Dr. Roy Stein, a Professor in the College of Biological Sciences and the Director of the Aquatic Ecology Laboratory at The Ohio State University, today received the prestigious Silver Eagle award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Midwest Region.
Robyn Thorson, Deputy Midwest Regional Director for the Service, and Deputy Regional Director Charlie Wooley, presented Stein with the award during a joint fisheries research forum on the OSU campus attended by fisheries and conservation professionals and academics from around Ohio.
Recognizing people and organizations that have made an impressive contribution to wildlife conservation and management, the Silver Eagle Award is the highest honor given by the Service’s Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region.
“ Dr. Roy Stein has had a long and outstanding career of service dedicated to natural resource science and management,” said Thorson. “For that alone, he has earned this honor. However, what we also recognize with this Silver Eagle award is Dr. Stein’s rare combination of skills as a teacher, researcher, administrator, and bureaucrat that has made him an exceptional mentor to graduate students and colleagues alike.”
Joan Herbers, Dean of the College of Biological Sciences at Ohio State, adds "I am thrilled that Professor Steins distinguished record of research and collaboration has been recognized with this signal honor. His legacy at Ohio State of training students is matched by a legacy to our state and region of important policy decisions based on research conducted at the Aquatic Ecology Laboratory. We congratulate Professor Stein on this recognition, and we are so proud to have him on our faculty."
During his 30-year career at The Ohio State University, Stein has promoted science-based resource management through a unique combination of applied ecological research, a successful research partnership with the Ohio Division of Wildlife, mentoring students, and service to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission.
Stein was appointed to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission by President Bill Clinton in 1998, and served as a commissioner from 1998-2004. The commission coordinates fisheries research, controls the invasive sea lamprey, and facilitates cooperative fishery management among the state, provincial, tribal, and federal management agencies.
Stein’s accomplishments while on the commission are internationally recognized, and his particular skill in addressing complex issues at the interface of science, technology, bureaucracy, and politics are well known. He remains actively involved in Great Lakes issues and works closely with Ohio Division of Wildlife and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists.
“ The value of Roy Stein’s teaching, mentoring and managing skills is most clearly seen at this annual research review for fisheries managers and researchers, in which the Service also participates,” Thorson said. “Not only has this meeting become an exceptional forum for college students, faculty, administrators, and Ohio Division of Wildlife staff to learn from each other about ongoing or newly completed research, it has also become an effective means for informal information exchange between students and agency biologists that has led to good working relationships.”
Stein received his undergraduate education from the University of Michigan, his master’s degree from Oregon State University and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. He has been a faculty member at Ohio State since 1976 and is now a Professor in the Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology.
His primary research interest is community ecology with a major emphasis on aquatic ecosystems. His focus is how major ecological processes, such as competition, predation and keystone species structure freshwater communities and how these findings can be used to manage aquatic ecosystems.
Stein belongs to several major professional societies, including the American Fisheries Society, the Ecological Society of America, AIBS, AAUP and is a AAAS Fellow. He has been the author or co-author of numerous papers published in the top professional journals in his field and has held a variety of editorial positions on these journals.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 96-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
