Inside This Issue:

Milestones

IES Director Dr. Gene E. Likens Receives the Blue Planet Prize

Dr. Gene E. Likens (left) and Dr. F. Herbert Bormann, of the Hubbard Brook LTER site.

On June 11th, the Asahi Glass Foundation announced that IES Director Dr. Gene E. Likens was a co-recipient of the 2003 Blue Planet Prize for outstanding scientific research that helps to solve global environmental problems. Dr. Likens was awarded the distinction along with Dr. Herbert Bormann, his long-time collaborator at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire.

The Blue Planet Prize recognizes Drs. Likens and Bormann's roles in understanding human impacts on ecosystems and informing national decisions regarding the management of air, land, and water resources. At Hubbard Brook, Dr. Likens identified the relationship between fossil fuel use and acid rain in North America. He contributed critical data to the U.S. Congress for the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. The Blue Plant Prize is an international environmental award sponsored by the Asahi Glass Foundation, chaired by Hiromichi Seya. Two Blue Planet prizes are awarded annually to individuals or organizations that make scientific discoveries that help solve global environmental problems.

Dr. Vo Quy (Vietnam) was the other recipient of the Blue Planet Prize for his key role in conserving and restoring Vietnam's war-damaged environment and initiating community-based conservation projects.

This is the 12th year the Blue Planet Prize has been awarded. Past recipients prize have included Dr. Paul R. Ehrlich (Director of the Center for Conservation Biology, Stanford University) and Dr. Theo Colburn (World Wildlife Fund).

LTER Investigators Honored with Ecological Society of America Awards

The William Skinner Cooper Award honors an outstanding contributor to the fields of geobotany, physiographic ecology, plant succession, or the distribution of plants along environmental gradients-the fields in which W. S. Cooper worked. The award is for a single contribution in a scientific publication (single or multiple authored). The William Skinner Cooper Award was presented to David R. Foster, Glenn Motzkin and Benjamin Slater for their contribution: Foster, D., G. Motzkin, and B. Slater. 1998. Land-use history as long-term broad-scale disturbance: regional forest dynamics in central New England. Ecosystems 1: 96-119

The Eugene P. Odum Award recognizes an ecologist for outstanding work in ecology education. Dr. Alan R Berkowitz (Baltimore Ecosystem Studies) was presented the Odum Award for his contributions through teaching, outreach, and mentoring activities, his demonstrated ability to relate basic ecological principles to human affairs.

Nine LTER Sites Experience Mid-term Reviews

Nine LTER Sites had their mid-term reviews this year, including Cedar Creek, Florida, Georgia Coastal, Harvard Forest, Jornada, Santa Barbara, Sevilleta and Virginia Coast.

Getting concentrated and comprehensive presentations from so many sites provides a unique perspective, says Henry Gholz, program officer for LTER, Directorate for Environmental Biology. "The contrast among the LTER sites, in terms of their scientific focus and especially their management paradigms, is very high" says Henry. "Although it is a lot of trouble and time commitment for the sites to prepare for these reviews, the overwhelming (but not unanimous) feedback I receive indicates that these reviews are extremely valuable to the sites."

Kristin Vanderbilt, information manager at the Sevilleta LTER site, found herself on both sides of the review experience this year. "I would say that it was a valuable experience," Kristin says. "It caused us to reassess where we are with respect achieving our information management goals." As a reviewer, Kristin voices the opinion that more time is necessary for the process. "It's not possible for a thorough review of a site's information management system to be done based on a general talk given by the IM to the whole review committee." As lead principal investigator of a relatively new LTER site, Dan Childers (Florida Coastal Everglades 'FCE') had a good experience. The experience was an excellent one for the FCE group. It will prove very helpful as we begin our renewal proposal preparations." From the Virginia Coast LTER site, John Porter has participated many reviews, from both sides. "Apart from the value of getting 'outside' opinions, [the review] motivates introspection. With the day-to-day focus on ecological data and analysis, it's important for us to periodically step back and look at what we are doing in both a past and future context." The review process also helps investigators put their research in context with the site research, Porter says. "With the wide array of activities at our site, it is not possible for a researcher to be fully in touch with all the LTER activities," Porter says. "The review provided an opportunity for the exchange of information among our group that went well beyond what we are able to accomplish at our annual 'all-hands meeting.'"

During her time with the LTER Network, Sonia Ortega had the unique opportunity to visit the sites and observe many of the reviews. "I think having some reviewers who are not at LTER sites has a very positive effect on the site reviews because they bring a different perspective," Sonia says.

While it made for a travel-heavy year for Henry and others on the review teams, the visits painted a bright picture of LTER. It is clea r that LTER overall is contributing "in major ways" to the progress of ecological science, Henry says, "as well as to the progress of the evolution of information management strategies and protocols that are having impacts way beyond LTER."