SFS Announces 2025 Career Award Winners
The Society for Freshwater Science (SFS) today announced the winners of its 2025 Career Awards. The SFS Career Awards recognize up to five scientists each year for outstanding contributions to the field of freshwater science in the areas of environmental stewardship, service, mid-career leadership, emerging research, and excellence in scholarship.
"Our SFS Career Awards annually recognize novel and impactful contributions to freshwater science, environmental stewardship, and service and leadership within SFS,” said Dr. Dave Arscott, President of the Society. “We recognize and celebrate these colleagues for their achievements and efforts to advance freshwater science and promote a more effective, inclusive, and diverse science society.”
SFS will present the following awards at the Society’s 2025 Annual Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in May:
Hynes Award for New Investigators: Laurel Genzoli
The SFS Hynes Award for New Investigators is awarded to an early-career freshwater scientist who was the senior author of an outstanding primary publication within five years of receiving their terminal degree. Dr. Laurel Genzoli’s holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution from the University of Montana, an MS in Zoology from the University of Wyoming, and a BS in Environmental Studies from Southern Oregon University. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), working on ecological modeling through the NSF Modelscapes project. At UNR, her work includes analysis of long-term metabolism data on the Truckee River and ongoing research related to dam removal on the Klamath River. Genzoli’s research focuses on the drivers and consequences of benthic algal blooms. She studies how algal growth influences water quality and ecosystem processes, and works to improve monitoring approaches in rivers where field-based methods are often challenging. Dr. Genzoli has worked in the Klamath River basin for over a decade, developing long-term collaborations with local research partners, including Tribal water quality programs at the Karuk, Quartz Valley, and Yurok Tribes, among others. Her work is rooted in co-production, with projects shaped by emerging priorities from local partners. She has contributed to understanding how dam removal and nutrient pollution affect river productivity, how cyanobacteria from reservoirs persist downstream, and how benthic cyanobacteria are distributed across watersheds. She has also designed and led field courses, including international river exchange programs with local and indigenous youth through her work with Rios to Rivers, where she currently serves on the board of directors. Dr. Genzoli is also involved in Klamath Dam Removal Science Coordination efforts, supporting collaborations between academic researchers, agencies, and Klamath River Tribes.
Leadership Award: Amy Burgin
The SFS Leadership Award recognizes early or mid-career (<20 years from PhD) members for extraordinary work in furthering the Society’s mission, especially by expanding the impact of the Society and the field of freshwater science. Dr. Amy Burgin earned her Ph.D. from Michigan State University and completed a postdoctoral training at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies before tenure-track positions at Wright State University, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, University of Kansas. She is currently Chair and Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology at Iowa State University. Dr. Burgin served as an Associate Editor for Freshwater Science in 2016–2021, after which she stepped into the position of Chair of the SFS Publications Committee. As Chair, she also served on the Board of Directors, Finance Committee, and Journal Endowment Fund. Dr. Burgin’s research focuses on how human activities alter biogeochemical cycles and water quality across aquatic ecosystems, including streams, rivers, lakes, and wetlands. Her collaborations all emphasize high-quality undergraduate to postdoctoral training, building effective mentoring practices, and creating inclusive scientific teams. She received the 2015 Holling Family Junior Teacher Award (from UNL), the 2019 Mentor of the Year from the KU Office of Diversity in Science Training (ODST), and the 2022 University Scholarly Achievement Award from KU. She has co-authored over 60 publications and secured more than $10M in direct federal research support while training more than 50 undergraduates, 10 graduate students, and 6 post-doctoral scientists. She teaches courses on the Ecology of Lakes and Rivers, Water in the Anthropocene, Scientific Communication, and Team Science.
Environmental Stewardship Award: Nelson Odume
The SFS Environmental Stewardship Award recognizes successful translation of scientific knowledge into the social/public arena through policy or regulatory reform, research that enhances freshwater ecosystem rehabilitation or conservation, or public outreach and science education that strengthens public support for managing freshwater ecosystems. Dr. Oghenekaro Nelson Odume is a Professor and the Director of the Institute for Water Research (IWR) at Rhodes University in South Africa. He has led several multi-stakeholder, multi-country collaborative projects focusing on improving water quality, protecting river catchments, strengthening community participatory capacity, generating insights and knowledge into the nexus between water security and equity, securing water for vulnerable communities and livelihoods, developing tools and guidelines for addressing contested water quality challenges. Dr. Odume was the inaugural recipient of the Emerging River Leader Award by the International River Foundation in Australia, and the Bronze Medal Award by the Southern Africa Society of Aquatic Scientists. He sits on editorial boards of several scientific journals, including Aquatic Sciences and Freshwater Science. He is a member of the scientific committee of the South African Bureau of Standards responsible for developing water quality standards. Dr. Odume believes in strengthening Africa’s scientific capacity to manage its water resources and has secured large grants that provided doctoral and masters scholarships to over 50 students and staff in the field of water science from 23 African countries.
