Charles R. Goldman, a professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Davis, who is internationally recognized for his research on the ecology of lakes, has been named the campus's 1992 Faculty Research Lecturer. Goldman, who also is chair of the environmental studies division at UC Davis, received the award Monday, Nov. 2, during a meeting of the Davis Division of the Academic Senate, whose membership consists of ladder-rank faculty at the campus. The Faculty Research Lecturer Award is presented annually to a senate member in recognition of his or her distinguished record in research. The recipient traditionally delivers a public lecture in the spring. A faculty member at UC Davis since 1958, Goldman has devoted his career to studying the effects of environmental pollutants on lake ecology. Much of his research has been focused on California's Lake Tahoe and the factors contributing to the popular resort lake's declining clarity. Since he started measuring the lake's clarity in 1959, clarity has declined more than a foot per year, going from a depth of more than 100 feet to an average of 74 feet. Almost everything that occurs in the Tahoe basin has the potential to affect the lake, according to Goldman. Airborne pollution from motor vehicles and fires, and run-off from road cuts and commercial and residential development on the area's steep, fragile slopes deposit nitrogen into the lake. In addition, phosphorous washed in from disturbed land contributes to a condition in which algae thrive. Reducing the inflow of sediment and air pollution is the only way to preserve Lake Tahoe's renowned blueness and clarity, Goldman has said. Doing so requires strict controls on development and road construction in the Tahoe basin, as well as re-establishing natural vegetation on road cuts and ski slopes, and reducing run-off from fertilized lawns and golf courses. Goldman's data on the forces damaging Lake Tahoe persuaded a federal judge to impose a three-year moratorium on new construction in the Tahoe Basin. Goldman now serves as director of the Tahoe Research Group, an organization of scientists involved in basic and applied studies of the lake. Goldman has worked on every continent on the globe, from Oregon's Crater Lake to Antarctica, where a glacier bearing his name inches its way across the frozen landscape. He is trying to apply the lessons learned at Lake Tahoe to Lake Baikal, the oldest, largest and deepest freshwater lake on Earth, located in Siberia. Baikal, containing about 20 percent of the world's unfrozen fresh water, is in a condition comparable to that of Tahoe 50 years ago. However, increasing human development along its shores poses a growing threat. Goldman's work has led to service on several professional panels, advising the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences and other national and international organizations. He also receives regular invitations to lecture on his research at various scientific conferences around the world. In 1991, he received the Chevron Conservation Award for his studies on the lakes Tahoe and Baikal. He received his bachelor's degree in geology and a master's degree in zoology from the University of Illinois, Urbana, and his doctoral degree in fisheries and limnology from the University of Michigan. At UC Davis, he served as director of the Institute of Ecology from 1966-69 and from 1990-91. He is an associate director of the newly formed Center for Ecological Health Research at UC Davis. Sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the center will coordinate studies of the many factors -- such as toxic substances, drought, salinity, temperature and introduction of non-native species -- that stress ecosystems.