Jacqueline D. LaPerriere
Jacqueline D. LaPerriere of the USGS-BRD, at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, died October 30, 1999 after a valiant fight against a rare cancer. She leaves her husband of sixteen years, Richard Harnois, and her best accomplishments-her daughter, Monique Margot LaPerriere of Missoula, MT and her son, Arthur Joseph Louis LaPerriere IV of Portland, OR.
LaPerriere presented work at six SIL meetings, starting with Winnipeg and most recently at the congress in Dublin. She greatly valued interacting with international colleagues, particularly exchanges with colleagues working in other high latitude systems and graduate student(s) presenting their work for the first time.
LaPerriere completed an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in water resources in 1971 and 1981, respectively, from Iowa State. In 1980 she was hired by the USFWS and named an assistant leader of the Alaska Cooperative Fishery Research Unit at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. LaPerriere conducted lake and stream research, beginning employment with the UAF Institute of Water Resources (1971-1980), which recently focused on subarctic and arctic Alaska.
Her first large project was the limnology on Harding Lake, a deep subarctic lake. In the eighties she headed an ecosystem project on the effects of placer gold mining on streams, and earlier had studied the effects of breaking the interior wilderness for large-scale agriculture on a ground water stream, the Delta Clearwater. In 1977-1979 and 1982-1983 she was the local liaison and limnologist for two Japanese Ministries of Education paleolimnological projects headed by Dr. Kinshiro Nakao, the first at Harding Lake and the second on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea. In 1987 and 1990 she studied the nutrient limitation of stream benthic algae in the Hawaiian Islands during the rainy seasons. Recently, LaPerriere conducted baseline studies of the water quality of the Katmai National Park and the Gates of the Arctic National Park, and investigated the limnology of Lake Becharof, one of the unexplored Great Lakes (Besides Ileamna and Taner).
Her work continues through her graduate students of whom she was very proud.
Jack R. Jones >>>
University of Missouri, USA
The International Ecology Institute (ECI) Prizes
The ECI Prize Winner in the field of Limnetic Ecology for 2000 is Stephen R. Carpenter (Halverson Professor of Limnology, Center for Limnology and Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA).
The IRPE (International Recognition of Professional Excellence) Prize Winner for 2000 in the field of Limnetic Ecology is Ruben Sommaruga (Associate Professor, University of Innsbruck, Institute of Zoology and Limnology, Innsbruck, Austria).
The ceremony of formally handing over the prize document to the ECI and IRPE prize winners will be held in Oldendorf, Germany, on August 10, 2000.
New web site
A new web site has been established at: http://www.northcoast.com/~trpa, which provides information on River HABitat SIMulation (RHABSIM), a program that greatly facilitates the analysis of impacts to aquatic habitat resulting from changes in streamflow. RHABSIM is an extensive conversion of the PHABSIM habitat simulation system developed by the Instream Flow Group of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for use as a component of their Instream Flow Incremental Methodology (IFIM).
PHABSIM stands for Physical HABitat SIMulation and is pronounced P-HAB-SIM, not FAB-SIM as commonly understood (RHABSIM is similarly R-HAB-SIM). The acronym was created by the Instream Flow Group of Ft. Collins, Colorado to describe the concept (and suite of computer programs implementing the concept) of linking river hydraulics with aquatic organism hydraulic utilization to create and interpret an incremental relationship between discharge and habitat suitability. RHABSIM implements PHABSIM in a much more understandable format.
Ecologists, fisheries biologists, hydrologists and research scientists will find RHABSIM of high value for simulating the effects of projects modifying stream flow. When historical gage station data is available, Time Series Flow and Habitat Duration analysis can provide habitat change results compared to the historical flow regime.
The site contains extensive descriptions of the software, screen shots of the program in use, links to professional associates and a form for ordering or for asking questions.
For information on how RHABSIM can help to meet your needs, please contact:
Thomas R. Payne & Associates
Fisheries Consultants
890 L Street
Arcata, California 95521
E-mail: trpa@northcoast.com
Phone: (707) 822-8478
http://www.northcoast.com/~trpa >>>
Report on Running Water Ecology Research in Austria
The Austrian Network for Environmental Research (ANfER) is an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology that was established in 1996 to promote international research activities in the field of environmental science. The network acts as a platform for information exchange between environmental scientists, administration and policy makers; and, functions as an interdisciplinary think-tank for developing future-oriented concepts.
This report provides a comprehensive overview of current Austrian research in the field of running water ecology, with particular attention to ecological integrity issues. The report includes an up-to-date of previously published data combined with new data as well as data analyses on research of running water ecology. The report consists of two parts: an analysis of obtained data and, a listing of reviewed projects. The project titles, together with the names of responsible persons, are listed by fields of research. The contact addresses for these persons are found in an alphabetically arranged annex.