Distinguished Service Award: Mažeika Patricio Sulliván
The SFS Distinguished Service Award is awarded to a Society member who has made a genuine and lasting contribution to the betterment of the Society. Dr. S. Mažeika P. Sulliván was a leader in addressing diversity and inclusivity within SFS and in the freshwater sciences more broadly, chairing the SFS 2020–2023 Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Task Force, serving on the SFS Education and Diversity Committee from 2019–2022, and convening the SFS Council for Underrepresented Voices. He collaborated with colleagues to increase inclusion across the aquatic science societies with resources from a $2 million NSF-funded grant (IMPLEMENTATION: EVOLVED – Embedding a Vision to Operationalize, Lift up, and Value Equity and Diversity in the Consortium of Aquatic Science Societies). His goals for diversity and inclusivity within SFS also included increased Spanish language programming, developing deep and meaningful relationships with tribal colleges and minority-serving institutions, and increasing the international membership and profile of the Society. Sulliván received a B.A. in Anthropology and Native American Studies from Dartmouth College, and an M.Sc. in Biology and Ph.D. in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont. He then served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Idaho, where he assisted the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe of northern Idaho on Native American water rights issues. He remained committed to the tribe and to championing inclusion of Native American scientists in research for the rest of his career. From 2008–2022, he was a professor in the School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR) at The Ohio State University, where he also served simultaneously as the Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) and as Director of the Ramsar-designated Schiermeier Olentangy Wetland Research Park from 2014–2022. In 2022, he became Director of BICEFS at Clemson University, where he also led the Streams, Rivers, and Estuaries (STRIVE) Lab until shortly before his passing in May 2024.
Award of Excellence: Alan “Al” Steinman
The SFS Award of Excellence is awarded to a single recipient for outstanding contributions to freshwater science. Dr. Alan (Al) Steinman is the Allen and Helen Hunting Research Professor of Grand Valley State University’s Annis Water Resources Institute (AWRI). Previously, he was Director of AWRI for 22 years, and before that, Director of the Lake Okeechobee Restoration Program at the South Florida Water Management District. Steinman has published over 200 scientific articles, book chapters, and books; has been awarded over $60 million in grants for scientific and engineering projects and over $6 million in private fundraising; and has testified before the U.S. Congress and the Michigan and Florida state legislatures. Dr. Steinman currently is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences Committee to Review Everglades Restoration, as well as science advisory boards/committees for 1) the International Joint Commission; 2) University of Michigan’s Water Center; and 3) NOAA’s Science Advisory Board Ecosystem Sciences and Management Working Group. He has served on the State of Michigan’s Groundwater Conservation Advisory Council, Michigan’s Phosphorus Advisory Committee, and Ottawa County (MI)’s Executive Groundwater Committee. Editorial service includes currently Review Editor for Frontiers in Environmental Science (Freshwater), and previously, Associate Editor for Freshwater Biology, Freshwater Science, and Journal of Phycology. His current community service includes Executive Committee for the Alliance for the Great Lakes; Goodwill Industries of West Michigan (vice-chair), and the West Michigan Symphony. Dr. Steinman received his Ph.D. from Oregon State University under the guidance of Dave McIntire, and was awarded a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from Oak Ridge National Laboratory under the guidance of Pat Mulholland and Jerry Elwood. Steinman’s current research interests include aquatic ecosystem restoration, harmful algal blooms, phosphorus biogeochemistry, and water policy.
For more information, visit http://freshwater-science.org/awards-programs/career-awards
#####
The Society for Freshwater Science (SFS) is a premier international organization of aquatic scientists. Our members study freshwater organisms, biotic communities, physical processes that affect ecosystem function, linkages between freshwater ecosystems and surrounding landscapes, habitat and water quality assessment, conservation and restoration. SFS fosters the exchange of scientific information among its membership, and with other professional societies, resource managers, policymakers, educators, and the public.