Water has emerged as the watchword for the 21st century. Greater attention to water resource protection and management is critically needed throughout the world. As the global demand for adequate supplies of clean water increases and concerns about public health and environmental quality escalate, the pressure on the water resource monitoring "infrastructure" likewise will increase. Ecological information obtained in the latter half of the 20th century has uncovered a serious decline in aquatic ecosystem health, and much of this has been due to the benthic literature. Growing water scarcity and alarming declines in aquatic biodiversity indicate that water policies in most of the world are failing to protect life's most vital resource Our profession will play a key role in future decision-making based on scientific evidence.
The roots of benthic science trace back to 16th century Europe. Both angling and early environmental science literature from England and continental Europe were instrumental in the development of benthic biology as a science. In North America, the early work was primarily faunistic, and the first list of North American aquatic insects was published in 1861 by H.A. Hagen. Cornell University in New York was one of the earliest centers for research on aquatic insects on this continent. By the early 20th century, centers of aquatic and benthic research developed at Illinois and Wisconsin. Important early monographic works that included species-level identification of benthic organisms provided the Midwestern U.S. with one of the best documented aquatic faunas. Into this environment the Midwest Benthological Society was founded in 1953, with its initial membership from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin. The evolution of the MBS into the North American Benthological Society in the 1970s was inevitable, because membership rapidly spread throughout the U.S. and Canada. Now, NABS is truly international, and leading benthologists and ecologists from numerous countries come together to discuss emerging scientific issues of international scope. NABS scientists will continue to hold leadership roles in addressing these issues as we proceed into the 21st century.
Dr. Ron Hellenthal
Ron Hellenthal has been a member of NABS for 35 years and has been active in the society in many capacities, including chairman of the NABS Finance Committee since 1985. He was a recipient of the NABS Distinguished Service Award in 1997. He received a Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Minnesota and has been a faculty member of the University of Notre Dame since 1977 where he served as director of the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center from 1988-2001. His research interests include the systematics and ecology of aquatic insects, the ecology of urban streams, and insects as indicators of aquatic conditions.
Dr. Vince Resh
Vince Resh has been attending NABS meetings since 1968 and was President of the Society in 1983-1984. He has taught at the University of California, Berkeley, since 1975, and his research deals with aquatic insect ecology and biomonitoring. He currently serves as an ecological advisor to 11 West African countries for the World Health Organization. In 1995, he received the Distinguished Teaching Award for the Berkeley campus and was elected a fellow of the California Academy of Sciences. He was editor of the Annual Review of Entomology from 1978-2000, and is currently co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Insects, which will be published this year.
Professor Paul Simon
Paul Simon now teaches political science, history and journalism at Southern Illinois University's Carbondale campus, where he also heads a public policy institute founded by him. Illinois' former senior U.S. senator has enjoyed a long and illustrious political career. Elected to both the state's house and senate, he served 14 years in the State Legislative. Paul Simon was elected lieutenant governor in 1968 and was the first in Illinois' history to be elected to that post with a governor of another party. He spent 10 years in the U.S. House before his 1984 senate election where he served until 1997. His wide-ranging policy interests span such diverse topics as the environment, budget, education, disability policy, foreign affairs, labor and television violence. Professor Simon holds 54 honorary degrees and has written 19 books, including The Coming World Crisis in Water and What We Can Do About It in 1998.
Mr. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Mr. Kennedy serves as chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. He is also a clinical professor and supervising attorney at the Environmental Litigation Clinic at Pace University School of Law in New York. Earlier in his career he served as assistant district attorney in New York City. He has worked on several political campaigns including Edward M. Kennedy's 1980 presidential campaign, and Al Gore's in 2000. He has worked on environmental issues across the Americas and has assisted several indigenous tribes in Latin America and Canada in successfully negotiating treaties protecting traditional homelands. He is credited with leading the fight to protect New York City's water supply. The New York City watershed agreement, which he negotiated on behalf of environmentalists and New York City watershed consumers, is regarded as an international model in stakeholder consensus negotiations and sustainable development. He helped lead the fight to turn back the anti-environmental legislation during the 104th Congress. Among Mr. Kennedy's published books is his latest book, The Riverkeepers (1997), co-authored with Hudson Riverkeeper John Cronin.
Ron Hellenthal has been a member of NABS for 35 years and has been active in the society in many capacities, including chairman of the NABS Finance Committee since 1985. He was a recipient of the NABS Distinguished Service Award in 1997. He received a Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Minnesota and has been a faculty member of the University of Notre Dame since 1977 where he served as director of the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center from 1988-2001. His research interests include the systematics and ecology of aquatic insects, the ecology of urban streams, and insects as indicators of aquatic conditions.
Vince Resh has been attending NABS meetings since 1968 and was President of the Society in 1983-1984. He has taught at the University of California, Berkeley, since 1975, and his research deals with aquatic insect ecology and biomonitoring. He currently serves as an ecological advisor to 11 West African countries for the World Health Organization. In 1995, he received the Distinguished Teaching Award for the Berkeley campus and was elected a fellow of the California Academy of Sciences. He was editor of the Annual Review of Entomology from 1978-2000, and is currently co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Insects, which will be published this year.
Paul Simon now teaches political science, history and journalism at Southern Illinois University's Carbondale campus, where he also heads a public policy institute founded by him. Illinois' former senior U.S. senator has enjoyed a long and illustrious political career. Elected to both the state's house and senate, he served 14 years in the State Legislative. Paul Simon was elected lieutenant governor in 1968 and was the first in Illinois' history to be elected to that post with a governor of another party. He spent 10 years in the U.S. House before his 1984 senate election where he served until 1997. His wide-ranging policy interests span such diverse topics as the environment, budget, education, disability policy, foreign affairs, labor and television violence. Professor Simon holds 54 honorary degrees and has written 19 books, including The Coming World Crisis in Water and What We Can Do About It in 1998.
Mr. Kennedy serves as chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. He is also a clinical professor and supervising attorney at the Environmental Litigation Clinic at Pace University School of Law in New York. Earlier in his career he served as assistant district attorney in New York City. He has worked on several political campaigns including Edward M. Kennedy's 1980 presidential campaign, and Al Gore's in 2000. He has worked on environmental issues across the Americas and has assisted several indigenous tribes in Latin America and Canada in successfully negotiating treaties protecting traditional homelands. He is credited with leading the fight to protect New York City's water supply. The New York City watershed agreement, which he negotiated on behalf of environmentalists and New York City watershed consumers, is regarded as an international model in stakeholder consensus negotiations and sustainable development. He helped lead the fight to turn back the anti-environmental legislation during the 104th Congress. Among Mr. Kennedy's published books is his latest book, The Riverkeepers (1997), co-authored with Hudson Riverkeeper John Cronin.