Lessons from lake mud: looking backwards to better plan for the future

In keeping with the tradition of past awardees of the International Paleolimnology Association Rick Battarbee Lifetime Achievement Award, I provide this career retrospective to acknowledge the outstanding students and other collaborators I have enjoyed working with and to reflect on some of the lessons I learned over the last four decades. Whilst several examples are given, I focus mainly on some early lake acidification research, as those projects provided a foundation for many subsequent applied paleolimnological studies. In addition, given that I have worked in the Arctic continuously throughout my career, that program is highlighted, partly to show how concepts developed in polar regions can be transferred, with appropriate modifications, to lakes in other climates. I emphasize the importance of inter-personal relationships (i.e., work well with others and they will work well with you) and the power of inter-disciplinary research teams. I conclude by providing some advice for early career researchers, such as the critical role of effective science communication. My view is that paleolimnology has already made many substantial contributions to a wide spectrum of environmental and other issues, but the best is yet to come.