Contact: Carolyn Anthon

support@aessonline.org 

Office: (202) 503-4638 

June 15, 2026

For immediate release

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS) is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2026 awards, recognizing outstanding contributions to environmental studies and sciences through scholarship, teaching, service, and leadership. The awards honor individuals whose work advances interdisciplinary environmental research and education while strengthening the AESS community.

The 2026 AESS Award recipients are:

  • Freudenburg Lifetime Achievement Award: Karin Warren
  • Early Career Award: Brie Berry
  • Hassenzahl-Smith Mid-Career Award: Rob Alexander

The Freudenburg Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes individuals whose careers have made a lasting and transformative impact on environmental studies and sciences. This year’s recipient, Karin Warren, is honored for her distinguished career and enduring contributions to the field.

Upon learning of the award, Warren reflected on the role AESS has played throughout her career:

“I remember my excitement many years ago when I discovered AESS. I felt I had finally found a professional organization that fit the interdisciplinary scholarship, teaching, and community work that I love to do. That feeling of belonging has deepened over the years since I joined AESS, with every conference I’ve attended, every committee I have served on, every lively conversation I’ve had with other AESS members. I’ve been inspired, bolstered, productively challenged, and invigorated by being a part of AESS. AESS has nurtured me as a scholar, teacher, and community collaborator, and it is my greatest wish to do the same for others. I am profoundly moved and honored to receive the Freudenburg Lifetime Achievement Award.”

The Early Career Award recognizes exceptional achievement by scholars in the early stages of their careers. Brie Berry is being recognized for her innovative scholarship, commitment to interdisciplinary environmental studies, and growing impact on the field.

Reflecting on the significance of the award, Berry shared:

“AESS has been an important interdisciplinary home for me as an early career scholar in environmental studies, and it’s an immense honor to have been selected to receive the Early Career Award. I’m so grateful for this acknowledgement of my work and want to take a moment to give an enormous thank you to AESS and its members for the mentorship, conferences, publications, and resources that have been so transformative for my career.”

This year also marks the first presentation of the newly renamed Hassenzahl-Smith Mid-Career Award. Formerly known as the AESS Mid-Career Award, the award was renamed in recognition of David Hassenzahl and Kim Smith, whose leadership, scholarship, and service helped shape both the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences and the broader field. The award honors scholars in the middle stages of their careers who have demonstrated excellence in research, teaching, and service.

Rob Alexander is the inaugural recipient of the Hassenzahl-Smith Mid-Career Award, recognized for his significant contributions to environmental studies and sciences and his leadership within the field. Reflecting on the honor, Alexander emphasized the influence of the award’s namesakes on his own professional journey:

“To be named the first recipient of the newly renamed Hassenzahl–Smith Mid-Career Award is especially meaningful to me as Dave and Kim have served as my own mentors, especially in my early years at AESS when I sought to balance my need for personal success with my desire to participate in organizational success. […] These two shining stars gave space for me to be me while challenging me to think deeper while embracing wider. I hope that I can serve as that person for our younger and newer members.”

Award recipients will be recognized during the 2026 AESS Conference.

For more information about AESS awards and programs, visit aessonline.org.

About AESS

The Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS) is an interdisciplinary professional association dedicated to advancing environmental studies and sciences through research, teaching, service, and public engagement. AESS supports a diverse community of scholars, practitioners, students, and educators working to address complex environmental challenges and promote sustainability.