STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Aug. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- A West Virginia high school student has won the Stockholm Junior Water Prize at the Stockholm Water Symposium for her research with Escherichia coli and antibiotic resistance.
Ashley Mulroy, 17, a student at the Linsly School in Wheeling, W.V., was honored as the grand laureate of the international water prize at an awards ceremony during the symposium in Stockholm.
The Stockholm Junior Water Prize -- an award and competition founded by the Stockholm Water Foundation -- was established to encourage the interest of young people in water environment issues at the regional, national and international levels.
Now in its fourth year, the prize is the most prestigious honor that can be awarded to high school students who have contributed to water conservation and improvement through outstanding research.
Mulroy competed with other individuals or teams representing 16 other countries.
Caption: Ashley Mulroy of Wheeling, W.Va., receives the grand prize from HRH Princess Victoria of Sweden during the Award Ceremony of the International Stockholm Junior Water Prize on August 15. (Photo courtesy ITT Industries, Inc., and PRNewsFoto)
Mulroy's project, which won the United States national competition earlier this year, was entitled, "Correlating Residual Antibiotic Contamination in Public Water to the Drug Resistance of Escherichia coli."
The research examined how inefficient wastewater treatment processes can lead to antibiotic contamination in American waterways and, in some cases, progressive resistance among bacteria to those same antibiotics (Penicillin, Tetracycline and Vancomycin, for example) that once controlled them. In particular, she researched their presence in a 44-kilometer stretch of the Ohio River and two tributary systems. The prize jury cited her strong scientific research in an innovative and important subject area.
For her achievement, Mulroy received a crystal sculpture, a $5,000 scholarship award, and the personal congratulations of HRH Princess Victoria of Sweden, patron of the prize.
Teams from Australia and Great Britain received honorable mention awards.
From August 13 to 19 in Stockholm, all contestants will experience a well-rounded learning environment that provides a thorough introduction to the water field. In addition to competing with their projects, they'll meet top water experts, participate in seminars, visit research and technical facilities and attend cultural and social events.
This year, participating countries in competition are: Argentina, Australia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. National organizers and local sponsors support the Stockholm Junior Water Prize in each country. An international nominating committee reviews the projects and selects the winner based on creative ability, scientific procedure, subject knowledge, and presentation.
ITT Industries has sponsored the contest since 1997, according to Thomas R. Martin, Senior Vice President and Director, Corporate Relations, for ITT.
"Honorees like Ashley Mulroy help spread the word to young people everywhere about the importance of protecting the world's water," he said.
Other finalists came from Australia, Argentina, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and Thailand.
Photos and other information from the award ceremony will be available at http://www.siwi.org August 16.
The award ceremony was part of the Stockholm Water Symposium which runs through Aug. 17 in Stockholm, Sweden.
The tenth annual symposium, "Water Security for the 21st Century - Innovative Approaches," covers water supply issues on a global scale. More than 800 industry professionals are expected to attend the conference, which coincides with World Water Week.
Aug. 16, officials were expected to present the 2000 Stockholm Industry Water Award to Northumbrian Water Limited, a water and wastewater treatment provider for Northeastern England. The Stockholm Water Foundation, Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and World Business Council for Sustainable Development are awarding the first annual water award to Northumbrian Water for its new wastewater treatment strategy. The provider successfully integrated state of the art technology and regional industrial and legislative bodies into a strategy that enabled itself and neighboring industrial companies to meet EU regulations, produced useful end products, brought a dramatic improvement to the quality of the River Tees and proved to be energy and environmentally effective.
The award recognizes innovative corporate development of water and wastewater process technologies as well as contributions to environmental improvement through improved performance in production processes.
Also Aug. 16, the Founders Seminar was expected to cover "Water Security for the 21st Century - Roles, Responsibilities and Opportunities for Industry."
The closing session on Aug. 17 includes presentation of the Swedish Baltic Sea Water Award 2000 by Trade Minister Leif Pagrotsky and the Stockholm Water Prize Award Ceremony.
The final seminar, entitled "Water Security for Multinational Water Systems - Opportunity for Development," is scheduled for Aug. 18.
