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This book is dedicated to two extraordinary people whom I had the pleasure of being associated with in my research on the phytoplankton dynamics and ecology of the North American Great Lakes. The first is my mentor, Dr. Richard A. Vollenweider, Senior Scientist, whose genius and guidance had an enduring impact on my career. I was lucky that he chose me to be his first post-doctoral research fellow under the auspices of the National Research Council of Canada at Canada Centre for Inland Waters, Burlington, ON. The second is my colleague, Ms. Ginette Dupuis whose dedication and hard work could never be forgotten. She assisted in my research on Lake Superior which resulted in the Chandler-Misener Award from the International Association of Great Lakes Research. Ginette was one of the co-authors of the award winning paper. I hope this book will serve in some small way to keep their memories alive.
Richard A. Vollenweider
Dr. Richard A. Vollenweider passed away peacefully on January 20th, 2007, in Burlington, Ontario, after a long illness. He was born on the 27th of June, 1922, in Zurich, Switzerland, earned a Ph.D. in biology (Zurich, 1951) and quickly established himself as one of the world’s leading scholars on eutrophication. During his brief tenure with the OECD in Paris, he published an important report “Scientific fundamentals of the eutrophication of lakes and flowing waters with particular reference to Nitrogen and Phosphorus as factors in eutrophication” (OECD, 1971), which provided a new direction for controlling and treating water pollution. In 1968, at the invitation of Dr. J.R. Vallentyne of Fisheries Research Board of Canada he accepted a leading position to initiate biological research in the Laurentian Great Lakes. He was instrumental in launching multi-trophic, lake-wide and holistic biological surveys of the Great Lakes. I was fortunate that Dr. Vollenweider selected me to join his research team when he was initiating the unique, lake wide biological expeditions in the Great Lakes. I remember going on these long research cruises from Lake Ontario to Lake Superior collecting plankton and conducting primary productivity and bioassay experiments.
He was responsible for developing the phosphorus abatement model which served as the guiding document for the revision of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. He published many landmark articles on the Great Lakes including the well known review paper “A comprehensive review of phytoplankton and primary production in the Laurentian Great Lakes” which quantified the relationship between phosphorous loadings, primary production and algal standing crop, and served as the scientific basis for phosphorous management plans as a means of controlling eutrophication. Dr. Vollenweider advocated water management on a global basis and was highly regarded for his research on phosphorus abatement. In recognition of his lifetime work, he was awarded the prestigious Tyler Environmental Prize in 1986, which he shared with Werner Stumm. He was also awarded the Naumann-Thienemann Medal of the International Association of Limnology (SIL) and many other awards. Even after his retirement Dr. Vollenweider was very active and visited my laboratory frequently. He strongly supported the establishment of the Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management Society (AEHMS) when I approached him in the initial stages. Later he served enthusiastically on the advisory board of Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management and the Ecovision World Monograph Series which he continued until he passed away. We greatly benefited by his continued support of the journal, advice and reviews of several manuscripts. He left a great legacy to the world of aquatic science in general and Great Lakes in particular. His research and guidance will serve the scientific community for a long time to come.
Ginette Dupuis Laliberte
Ginette Dupuis was born on August 13, 1951, in Montreal, Quebec. She earned a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto in 1973 after which she was employed by the Great Lakes Biolimnology Laboratory at the Canada Centre for Inland Waters Burlington, ON under my supervision. She participated actively in the first lakewide biological surveys of Lake Superior, 1973, working on phytoplankton dynamics and size fractionated primary productivity. This work resulted in the receipt of the Chandler-Misener Award in collaboration with me. She moved to the U.S. in 1975 and married Mr. Lawrence Laliberte. There she pursued a career in information technology and founded her own consulting firm. A fatal auto accident in July of 2000 brought an untimely end to a very promising career. Ginette will always be remembered not only in our laboratory but also as a family friend due to her friendly and warm disposition and lovely French accent.
Mohiuddin Munawar,
President, Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management Society
Chief Editor, Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management
Series Editor, Ecovision World Monograph Series
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