Environmental Law Institute - National Wetlands Awards

Dr. William J. Mitsch is a Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Science at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He completed his Ph.D. under the ecologist H.T Odum, and has become a leading expert on biogeochemical cycles in wetlands and computer simulation models of wetland ecosystems. Mitsch has been a pioneer in ecological engineering and a tireless advocate for wetland preservation, creation, and restoration.

Mitsch co-authored Wetlands, the most widely used textbook and reference on wetlands in the United States. He has written or edited seven other books and has published more than 150 scholarly research articles. Not only has he broken new ground in wetland theory, but Mitsch has continued to use his knowledge in practical problem-solving projects. He was one of the designers and researchers on the Des Plains River Reconstruction project, and he currently manages his own constructed wetland research site, the Olentangy River Wetland Research Park, located at The Ohio State University.

In 1992, Mitsch organized and chaired the IV International INTECOL Wetlands Conference in Columbus, the largest wetland conference ever held. He serves as President of the Society of Wetland Scientists and is founder and Editor-In-Chief of the journal Ecological Engineering. In the past three years, Mitsch has given approximately 60 invited scholarly presentations and keynote speeches across the globe. He is a frequent advisor to state and federal governments on wetlands and has often served as a consultant on both natural and created wetland projects. Mitsch has presented testimony to the U.S. Congress on Clean Water Act wetland issues and served on the National Academy of Sciences’ wetland characterization panel.

— Brian Reeder, Ph.D., Morehead State University