The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has presented the Outstanding Achievement Award to Professor Adriaan D. Rijnsdorp at its Annual Science Conference (ASC) in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The award signifies the highest level of recognition for services to ICES science, and Professor Rijnsdorp was honoured based on his wide-ranging contributions to ICES and his extensive and influential science in fisheries and fish biology over many decades.
As a professor at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and chief scientist at its Institute for Marine Research and Ecosystem Studies (IMARES), Professor Rijnsdorp has lent his in-depth knowledge to a variety of subjects from oceanography and the effects of climate change on fish populations through to the economic aspects of fisheries and the behaviour and decision-making processes of the fishers themselves. His research into flatfish fisheries and ecology saw him an early champion of the ‘plaice box’, a protected North Sea zone for young flatfish. Strong leadership skills have allowed him to organise many large national and EU projects.
“Adriaan has always been a pleasure to work with. He is hugely respected within the scientific community and has inspired many people all around the world,” said John Pinnegar, Programme Director at the UK’s CEFAS Marine Climate Change Centre and scientific peer.
“I experienced the ICES spirit,” said Professor Rijnsdorp as he received the reward. “To collaborate, to be open and to trust each other and to share ideas. All my collaborators and colleagues should also feel rewarded.”
Over 700 participants from a range of organisations and industries have gathered this week for the ICES Annual Science Conference in Copenhagen to discuss and engage in science for sustainable seas.