For copies of the report, contact:
Andreas Geissler
Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Transport
Dept. of Environmental Research
A-1014 Vienna, Austria
E-mail: andreas.geisler@bmwf.gv.at
Phone: +43-1-53120-7153
Fax: +43-1-53120-6480
http://nuf.boku.ac.at
Status of the Dublin Proceedings
After the Dublin congress, I had high hopes of being able to produce the proceedings within a year. Following the São Paulo congress, new procedures had been put in place to remove the burden of copy-editing, provide more rigorous refereeing, and greatly speed up the editorial process. Alas, I had not taken account of the special characteristics of one subspecies of Homo sapiens, that is, H. sapiens limnologensis! I had thought that all authors and chairmen/women at Dublin were paragons of scientific virtue: all authors would hand in papers as instructed; all referees would review papers within the alloted time; all reviews would be of similar level and most papers if not all would require little revision; revisions, if needed, would be dealt with by return of mail; proofs would be turned around within a few days; and, in short, that limnologists had little to do but attend immediately to their responsibilities to the Verhandlungen.
I am a chastened (gently, not sadly) editor. What I had not taken on board was that:
- my fellow limnologists are busier creatures than I thought they were
- computers crash and viruses exist
- mail gets lost and limnologists change jobs (and therefore addresses) and (sometimes) names, not always by marriage
- limnologists are a critical lot and if a paper requires revision or rejection they say so without word mincing
- transmutation of titles and the number of authors (and their order) between Dublin and Adelaide is possible
- some chairmen apparently eat papers (well, how else can I explain that I was able to recover 80 papers from the Irish editorial office which had not been returned to me by chairman or referees?)
Thus, my journey down the editorial road has been rockier than I anticipated. I have been challenged en route in more ways than I wanted. However, colleagues, I report that the journey is almost complete. I have swept up what I believe are most (all?) missing manuscripts (my colleague in Adelaide, Mr. Bob Lewis, wrote to all participants during my absence in the early part of this year). I have answered the approximately 15,000 email enquiries (yes, 15,000!) generated by authors anxious about their paper, proofs, publication date, life and me. And my good (and patient) colleague in Ireland, Mrs. Regina McGarrigle of Mayo Editorial Services, tells me that she expects publication of the Verhandlungen by Schweitzerbart’sche later this year.
So, have patience and trust me. I am after all an individual of that special subspecies H. sapiens limnologensis!
And I have some other interesting news for you. Participants at the forthcoming congress in Melbourne will be required to provide copies of their papers in electronic format to the editorial office there PRIOR to the congress (check with the forthcoming circular).
W.D. Williams
Editor, SIL
SIL Congress 2001 Update
SIL 2001 – the brochure containing all details of the 28th SIL Congress was mailed in June to all who responded to the preliminary brochure. Most of the congress details (registration and accommodation forms, instructions for submission of abstracts and manuscripts, and excursions) are also available on the congress web site: http://www.monash.edu.au/oce/sil2001 >>>
Registration and accommodation forms will be accepted by post or fax. For further information contact:
Irene Thavarajah
Congress Manager
Conference Management Office
Monash University
PO Box 69
Clayton 3800, Australia
Phone: +61 3 9905 1344
Fax: +61 3 9905 1343
E-mail: oce@adm.monash.edu.au
The cut-off date for early registration is September 15.
Center for Tropical Reservoir Fisheries and Limnology
The center for tropical reservoir fisheries and limnology was inaugurated in 1998 (Amarasinghe and Fernando, 1988) and is now officially established. The center, located in the Department of Zoology at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka plays a leading role in research activities in tropical limnology and fisheries. It has developed close links with other institutions in Sri Lanka that have research interests in tropical reservoir fisheries and limnology, such as the Institute of Fundamental Studies, the University of Ruhuna and the National Aquatic Resources (Research and Development) Agency. It also has research collaborations with several European and Asian countries. The following research activities are in progress:
Management strategies for enhanced fisheries production in Sri Lankan and Australian lakes and reservoirs (Funding agency: Australian Center for International Agricultural Research, (ACIAR).
Strategies for partitioning the productivity in Asian reservoirs and lakes between capture fisheries and aquaculture for social benefit and local market without negative environmental impact (Funding agency: European Commission INCO-DC Program).
A library has been established with books, journals and reports received from Canada, Australia and USA. It will be further expanded by materials from the UK. The library is extensively used by students, researchers (both local and foreign) and teaching academics. There are a number of graduate students registered for M.Sc., M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in limnology, fisheries and aquaculture and the library is extremely useful for their literature surveys.
