The 2024 Secchi Award winner, announced at October’s conference, was Ben Peterson (King County Noxious Weed Control) for his work of many years to reduce the impacts of aquatic invasive plants in lakes throughout King County. The award was presented by Wes Glisson (Washington Department of Ecology), who had this to say about Ben in his speech:
I have only been in Washington and in my position for two years, but that’s long enough to know how important Ben is to those working with aquatic plants in the state. Within King County, Ben has worked tirelessly to reduce the impacts of invasive aquatic plants for many years. His dedication and his work are evidenced in the control and local eradications of several aquatic noxious weeds in the county. But his reach extends well beyond his jurisdiction.
During my short time here, Ben has been a go-to resource on management techniques for invasive aquatic plants, and it is clear that he has been helping out the Department of Ecology for a while. I have found many saved emails from my predecessor, Jenifer Parsons—a Secchi Award winner herself—with management information on aquatic weeds from Ben. For many of the toughest aquatic weeds and most difficult management situations, I’ve turned to Ben, and he always has an answer.
And I am not alone in this. Ben has shared his knowledge and experience with many others throughout the state. This includes teaching local aquatic plant ID workshops and the aquatic plant ID workshop at the annual WALPA conference (nine total times!). This is what really sets Ben apart: his willingness to share his knowledge with others. As demonstrated by so many of the talks today, much of this work takes a village, and we are lucky to have Ben as a member of that village. His hard-won knowledge and willingness to share his expertise has greatly benefitted lake managers throughout Washington in their efforts to control invasive aquatic plants and improve the ecological and recreational quality of our lakes.
