Louis Legendre
Each year, the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) 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 2026 Redfield Award is being presented to Dr. Louis Legendre for his five decades of groundbreaking research into the interplay between physics, chemistry and biology in the functioning of the Earth’s aquatic environments and his outstanding contributions to the education and mentoring of generations of aquatic scientists. The award will be presented to Dr. Legendre at the upcoming joint meeting of ASLO and the International Society of Limnology in Montreal, Quebec, Canada (12-16 May, 2026).
Dr. Louis Legendre (Professor Emeritus at Sorbonne University, France, and Laval University, Canada) has made numerous groundbreaking contributions to a wide range of areas of aquatic science — including biological oceanography and carbon biogeochemistry —, earth system science, and the philosophy of science that have been published in over 270 peer reviewed articles. His early work focused on the controls of primary production and carbon export, leading to the formation of the “paradox of stability” to describe dynamics of phytoplankton production and a consequential extension of the earlier “critical depth hypothesis”. His contributions have sparked many new research directions, including the creation of the field of numerical ecology, which uses advanced numerical methods to analyze large ecological datasets. Dr. Legendre has co-authored numerous textbooks, including “Numerical Ecology”, which remains a foundational resource for ecological research. His newest textbook “Earth, Our Living Planet” was recently reviewed in Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin. Overall, Dr. Legendre’s scientific work has well over 50,000 citations and been recognized with numerous awards including ASLO’s G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award (2002), the Albert 1st Medal from the Oceanographic Institute, the International Ecology Institute Prize, and induction into four academies of sciences. He conducts his research at the Villefranche Oceanography Laboratory, on the French Mediterranean coast.
In addition to his innovative scientific accomplishments, Dr. Louis Legendre has consistently contributed to the wider scientific community through service, education, and mentorship. Over the course of his five-decade career, Dr. Legendre has chaired numerous scientific meetings, held positions on the editorial boards of nine scientific journals including Polar Biology and Journal of Plankton Research, served as a member and chair of various international scientific advisory groups including the Science Coordinating Group of the International Arctic Polynya Programme of the Arctic Ocean Sciences Board, and contributed to ASLO through board and committee service. Dr. Legendre was selected as an ASLO Sustaining Fellow in 2016 in recognition of his significant service to ASLO and the aquatic science community. Illustrating his commitment to education and mentorship, Dr. Legendre has supervised 35 graduate students and 22 post-doctoral and research associates and has given more than 580 public lectures all over the world.
ASLO President Susanne Menden-Deuer says, “Prof. Legendre is an inspiration to all of us, with his decades of excellence in aquatic sciences, enriching our science through creativity and innovation and building the next generation of aquatic sciences through research training, mentoring and his textbook contributions. While accepting the 2002 ASLO G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award, Dr. Legendre reflected on the role of joy in scientific discovery. His distinguished career inspires us to never forget the fundamental importance of embracing the joy in our work and how important communicating joy is in shaping the next generation of aquatic scientists.”