Catherine Pringle, Distinguished Research Professor in the UGA Odum School of Ecology, has received the Kilham Award from the International Society of Limnology, an organization dedicated to advancing the understanding and management of the world’s freshwater ecosystems. She delivered the Kilham Memorial Lecture, “Climate-driven acidification in Neotropical streams: Evidence from a long-term research project in Costa Rica,” at the Society’s 32nd Congress in Budapest, Hungary on August 6, 2013.

Named for the late Peter Kilham, who was Professor of Biology and Research Scientist at the University of Michigan at the time of his death in 1989, the award and lecture were established by his wife and scientific collaborator Susan Soltau Kilham to recognize scientists who share his innovative approach to research.

“It was an honor to receive the Kilham Award and to be invited to give the Kilham Memorial lecture in recognition of Peter Kilham’s contributions to the field of aquatic ecology,” Pringle said. “His strong passion for biogeochemistry and tropical aquatic ecosystems is evident in his many publications which continue to inspire scientists worldwide.”

Pringle’s research focuses on aquatic ecosystems and conservation ecology, particularly in the face of disturbance and species loss. She is the lead investigator on a National Science Foundation Long-term Research in Environmental Biology program at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica, a project she initiated 30 years ago. She is also a co-principal investigator on two other NSF-funded long-term ecological research projects, at Coweeta, North Carolina, and Luquillo, Puerto Rico.

“Professor Pringle’s long-term research has contributed a great deal to better understanding the importance of riverine connectivity, conservation of biodiversity and the impacts of dams on rivers in the Neotropics,” said Odum School professor Alan Covich, the U.S. national representative to the International Society of Limnology.

The author of more than 200 publications, Pringle was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2009. She received the Creative Research Medal from the University of Georgia in 2000 and has been named a Distinguished Research Professor since 2008. She is a past President of the Society for Freshwater Science.

Pringle also devotes much of her time and effort to graduate education. She helped to establish two graduate programs at UGA, the Master of Science in Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development in the Odum School of Ecology—which she chairs—and the Ph.D. in Integrative Conservation, a collaboration between the Odum School, the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, and the departments of Anthropology and Geography. Including current students, she has mentored more than 40 graduate students at the master’s and doctoral level, many of whom have gone on to distinguished careers in academia and conservation.

For more information about the Odum School of Ecology, see www.ecology.uga.edu. To learn more about the International Society of Limnology, see www.limnology.org.