and impact to the understanding of
large lakes. Definitions of these criteria are outlined
below:
Contribution: Publications (number, rate, and
type) reported on resume, student
advisement.
Originality: Strength of outside letters, other
merit awards, judgment by panel
Impact: Science citation index, demon-
strated influence on science and pol-
icy
As with any endeavor whose underpinnings are
based on critical evaluation, it is equally important
to recognize success to promote progress into the
future (Peters 1991). As such, the LTA is an annual
award that has been conferred to two very worthy
recipients since its inception in 2005 (Dr. Henry
Regier in 2005 and Dr. Eugene Stoermer in 2006).
The LTA is a prestigious award, because it recog-
nizes leadership within our society. Such an award,
while an honor for the individual, may prove to be
more important to the society as a whole, as we
look to our best to guide the activities of our society
into the future. I encourage the membership to fur-
 The Rationale for IAGLR’s Lifetime Achievement Award (LTA)
ther this important tradition by actively nominating
other outstanding senior researchers for the award.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to thank W. Taylor, R. Smith, and K.
Hornbuckle for discussion regarding the formula-
tion of the LTA award. I thank W. Taylor for his
thoughtful comments on the manuscript.
REFERENCES
Beeton, A.M., and R.S. Schneider. 1998. A century of
Great Lake research at the University of Michigan. J.
Great Lakes Res. 24:495–517.
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Covey, S.R. 1999. The seven habits of highly effective
people. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster Publ.
Kramer, J.R. 1977. Great Lakes research history. J.
Great Lakes Res. 3:167.
Kuhn, T.S., 1962. The structure of scientific revolutions.
Chicago, IL: University Chicago Press.
McNaught, D.C. 1993. IAGLR: who are we today and
how did we evolve? J. Great Lakes Res. 19:183–193.
Peters, R.H. 1991. A critique for ecology. New York,
NY: Cambridge University Press.
Phillips, D.W., and Veinot, E. 1977. A statistical analy-
sis of Great Lakes conferences from 1959 to 1975. J.
Great Lakes Res. 3:169–176.
Sweeney, R.A. 1982. Reflections on IAGLR’s silver
anniversary. J. Great Lakes Res. 8:723–725.