On 29 April 2006, Dr. Likens was elected to be a member of the American Philosophical Society, having previously been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (1981) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1979). On 11 June 2003, the Asahi Glass Foundation announced that Dr. Likens was a co-recipient of the 2003 Blue Planet Prize for outstanding scientific research that helps to solve global environmental problems. Dr. Likens was awarded the distinction along with Dr. F. H. Bormann, his long-term collaborator in the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study in New Hampshire. The Asahi Glass Foundation aspires for the Blue Planet Prize to be recognized as the environmental equivalent of the Nobel Prize. In 2002 he was awarded the 2001 National Medal of Science, the nation's highest science honor, for his contributions to the field of ecology.

In November 2009, Dr. Likens was awarded an Einstein Professorship from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.  The Chinese Academy of Sciences annually awards Einstein Professorships to 15-20 top international scientists working on the forefront of science and technology, and Dr. Likens was selected on the basis of his academic and scholarly contributions to ecology and biogeochemistry. 

During October and November. Dr. Likens and his wife, Phyllis, toured numerous locations in China, including Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Beijing, and the Three Gorges Dam and Reservoir giving lectures, talking with students, University faculty and government officials.  While lecturing and traveling in China, he was awarded an Honorary Professorship from Jinan University, located in Guangzhou.