Reference:
Amarasinghe U.S. and Fernando, C.H., 1988. A Center for Tropical Reservoir Fisheries and Limnology. SILnews 25: 6-8.
For further information, please contact:
U.S. Amarasinghe
Department of Zoology
University of Kelaniya
Dalugama, Kelaniya
SRI LANKA
E-mail: upali_a@hotmail.com
Correction
The article on George Evelyn Hutchinson, which appeared in SILnews 30, May 2000, was in fact only the first part of the original article published in Endeavour, Vol. 23 (1), 1999.
Limnology job and studentship notices
Notices on the availability of limnologically-oriented jobs and graduate student opportunities are now accepted for publication in SILnews and display on the SIL web site at www.limnology.org/jobs.html. There is no charge for the service at this time, which is available to SIL members and non-members.
Submitters should be aware of the 4 month lead-time for the print edition of SILnews; those advertisements with short deadlines should be directed to the web site.
Submissions should include: 1) a short title describing the position (job or studentship), 2) location and duration of the position, 3) closing date for applications, 4) a short paragraph describing the position, including any citizenship, educational or employment prerequisites; and, 5) information on where potential applicants may obtain further information, including names of contact persons, telephone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail addresses, and web site addresses, where appropriate.
Submissions may be edited for length and clarity. Those deemed inappropriate to the SIL mandate will be rejected at the discretion of the SILnews Editor. Submissions for the print edition of SILnews should be sent to the editor at the address on the cover of this issue.
Submissions for the SIL web site can be sent by e-mail to webmaster@limnology.org or by fax to +1 (204) 474-7650, attention: Gordon Goldsborough.
Click here for a form that simplifies job submissions.
25th anniversary of the International Post-Graduate Training Course in Limnology: Research, training and capacity building in developing countries
This year the “International Post-Graduate Training Course in Limnology for Developing Countries (IPGL)” is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The IPGL course is designed specifically to give postgraduates an overall insight into the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems with a focus of translating theoretical knowledge into practical know-how. The aim of IPGL activities is to strengthen scientific capacity in developing countries for in-house expertise on aquatic ecosystem conservation and management through a sound scientific knowledge base.
The IPGL is organised by the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Limnology and funded by the Austrian Development Co-operation Agency. In addition, UNESCO and SIL provide expertise and financial support. More than 250 postgraduates from Africa, Asia and Latin America have completed the IPGL. Workshops and conferences have been organised and a well working international network has been developed over the past 25 years. The network is built upon the exchange of postgraduates and scientific staff, collaboration in M.Sc. and Ph.D. training programmes and joint supervision and management of research and development programmes. Recently, the IPGL has been restructured and is part of the M.Sc. programme in “Limnology and Wetland Ecosystems” in partnership with IHE (International Institute for Infrastructural-, Hydraulic-, and Environmental Engineering), Delft (The Netherlands); Makerere University (Uganda); Czech Academy of Science (Institute for Botany, TÍeboÁ); University of South Bohemia (Czech Republic); Egerton University (Kenya); University of Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania) and several other renowned institutes.
Main conclusions from the IPGL are: (1) Research, training and scientific capacity building can not be separated and can not be seen as isolated issues when the goal is sustainable regional development. (2) National/international collaboration and co-operation in the field of research and capacity building is increasingly important in order to maximise the use of scarce financial resources, and to avoid duplication of projects and building parallel structures. (3) National/regional policies and strategies need to be developed and implemented in co-operation with international agencies. (4) The budget for capacity building and training modules in international projects should be expanded. (5) Building on local knowledge, and an orientation towards the demands of local authorities, institutions and users, is vital for making research and its results relevant. Thus, donors should be less directive and less technocratic, and more supportive and facilitative. (6) The power of information: projects should give increasing attention to provision/access, generation and use of information since the internet, e-mail, and electronic databases for scientific literature/information empower local institutions significantly.
The conclusions from our experience will guide the future focus of our activities and shall lead to “capacity enhancement” programmes, facilitating both sustainable development and limnological research. In order to achieve our goals, we would like to link with research institutes, international agencies and organisations to a much greater extent. In this context, we invite requests and suggestions for future joint activities from SIL members. Detailed information about IPGL activities can be found at: www.oeaw.ac.at/ipgl and for the Institute for Limnology: www.oeaw.ac.at/limno >>> and www.bsl.oeaw.ac.at
Gerold Winkler
Austrian Academy of Sciences
Institute for Limnology
A-5310 Mondsee
Gaisberg 116, Austria
E-mail: gerold.winkler@oeaw.ac.at
Phone: +43 6232 4079
Fax: +43 6232 3578