ITHACA, N.Y. -- Robert L. Johnson is better known to his friends and co-workers as "Bob," but he's "the mud man" to his wife on some days when returning home from work as Cornell University's first -- and so far only -- manager of the university's Research Ponds Facility. Arriving at Cornell in 1961 as an undergraduate student in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Johnson has been on campus ever since. 

Johnson recently earned two awards. One is the Lake of the Tears of the Clouds Award from the New York State Federation of Lake Associations (NYFOLA) for making a significant difference to the state's lakes, for his long-term aquatic ecology research on the lakes and his outreach efforts to lake associations and governmental agencies in the state about aquatic plant management. As an award recipient, he joins the ranks of Gov. George Pataki (1996), Congressman Sherwood Boehlert (1998) and Congressman Jim Walsh (2003). 

The second award, presented in January, was the Aquatic Plant Science Award from the Northeast Aquatic Plant Management Society "for organizing aquatic plant identification workshops, presentations of numerous conference papers, editor of the society newsletter and ongoing scientific investigations in the field of aquatic plant management." A member of the association's board of directors, Johnson has twice been honored as their scientist of the year. 

He helped build the Cornell research ponds as a student, and soon after his graduation in 1965 he became manager. Most Cornellians and Ithacans don't know it, but Cornell has 91 cookie-cutter ponds -- each about 100 feet square and 8 feet deep -- and two larger, more natural marshes that help advance the university's research, educational and cooperative extension goals. They are located north of the Tompkins County Airport off Warren and Neimi roads.

Managing the facility for more than 40 years with a seasonal student staff of about 10, Johnson does it all, from digging some of the ponds, checking their water flow and chemistry and planting aquatic vegetation to setting up and maintaining experimental areas. All this plays a vital role in Cornell aquatic research and helps organizations and individuals throughout New York state maintain healthy lakes and ponds. 

"Bob is an amazing guy who has done a remarkable amount of work in New York state for various lake associations and for the state itself on the controls of aquatic weeds," said Nelson Hairston, the Frank H.T. Rhodes Professor of Environmental Science in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. "A dedicated and reserved individual, Bob takes great initiative. He has become established as one of the state and national experts on the ecology of aquatic plants, especially nuisance weeds in lakes and strategies for their control. This knowledge and Bob's extraordinary generosity in sharing his knowledge with homeowners, lake associations and government officials bring important recognition to Cornell as a place that generates and disseminates useful scientific knowledge."

As pond manager, Johnson works with Cornell researchers on a host of projects related to ecology, such as basic limnology (the study of inland waters), ornithology, evolutionary pressures on angiosperms (flowering plants) and fish, water-flow dynamics through aquatic vegetation and the biocontrol of Eurasian watermilfoil. 

"This is a major invasive plant, and we use about 25 ponds to study how a tiny moth (Acentria ephemerella ) that nibbles on aquatic plants could be used to control its growth and allow native species to compete," said Johnson, whose research identified the moth's preference for Eurasian watermilfoil and concluded that the moth's munching caused the milfoil to branch. As it branches, the milfoil slows its growth to the surface and can't form its dense canopies that interfere with water flow, fish populations and recreational activities and the growth of native plants. Johnson, who has co-authored seven scientific papers on this and other topics, is now studying lakes and ponds statewide to figure out what factors suppress the moth's numbers in so many New York state lakes.

"Bob is probably the most careful and dedicated individual I have worked with here at Cornell," said Bernd Blossey, assistant professor of natural resources and director of the Ecology and Management of Invasive Plants Program at Cornell. "He has invested enormous amounts of time in advancing the case of biological control of Eurasian watermilfoil. And I doubt that we would be in a position to recognize that a small aquatic caterpillar is keeping milfoil suppressed in Cayuga Lake without Bob's keen eyes and sense for the working of aquatic plant communities."

Johnson also is heavily involved in monitoring and managing aquatic plant communities throughout the Northeast and New York state, and leading projects that demonstrate physical, biological and chemical control methods for aquatic nuisance plant communities. He also helps various Cornell scientists conduct research on alewife, a non-indigenous fish that has negative impacts on freshwater ecosystems; walleye, a popular game fish being raised in four ponds this year to introduce into a New York lake; and the relationship that insects have with cattails. He also conducts field labs for various classes in biology, limnology and field ecology.