Gene Likens | |
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 Gene Likens, 2015 | |
| Born | Gene Elden Likens (1935-01-06)January 6, 1935 (age 90) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Manchester University University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| Known for | Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest Institute of Ecosystem Studies |
| Spouse | Phyllis Irene Craig Likens (1983–2014) |
| Awards | Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences,Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters,Austrian Academy of Sciences,National Medal of Science,BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Ecology |
| Institutions | Dartmouth College,Cornell University,University of Connecticut,University of Uppsala |
Gene Elden Likens (born January 6, 1935) is anAmericanlimnologist andecologist. He co-founded the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study at theHubbard Brook Experimental Forest in 1963, and founded theCary Institute of Ecosystem Studies inMillbrook, New York in 1983.[1]
A leading pioneer in long-term multidisciplinary ecological studies, Likens examines energy flow and biogeochemical flux models in the ecosystems of forests, streams and lakes. Likens is best known for leading the team of scientists that discoveredacid rain in North America, and connected fossil fuels with increasing acidity of precipitation.[1][2] In addition to its scientific impact, this work has influenced public debate and governmental policy, particularly theUnited States Congress'sClean Air Act Amendments of 1990.[3]
Gene Likens was born inPierceton, Indiana.[4] Likens received his B.S. in zoology atManchester University (North Manchester, Indiana) in 1957,[5] followed by his M.S. in zoology in 1959 from theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison.[1][6] He received his Ph.D. in zoology in 1962, also from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, for his thesis onTransport of radioisotopes in lakes.[7][8]
Likens was an instructor and associate professor atDartmouth College from 1963 to 1969.[1] In the 1960s, Likens did early work in thedry valleys ofAntarctica,[9] examining the thermal structures ofLake Vanda andLake Bonney.[7]
Likens was co-founder in 1963 of a group withF. Herbert Bormann, Robert S. Pierce and Noye M. Johnson working on the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study at theHubbard Brook Experimental Forest in theWhite Mountains ofNew Hampshire.[10][11] The study immediately found that the rain was abnormally acidic, and the group carried out one of the first scientific studies linking acid rain to air pollution such assulphur dioxide from the use offossil fuels.[12][13]
In 1988, Hubbard Brook was designated by theNational Science Foundation as anLTER, a site for collaborative long term ecological research.[3][11][14] In 2005, Hubbard Brook celebrated 50 years of research at the site.[11] Likens' work in the area is considered "one of the world’s most comprehensive studies on how air pollution and land use shape forested watersheds".[3] Work at Mirror Lake, at the lower end of the Hubbard Brook Valley, has been particularly important in understanding the importance of physical, chemical, and biological linkages involving the lake and its watershed and airshed.[15] Liken has extensively studiedbiogeochemical cycles describing the flow of matter within ecosystems.[16]Riparian zones linking water and land are particularly important in maintaining the health of wild lands.[17] Liken has also done important work ondeforestation and its potential impact on the chemistry of watersheds. This research has had significant impacts on programs forforest management, in particular theUnited States Forest Service's adoption of a 100–year rotation policy.[2][18]
Likens and others devised a range of highly influentiallong-term experiments on an ecosystemic scale. These include the small-watershed model of nutrient cycling, in which all water entering and leaving a naturally-bounded watershed is measured, enabling scientists to calculate thehydrologic budget of the watershed.[11] This model has been "extremely influential" in the examination of ecosystems, and is central to the examination of urban ecosystems such as Baltimore.[19] Likens' work is considered "classic",[1][19] and he is credited with establishing a "guiding paradigm" for other ecologists.[1]
In 1969, Likens joined the faculty ofCornell University. He served as an associate professor from 1969 to 1972, and as a full professor from 1972 to 1983.[1] In addition to being a professor of ecology in the Section of Ecology and Systematics (later named the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology), he served as its acting chairman (1973-1974) and chairman (1982-1983).[20][21] In January 1983 he was named Cornell University's Charles A. Alexander Professor of Biological Sciences. While at Cornell University, he served as chairman of the Section of Ecology and Systematics.[22]
In 1983 Likens founded the (now Cary)Institute of Ecosystem Studies inMillbrook, New York as part of theNew York Botanical Garden. In 1993, the IES became an independent non-profit with Likens as director and president. Situated at theMary Flagler Cary Arboretum,[1] it is an independent center for ecological research, "whose work is highly relevant to policy concerns."[23] In addition to managing teams of scientists and educators, Likens continued his research at Hubbard Brook each summer.[2] As of 2001, he was appointed to the first endowed chair at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies, the G. Evelyn Hutchinson Chair in Ecology.[1]
In 2007 Likens stepped down as director of the IES and returned to full-time research, currently at theUniversity of Connecticut and as visiting professor at theUniversity of Uppsala,Sweden. In July 2012 he began a three-year term as special adviser to the president of theUniversity of Connecticut on environmental affairs and distinguished research professor.[22]
Likens has published 25 books and more than 580 papers and book chapters.[3] Much of his early work is summarized in U.S. Geological Survey publications.[24] His work has influenced theUnited States Congress on issues such as theClean Air Act Amendments of 1990.[3]
He has been active in a variety of organizations, and has been the vice-president (1975-1976) and president (1976-1977) of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography; vice-president (1978-1979), president (1981-1982) and honorary Fellow (2012) of the Ecological Society of America; president (2002) of the American Institute of Biological Sciences; and president (2001-2007) of the International Society of Limnology.[20][21]
Likens has received a substantial number of awards and honors of various kinds.[20][21] He was elected to theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1979,[6] and theUnited States National Academy of Sciences in 1981.[1] He was also elected as a foreign member of theRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1988, theRoyal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters in 1994 and theAustrian Academy of Sciences in 2000.[20] He became an elected member in biological sciences of theAmerican Philosophical Society in 2006.[25] He's also a fellow of theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science.[20]
His awards include the 1988 ECI Prize in Limnetic Ecology,[26] the 1993Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement[27] and the 2001 Huxley Medal of the Institute of Biology, London, UK.[6] He received a 2001National Medal of Science from PresidentGeorge W. Bush on June 13, 2002.[1] In 2003, Likens and Dr.F. Herbert Bormann received theBlue Planet Prize from Asahi Glass Foundation, for "outstanding scientific research that helps to solve global environmental problems".[12] In 2014, he received theAlfred C. Redfield Lifetime Achievement Award from theAssociation for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO).[3]
He has been awarded honorary doctoral degrees internationally (Universität für Bodenkultur, Vienna, 1992; Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands, 1998) as well as nationally (Manchester College, 1979; Rutgers University, 1985; Plymouth State College, University System of New Hampshire, 1989; Miami University, 1990; Union College, 1991; Marist College, 1993; University of Connecticut, 2004; Montclair State University, 2012).[21]
He has won theBBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2016) jointly withMarten Scheffer for contributing decisively to what the jury describes as “one of the major challenges” of this scientific discipline: to understand and, where possible, anticipate ecosystem responses to human-induced alterations of the natural environment.
In 2018 Likens was awarded an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University, Sweden.[28]
Gene Likens and his wife Phyllis Irene Craig Likens (1951–2014) of Clinton Corners, New York have three daughters, Heather, Leslie, and Kathy, and a son, Gregory. Phyllis also worked at Cornell University and the Institute of Ecosystem Studies and contributed significantly to the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study. He has seven grandchildren, Sierra, Maxwell, Samuel, Joseph, Noah, Louis, and Jason.[29]
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