Robert Naiman M.A. ’71

This year, the Ecological Society of America recognized Robert Naiman M.A. ’71 with the Eminent Ecologist Award, the organization’s highest honor. What began as an appreciation for the outdoors became a fulfilling career for Naiman. A distinguished ecologist, he has done extensive work studying streams and rivers, riparian vegetation and the influence of large animals in system dynamics.

Naiman says his childhood experiences had a great influence on his career choice, especially experiences with his uncle, a medical school professor, who took his nephew along while working summers as a commercial fisherman. Naiman’s passion for nature was reaffirmed in college, when he took a class in zoology and thoroughly enjoyed it, leading him to pursue three degrees in the field: a bachelor’s from California Polytechnic State University, Pomona; a master’s from UCLA; and a doctorate of philosophy from Arizona State University.

Not only did this passion for nature lead Naiman to extend his interest of study to academia, it also compelled him to be active in numerous organizations. “When I started to get involved internationally, it wasn’t because I was an ecologist. It was because I could speak French,” he says. Able to communicate and connect with other scientists in French, he took a job in Quebec and eventually traveled to other parts of the world, working in South Africa and South America.

Naiman is currently chair of Sustainable Rivers for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and is involved in the DIVERSITAS Freshwater Program among other programs dedicated to various areas of environmental science research and policy. He has made several academic and professional contributions to his field and played a key role in the establishment of national ecological research programs in freshwater science at the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation. Naiman has published more than 200 articles on ecology and watershed management, written 10 books, and headed a project that led to a research agenda titled The Freshwater Imperative, a document supported by all major professional groups invested in freshwater issues. This outstanding work has established Naiman as an influential ecologist, playing a large role in his selection for the Eminent Ecologist Award.

Now concluding his time as a professor at the University of Washington, Naiman plans to take a part-time teaching position at the University of Australia. He also is deeply involved with the restoration of the Columbia River, the largest restoration program in the United States. Still inspired by those childhood summers spent fishing, he fondly remembers UCLA as an incubator for his lifelong passion. “I love what I do, and I think that’s what makes me successful. My time at UCLA was very inspiring to me. I was exposed to these giant ideas that were there at the time, and great people. That became a springboard for going off and doing other things later on.”