Edward Carpenter
Each year, the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography presents the A.C. Redfield Lifetime Achievement Award to honor an aquatic scientist for major, long-term achievements in the fields of limnology and oceanography, including research, education, and service to the community and society. The recipient of the 2022 Redfield Award is Dr. Edward J. Carpenter, for his critical contributions that clarified the important role of open ocean nitrogen fixation in driving the ecology of the ocean and global biogeochemistry. The award will be presented to Dr. Carpenter at the 2022 Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting in Grand Rapids, MI, USA.
Dr. Carpenter is a Professor of Biology and a faculty member at the Estuary & Ocean Sciences Center (EOS) at San Francisco State University, where has been a faculty member since 2000. Prior to his position at SFSU, Dr. Carpenter was a Professor at Stony Brook University, and a Postdoctoral Fellow and Assistant Scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Over the course of his career, Dr. Carpenter has made numerous seminal contributions to the field of biological oceanography. He is perhaps most well-known for his transformational research on open-ocean nitrogen fixation by the cyanobacterium Trichodesmium, though his work spans a breathtaking range of topics including diatom physiology, cyanobacterial-diatom symbioses, marine plastic pollution, Antarctic bacteria, Amazon River outflow in the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean, diazotrophy in Costa Rican lowland tropical rainforests, coccolithophores and ocean acidification, and water chlorination. He has also contributed greatly to and refined the cell cycle approach to measuring in situ phytoplankton growth rates.
Equal to his scientific contributions, Dr. Carpenter’s career has involved a commitment to service to ASLO and the broader science community, in addition to quality mentorship of students and junior scientists. Many of Dr. Carpenters graduate students have gone on to successful careers in science and many have noted the profound influence his mentorship has had on their trajectories. In addition, Dr. Carpenter served a rotation as a Program Officer with NSF’s Antarctic Biology and Medicine Program and contributes to the editorial boards of numerous journals.
ASLO President, Roxane Maranger says, “Dr. Carpenter’s accomplishments and contributions to the field cannot be understated: from transformational work on N fixation and phytoplankton dynamics at multiple scales, to pioneering work on marine plastics. Letters spoke of his deep knowledge, infectious curiosity, and generosity. ASLO is delighted that Ed is the winner of this year’s AC Redfield Lifetime Achievement Award. Like Redfield, the impact of Dr. Carpenter’s broad range of contributions to aquatic science will continue to be felt for years to come.”