Scientists honored for lake research

Citing their research and advocacy efforts, Whitefish Lake Institute presented lifetime achievement awards last weekend to Dr. Jack Stanford and Dr. Bonnie Ellis.

The awards were presented on July 17 at the annual Whitefish Wine Auction, a benefit to support the Institute.

Retiring this year as its director, Stanford has worked at the Flathead Lake Biological Station since 1971.

His research and educational efforts in freshwater ecology have taken him across the globe since receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Utah in 1975.

Ellis dedicated the past 30 years of her research in freshwater ecology to the Flathead Lake Biological Station. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Montana in 2006.

“Both Jack and Bonnie consistently have brought the weight of scientific evidence to bear on critical issues that could impact the integrity of Flathead waterbodies,” said WLI education director Lori Curtis in a press statement.

The duo researched open-pit coal mining in the Canadian Flathead Valley and the development of gravel pits and other ventures atop the shallow aquifer adjacent to the Flathead River, Curtis noted.

This year’s stewardship award was given to Brian Sullivan, owner of F & H surveying.

Sullivan and his crew have voluntarily collected survey data at City Beach since 2002. In partnership with Sullivan, the Whitefish Lake Institute completed an analysis of the mean minimum and maximum water elevations along with associated statistics for Whitefish Lake spanning 58 years beginning in 1957.

Having water elevations for Whitefish Lake helps provides a clear jurisdictional boundary for the city, Curtis said.

An avid paddler, Sullivan has instructed rowing clinics and organized paddling events, and taught river safety clinics. He organized and helped run the 69-mile Lake-to-Lake rowing race from Whitefish to Bigfork in the 1980s, and he raced in and volunteered for the Bigfork Whitewater Festival for many years.