ALEXANDRIA, VA, May 2, 2005 -- The Water Environment Federation (WEF) proudly announces the 2005 U.S. state winners of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) -- the most prestigious youth award for a water-related science project. WEF Member Associations selected and will sponsor state winners to enter the national competition in Portland, Ore., June 16-18.
A full state-by-state (plus Puerto Rico) listing of the winners, from whom the national prize winner will be chosen, can be found at: National Stockholm Junior Water Prize contestants. Still to be announced are winners for Illinois and California -- who will be named May 9 and 27, respectively. No state competition is held in: Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Rhode Island.
Winning topics so far have included:
-- "Filtering Roof Rainwater Using Zeolites," Angélica Valdés, Southwestern Educational Society, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
-- "Analysis of Macroinvertebrate Population and Diversity and Their Influence on Water Quality - Phase 3 - A Watershed Study," Christine Li, Cookeville High School, Cookeville, TN
-- "Improving Phycoremediation via Artificial Directional Selection and Its Application to Mercury Pollution," Eric Wilson, North Attleborough High School, North Attleborough, MA
-- "The Viability of Processing Cruise Ship Waste at Land-based Wastewater Treatment Facilities," April Due & Aimi Latore, Kapolei High School, Kapolei, HI
-- "A Novel Method to Asist Regulators Determine Site-specific Water Quality Criteria for Copper," Ananth Sridhar, Cherry Creek High School, Greenwood Village, CO
The U.S. winner will receive $2,500 and an all expense paid trip to Stockholm, Sweden for the international competition. The U.S. winner's school will receive $1,000 toward enhancing science education and the student will present their research to water quality experts at WEFTEC®.05, WEF's annual technical exhibition and conference in Washington, DC, October 29 -- November 2! , 2005. (List of state winners, schools and project titles immediately follows release).
"The SJWP competition is an important element in the Federation's continuing efforts to attract young professionals into the water quality field," said WEF Executive Director Bill Bertera. "The competition promotes leadership, academic excellence and environmental stewardship, which will benefit not only the individual but the entire environmental and public health community -- both domestically and internationally."
The purpose of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize is to increase students' interest in water-related issues and research, and to sensitize them -- as future leaders -- to global water challenges. The competition for the SJWP award is open to projects aimed at improving the quality of life through improvement of water quality, water resources management, water protection or water and wastewater treatment.
In the United States, WEF and its member associations organize the national, state and regional SJWP competitions with support from the ITT Industries (also the international sponsor), The Coca-Cola Company, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s Office of Research and Development. Internationally, HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden is the patron of the prize. In a royal ceremony, during World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, August 21-27, the international winner will receive $5,000 (USD). For more information about the competition visit www.StockholmJuniorWaterPrize.org.
Founded in 1928, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization with members from varied disciplines who work toward the WEF vision of preservation and enhancement of the global water environment. The WEF network includes water quality professionals from 76 member associations in 30 countries.
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