On Thursday, August 25th, in Stockholm, Sweden, His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf handed an ornate crystal sculpture, along with a $150,000 prize to the Center for Limnology’s illustrious director, Steve Carpenter. The award, called the Stockholm Water Prize, is considered the “Nobel Prize of water” and given to individuals or organizations whose work “contributes broadly to the conservation and protection of water resources and to improved health of the planet’s inhabitants and ecosystems.”
In a career spanning three decades, Steve has published 5 books and more than 300 journal articles that, the awards committee noted, “formed the basis for concrete solutions on how to manage lakes.” Carpenter sees the honor not as a capstone to a long career but as a challenge to push forward with his work on “emerging issues” in fresh water, including climate change and water and food security.
The award was presented at the 2011 World Water Week conference hosted by the Stockholm International Water Institute.
Carpenter also gave a lecture as the 2011 Water Prize laureate entitled “Algae Blooms, Trophic Cascades and Ongoing Challenges of Nutrient Management.” Click on the image below to watch.