RALEIGH - JoAnn Burkholder, an ecologist at N.C. State University who did groundbreaking research on a microbe linked to fish kills in the Neuse River, has received River Network's highest award, the James R. Compton River Achievement Award.

Burkholder endured criticism for her findings that an algae, Pfiesteria piscicida, found in North Carolina and Maryland waters was dangerous to people and fish. But federal researchers validated her work, announcing two species of Pfiesteria transform from harmless microbes into "toxic organisms that can cause estuarine fish kills."

River Network is a national non-profit organization working for clean and healthy waters.