Hydrogeologist John Anthony Cherry was awarded this year’s Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize during Singapore’s World Water Week.
The Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize honours outstanding contributions by individuals or organizations towards solving the world’s water challenges by applying innovative technologies, policies or programmes which benefit humanity.
This international award is named after Singapore’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, whose foresight and leadership has enabled Singapore to attain a sustainable water supply.
Cherry was selected from 98 nominations for his contributions in groundwater management and pollution. Cherry’s recent work has focused on the potential risks of hydraulic fracturing to groundwater. He was the chair of the Council of Canadian Academies’ “Assessment of the Environmental Impacts of Shale Gas Extraction in Canada,” and has been a vocal opponent of oil and gas development involving hydraulic fracturing.
John A. Cherry is the director of the University Consortium for Field-Focused Groundwater Contamination Research, associate director of the Centre for Applied Groundwater Research, and an adjunct professor at the University of Guelph. He holds geological engineering degrees from the University of Saskatchewan and University of California Berkley, and earned a PhD in geology with specialization in hydrogeology from the University of Illinois.
The Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 2016 laureate will receive S$300,000, a certificate, and a gold medallion at the award ceremony to be held during SIWW 2016.
