Stroud Award for Freshwater Excellence

The 2013 Stroud Award for Freshwater Excellence

Dr. Jane Lubchenco (left), Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator and Dr. Kathryn Sullivan (right), Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Acting NOAA Administrator

The 2013 Stroud Award for Freshwater Excellence will be presented to Dr. Jane Lubchenco, outgoing Under Secretary of Commerce for the National Oceans and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) and Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Acting NOAA Administrator.

The award will be presented at The Water’s Edge gala event at Longwood Gardens on Tues., October 15.

Dr. Jane Lubchenco was the first woman to be appointed under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. She served in this role from 2009 to 2013. Under her leadership, NOAA has focused on restoring fisheries to sustainability and profitability, restoring oceans and coasts to a healthy state, ensuring continuity of the nation’s weather and other environmental satellites, developing a Weather-Ready Nation, promoting climate science and delivering quality climate products, strengthening science and ensuring scientific integrity at NOAA, and delivering the highest quality science, services and stewardship possible. Dr. Lubchenco is one of the “most highly cited” ecologists in the world, and eight of her publications are recognized as “Science Citation Classics.” Read more about Dr. Lubchenco

Dr. Kathryn Sullivan was one of the first six women selected to join the NASA astronaut corps in 1978 and holds the distinction of being the first American woman to walk in space. She flew on three shuttle missions during her 15-year tenure, including the mission that deployed the Hubble Space Telescope. Dr. Sullivan has also served on the National Science Board (2004-2010) and as an oceanographer in the U.S. Navy Reserve (1988-2006). Dr. Sullivan’s impressive expertise spans the frontiers of space and sea. An accomplished oceanographer, she was appointed NOAA’s chief scientist in 1993, where she oversaw a research and technology portfolio that included fisheries biology, climate change, satellite instrumentation and marine biodiversity. Read more about Dr. Sullivan

About The Water’s Edge

Each year Stroud™ Water Research Center hosts its gala in celebration of our most precious resource — water. This special evening allows us to bring together our friends and neighbors whose support is critical to our endeavors. Proceeds from the evening support the Center’s freshwater research and education programs.

About the SAFE Water Award

The SAFE Water Award honors individuals, institutions, or organizations whose work contributes broadly to the conservation and protection of freshwater resources and ecosystems, to improving the quantity and quality of fresh water on the planet, or to developing policies and practices which help perpetuate clean fresh water for future generations of humans and wildlife. Honorees represent regions and watersheds from around the world and a broad range of freshwater-related activities, professions, and scientific disciplines.

The 2012 Stroud Award for Freshwater Excellence

John Briscoe, Ph.D., and Bernard Sweeney, Ph.D., at the Center

The SAFE Water Award sculpture

John Briscoe, Ph.D., and Bernard Sweeney, Ph.D., at the Center

Dr. Briscoe and Dr. Sweeney at Longwood Gardens

Rodman W. Moorhead III presenting the award at Longwood Gardens

John Briscoe, Ph.D., giving his remarks at Longwood Gardens

Stroud™ Water Research Center Honors John Briscoe, Ph.D., for Lifelong Achievements in Stewardship of Fresh Water

Stroud Water Research Center presented John Briscoe, Ph.D., with the Stroud Award for Freshwater Excellence at The Water’s Edge, the Center’s annual gala at Longwood Gardens in the suburbs of Philadelphia on Thursday evening, Oct. 18, 2012.

This prestigious award, also known as the SAFE Water Award™, is awarded for outstanding achievement to those who contribute broadly to the conservation and protection of fresh water. A unique sculpture designed by Simon Pearce accompanies the award.

John Briscoe, Ph.D., the Gordon McKay Professor of the Practice of Environmental Engineering and Professor of the Practice of Environmental Health at Harvard University, directs the Harvard Water Security Initiative.

His career has focused on the issues of water, other natural resources, and economic development. He has worked as an engineer in the government water agencies of South Africa and Mozambique, an epidemiologist at the Cholera Research Center in Bangladesh, and a professor of water resources at the University of North Carolina. In his 20-year career at the World Bank, he held high-level technical and managerial positions, shaping its governance and strategy.

Briscoe was a founding member of the major global water partnerships, including the World Water Council, the Global Water Partnership, and the World Commission on Dams. He has served on the Water Science and Technology Board of the National Academy of Sciences and the Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum, and he currently serves as a member of the Council of Distinguished Water Professionals of the International Water Association.

The 2011 Stroud Award for Freshwater Excellence

Olivia Newton-John and John Easterling receive the 2011 Stroud Award for Freshwater Excellence from Director Bernard Sweeney

Olivia Newton-John and husband, John Easterling, were awarded the first ever Stroud Award for Freshwater Excellence by Stroud Water Research Center at The Water’s Edge gala at Longwood Gardens in the suburbs of Philadelphia on October 11, 2011.

Olivia Newton-John and John Easterling, also known as “Amazon John,” are both staunch supporters of rainforest conservation and known for work in conserving the Amazon River watershed — the largest in the world.

Newton-John and Easterling are committed to supporting a positive, sustainable future for the Amazon rainforest and its inhabitants. They are active board members of the Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research Foundation which promotes conservation of the Peruvian Amazon through environmental education programs, supporting basic and applied research, and protecting unique tracts of land in that region.

Easterling is the founder and owner of the Amazon Herb Company which makes products from the natural ingredients found in the Amazon rainforest and provides support to many indigenous communities in the Amazon. Olivia Newton-John is best known as a singer, actress and supporter of cancer research and rainforest conservation.

About Stroud Water Research Center

Stroud Water Research Center seeks to advance knowledge and stewardship of fresh water through research, education, and global outreach and to help businesses, landowners, policymakers, and individuals make informed decisions that affect water quality and availability around the world. Stroud Water Research Center is an independent, nonadvocacy 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.