STOCKHOLM – Dr. John Cherry has won the Stockholm Water Prize. The prize is a global award appointed annually by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and awarded by SIWI, to an individual, organization or institution for outstanding water-related achievements. It is the world’s most prestigious water award and honors women, men and organizations who have made extraordinary water-related achievements.
Dr. Cherry is a world-renowned hydrogeologist and a leading authority on the threats to groundwater from contamination. As the creator of the academic field contaminant hydrogeology, he has changed the scientific paradigms of groundwater research. Dr. Cherry’s work has raised awareness of how groundwater contamination is growing across the world and has led to new, more efficient methods to tackle the problem.
In its citation, the Stockholm Water Prize Nominating Committee notes that Dr. Cherry is “recognized for his contributions to science, education, practice, and for translating his well-earned stature into a passionate and highly effective advocacy for groundwater science to inform current and future policies, laws, and collective deliberations that governments must establish to protect water, our most essential and yet most imperiled resource.”
The Stockholm Water Prize is traditionally presented by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Patron of Stockholm Water Prize, during World Water Week. However, World Water Week, originally scheduled for August 23-28, has been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic and SIWI is exploring how Dr. Cherry will be celebrated at World Water Week 2021.
