Hynes Award for New Investigators
2023: Aaron Koning
The Hynes Award for New Investigators is awarded to a freshwater scientist who was senior author of an outstanding primary publication that appeared in print in the last three years. Koning is a postdoctoral research fellow working on the Wonders of the Mekong Project based in the Global Water Center and Department of Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno and a National Geographic Young Explorer. He is a freshwater conservation ecologist interested in understanding the impacts of harvest on aquatic animal communities and ecosystem function, and how conservation interventions can improve outcomes that sustain aquatic diversity and human needs. During his research as a PhD student at University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Limnology and as a Cornell Atkinson Sustainability Postdoctoral Fellow, Koning had the privilege of living with and learning from ethnic Karen (P’gan’yaw) communities in northern Thailand. He focused on the ecological effects of both intensive subsistence fisheries and freshwater reserve protection by these communities. The research presented in the Hynes-award winning publication (Nature, 2020) translates into the language of conservation scientists what these communities have recognized over the past three decades—that small reserves can have profound effects on entire riverine ecosystems. Koning continues to seek effective models of place-based protection for fish and fisheries around the world, with an emphasis on Southeast Asia.
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.