HEALING OUR WATERS NAMES GREAT LAKER LIFETIME ACHIEVENT WINNER

Gary Fahnenstiel, Ph.D., of the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, was given the HOW Coalition’s highest honor at the annual meeting held in Duluth, Minnesota, September 10-12, 2009.

Peter M. Wege, whose vision launched the Healing Our Waters Coalition in 2004, has long admired Dr. Fahnenstiel for devoting his brilliance, education, time, and passion to restoring the and protecting the Great Lakes. The following is Wege’s letter nominating Gary L. Fahnenstiel, Ph.D.

I would like to nominate my friend and fellow environmentalist Gary L. Fahnenstiel for the Great Laker Lifetime Achievement Award. The enclosed resume speaks for itself in terms of “lifetime” achievement. Since Gary graduated from college in 1978, you will see his entire professional career has been devoted to the Great Lakes in teaching, researching, and publishing scientific articles. His Ph.D. in Aquatic Ecology could be subtitled “Great Lakes Ecology.” That is where Dr. Fahnenstiel’s academic and hands-on research has been focused for the past thirty years.

Please take time to read through “Other Professional Activities.” Gary has been in the thick of every Great Lakes collaboration he could find time for. When you read the TWELVE pages of scholarly articles he was written and co-written on the Great Lakes, you’ll wonder if he’s had any sleep over the past three decades!

I have known Gary for many years and I consider him the best scientist around on the Great Lakes. The timing of this Award is just right as Dr. Fahnenstiel retires from NOAA this year. What a fitting tribute to his 14 years working with the federal research laboratory GLERL: Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.

GLERL’s research provides information that affects everything dealing with the Great Lakes, including recreation, public health, and the economy. I coined the word economicology to mean we must strike a balance between the ecology and the economy. Dr. Fahnenstiel’s research at GLERL has helped proved that this can and must be done.

In 1967 I created The Wege Foundation with the first task of protecting the environment. Education has been a second vital mission for The Wege Foundation. What Dr. Gary Fahnenstiel has done for thirty years to accomplish both those things for the Great Lakes makes him a hero to me. I can imagine no person more deserving of the Great Laker Lifetime Achievement Award. Peter M. Wege

Return to the list of news articles...