Charles P. Hawkins named Fellow for Society for Freshwater Science

The Society of Freshwater Science has announced the election of Utah State University’s Professor of Watershed Sciences Charles (Chuck) Hawkins as a Fellow of the society. Hawkins, of USU’s S.J. Quinney College of Natural Resources and USU Ecology Center has also been appointed as editor-in-chief of the society's flagship journal Freshwater Science. 

The mission of the Society for Freshwater Science (SFS) is to foster the exchange of scientific information for the promotion of further understanding freshwater ecosystems. This includes habitat and water quality assessment, conservation, fisheries and invasive species management, integrated water resource management and restoration. The SFS was created in spring 1953 in the Midwest. It immediately attracted the Midwest’s best scientists and has grown and expanded in membership and disciplinary interests since.

“Freshwater Science is one of the preeminent journals in the aquatic sciences,” Hawkins said. 

While the journal is especially valued by researchers studying stream and river ecosystems, Hawkins will work with the editorial board to broaden the scope of the journal to include papers on lake and wetland ecosystems. He is excited about the opportunity to promote content that emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches to the study and management of freshwater ecosystems and the species that inhabit them. He feels his work with the Department of Watershed Science and the Ecology Center at USU was excellent preparation for this position.

Hawkins joined QCNR in 1983 and is the co-director of the USU-Bureau of Land Management National Aquatic Monitoring Center. His research focuses on understanding how landscape setting, local habitat conditions and human-caused environmental alterations influence the biodiversity and ecological integrity of aquatic ecosystems at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Hawkins works with local, national and international agencies and is instrumental in the improvement of bioassessment utility and accuracy. He has shared his impressive knowledge and skills with over 90 publications, 29 graduate students and five postdoctoral students. He has won numerous teaching and research awards including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Scientific and Technological Achievement Award. 

“Chuck Hawkins has worked diligently during the past three decades to develop a systematic and rigorous system of evaluating the ecological state of streams based on the composition of invertebrates present,” said Chris Luecke, dean of USU’s Quinney College of Natural Resoures. “His system has become the standard for the assessment of aquatic ecosystems in North America. It is fantastic the Society of Freshwater Science has recognized his contributions by naming him a Fellow of SFS.”

Contact and Writer: Traci Hillyard, 435-797-2452, traci.hillyard@usu.edu