2006 - Dr. Judy Meyers, Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia
Birthplaces of Rivers: The Diversity, Destruction, and Restoration of Headwater Streams and Forest-stream Linkages in an Urbanizing Landscape
Since joining the faculty at the University of Georgia in 1977, Dr. Meyer has focused her research on nutrient pollution in streams and rivers, on the natural processes that maintain water quality, and on the effects that development (e.g. urbanization) and water management have on aquatic systems.
She has been heavily involved in public education, has worked with numerous conservation organizations, and has targeted much of her research towards addressing issues of concern to these groups and to the general public. Her work has improved our understanding of how we can reduce our impacts on streams and rivers, and has been critical in improving water policy in the United States. She has also been a consistent and effective advocate for streams in the policy realm.
As part of many conservation and governmental advisory boards, she regularly helps law makers integrate science and policy to improve water planning at the local, state and federal levels. As part of US Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board and the University of Georgia's River Center (an institute for the advancement of water science and policy) she has lent her expertise on issues such as the importance of wetlands and small streams to the health of river networks, the importance of stream buffer zones to native fish, the impacts of logging on water quality, and the effects of lawn and agricultural fertilizers and pesticides on streams.
More than a third of U.S. rivers are in failing health due to pollution and other factors and, as in Canada, US public and private groups are working to restore the health of their waterways. Dr. Meyer has also been heavily involved in helping to improve "the science and practice" of river restoration by forming a partnership of top river experts in the US that guides future restoration efforts.
This partnership is working to answer important questions like "What works best? Which practices can be tailored to certain regions? What does it cost?" The need for healthy rivers, clean drinking water, vigorous fisheries and outdoor recreation demands research-based answers to these questions. Dr. Meyer has been the president of the Ecological Society of America, is on the board of American Rivers, was a 2002 National Clean Water Act Hero, received the 2003 Award of Excellence from North American Benthological Society, and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Poster
