Hynes Award for New Investigators

Hynes Award for New Investigators

Click here for Hynes Award nomination form

2025 Winner: Laurel Genzoli

Laurel Genzoli is a river ecologist and lifelong river enthusiast whose 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. Grounded in place-based fieldwork, her research integrates ecosystem metabolism methods, long-term datasets, and field observations to examine patterns and drivers of algal dynamics and ecosystem function.

In the research for her Hynes Award-winning paper, "Benthic cyanobacterial proliferations drive anatoxin production throughout the Klamath River watershed, California, USA" (Freshwater Science 43: 307-324), Genzoli and colleagues, as described in her nomination, "demonstrated that anatoxin, a poorly known neurotoxin produced by cyanobacteria, is omnipresent in the Klamath River watershed, using a variety of methods to both sample and analyze for anatoxins, mapping an approach for others to use. They found that the prevalence of anatoxins does not seem to covary with surface water quality, and that anatoxins were, if anything, more abundant in the low-nutrient, clear tributaries than the eutrophic main stem of the Klamath River, bucking the usual narrative of high nutrients causing harmful algal blooms. Additionally, [they] found that Microcoleus, a non N-fixing, benthic cyanobacterium, was the main producer of anatoxins across benthic cyanobacterial taxa capable of producing anatoxins." Read the Hynes Award-winning paper in Freshwater Science here.

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. Laurel works with local volunteers and engages with community members during field campaigns to foster shared knowledge and support local collaborations. Laurel is also involved in Klamath Dam Removal Science Coordination efforts, supporting collaborations between academic researchers, agencies, and Klamath River Tribes. 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.

Laurel Genzoli 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. Laurel attributes her time spent paddling the Klamath and other nearby rivers as foundational to her research path. When not on or near the river, Laurel can be found exploring the alpine near her home in Western Montana.

From Dr. Genzoli's letter of nomination for this award:

Even as a graduate student, Laurel has had a track record almost 10 years leading much of the science in the Klamath River conducted in the context of dam removal ... Laurel not only fundamentally cares about the impact of her work on our understanding of basic science in the field of freshwater ecology, but she also deeply cares about building the capacity of local Tribes to manage their own monitoring thereby promoting their sovereignty.

About the Award

The Hynes Award is awarded to a freshwater scientist who was senior author of an outstanding primary publication that appeared in the final print or online format in the last 3 years. The recipient must have received a terminal post-graduate degree within the last five years and cannot currently be enrolled in a degree program. Click here for the Hynes Award nomination form.

Recipients