William J. Mitsch

William J. Mitsch, Ph.D.
Fields wetland ecology and biogeochemistry; wetland and river restoration; ecological engineering; systems ecology
Institutions East China Normal University, Illinois Institute of Technology, University of Louisville, Ohio State University, Florida Gulf Coast University
Notable awards National Wetland Award, U.S. EPA and Environmental Law Institute (1996); Odum Lecturer, University of Georgia (1998); Stockholm Water Prize (2004); Theodore M. Sperry Award, Society for Ecological Restoration International (for a career in ecosystem restoration, 2005); Lifetime Achievement Award, Society of Wetland Scientists (2007); Einstein Professorship, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (2010); Doctorate honoris causa, Tartu University, Estonia (2010); Certificate for Concurrent Professorship, Nanjing Forestry University, China (2011)

William Mitsch, born March 29, 1947 in Wheeling, West Virginia USA, is an ecosystem ecologist and ecological engineer who was co-laureate of the 2004 Stockholm Water Prize in August 2004 as a result of a career in wetland ecology and restoration, ecological engineering, and ecological modelling.

History

Mitsch graduated from Wheeling Central Catholic High School in Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1965 and University of Notre Dame in 1969 where he majored in mechanical engineering. He then worked for two years in the power industry—for American Electric Power in Ohio and for Commonwealth Edison in Chicago. It was at the latter utility that he became part of their then-new environmental planning staff in 1970, being influenced by the first Earth Day in May 1970. He then went to the University of Florida in Gainesville and received an M.E. degree (1972) and Ph.D. (1975) in environmental engineering sciences. In his Ph.D. program he transitioned to become more of an ecologist, studying wetlands and lakes in Florida under Professor H.T. Odum. Prior to arriving at Florida Gulf Coast University in late 2012, he was on the faculties at Illinois Institute of Technology (1975–79), University of Louisville (1979–85), and Ohio State University (1986-2012).

Contributions

His most significant contributions are 1. development of the field of ecological engineering as an author of the first book on this subject and the founder (in 1992) and editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Ecological Engineering,[1] 2. creation of the Olentangy River Wetland Research Park, a unique 20-hectare (50-acre) wetland research laboratory and now Ramsar Wetland of International Importance at The Ohio State University, 3. major contributions toward the development of the field of wetland ecology, particularly as first author of five editions of the standard textbook Wetlands,[2] a book that continues to be used around the world to teach wetland ecology. That book has educated several generations of wetland scientists since it was first introduced in 1986. Dr. Mitsch's research has emphasized wetlands for nutrient removal in the agricultural Mississippi-Ohio-Missouri (MOM) River Basin (Mitsch et al. 2001, 2012, 2014) [3] and more recently to protect the Florida Everglades (Mitsch et al. 2015; Marios and Mitsch 2015; Mitsch 2016b). His recent research has also focused on the importance of natural and restored/created wetlands in climate change (Mitsch et al. 2010, 2013; Mitsch 2016a).[4]

Mitsch is currently Eminent Scholar and Director, Everglades Wetland Research Park,[5] Florida Gulf Coast University, Naples, Florida. Before October 2012 he was Distinguished Professor of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University and Director of the University's Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park.[6] His research and teaching has focused on wetland biogeochemistry, wetland creation and restoration, ecological engineering, and ecosystem modeling. Dr. Mitsch has authored or co-authored over 600 papers, books, published abstracts and other publications in ecological and environmental science. He is co-author or co-editor of 20 books including senior author of Ecological Engineering (1989), Ecological Engineering and Ecosystem Restoration (2004), 5 editions of Wetlands (1986–2015), and Wetland Ecosystems (2009).

Mitsch has served on committees of the Science Advisory Board (SAB) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2001–2011) and on several United States National Research Council (NRC) committees of the National Academy of Sciences (1991–2004).

His international activity includes serving as a Fulbright Senior Specialist at the Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre, University of Botswana in 2007 and at the and Fulbright Fellow, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (1986–1987) and an advisor/researcher for several Chinese universities; United Nations Environmental Programme, Egypt and Jordan; EARTH University, Costa Rica; IAMZ (Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza), Spain; SCOPE (Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment), Paris, France; and MISTRA (Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research), Sweden, among other locations. He was chair of EcoSummit 2012 held in Columbus, Ohio, USA.

Among his awards, Mitsch and his colleague and frequent co-author Sven Jørgensen of Denmark received the 2004 Stockholm Water Prize[7] from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden on August 19, 2004 in Stockholm, Sweden. He also received the National Wetland Research Award (1996) from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Environmental Law Institute, the Theodore M. Sperry Award (2005)[8] for a career in ecosystem restoration from the Society for Ecological Restoration, a SWS Lifetime Achievement Award (2007)[9] from the Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS), an Einstein Professorship from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2010), and The Ramsar Convention Award for Merit presented at Ramsar Committee of Party (COP) 12th Congress, Puenta del Este, Uruguay on June 3, 2015. His Olentangy River Wetland Research Park at Ohio State University achieved the status as the 24th USA Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in June 2008 from the Ramsar Convention in Switzerland.[10] In 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctor's degree by the University of Tartu.[11]

Videos

Wetlands are crucial to help clean up water on YouTube

iMix: Wetland on YouTube

Selected publications

About William Mitsch
By William Mitsch

Selected Books

Selected Journal Articles

References

  1. ↑ http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/522751/description#description
  2. ↑ http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118676823.html
  3. ↑ Video on YouTube
  4. 1 2 http://www.nature.com/climate/2009/0912/full/climate.2009.125.html
  5. ↑ http://www.fgcu.edu/swamp/
  6. ↑ http://swamp.osu.edu/
  7. 1 2 http://www.siwi.org/sa/node.asp?node=59
  8. ↑ http://www.ser.org/content/ser_awards_program.asp
  9. ↑ http://www.sws.org/awards_grants/index.mgi
  10. ↑ http://www.ramsar.org/cda/ramsar/display/main/main.jsp?zn=ramsar&cp=1-26-45-85^22668_4000_0__
  11. ↑ http://www.ut.ee/885831
  12. ↑ http://www.nature.com/climate/2010/1004/full/climate.2010.28.html
  13. ↑ http://magazine.nd.edu/news/10154-waist-deep-in-ecological-integrity
  14. ↑ http://www.islandpress.com/bookstore/details.php?prod_id=1083
  15. ↑ The first edition of Wetlands by Mitsch and Gosselink was published in 1986 by Van Nostrand Reinhold. Second, third, fourth, and fifth (current) editions were published in 1993, 2000, 2007, and 2015 respectively by John Wiley & Sons. http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118676823.html
  16. ↑ http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-047028630X.html
  17. ↑ http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-047133264X.html

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 09, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.