Colwell Wins Stockholm Water Prize

COLLEGE Park, Md. -- Distinguished University Professor Rita R. Colwell has been awarded the 2010 Stockholm Water Prize, widely recognized as the world's premier award for water related research or policy work. The prize, which includes a $150,000 award and a crystal sculpture, honors "individuals, institutions 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."

Colwell, who joined the University of Maryland faculty in 1973, is a renowned scientist and educator, whose work bridges many areas including microbiology, ecology, public health, and computer and satellite technology. Her pioneering research in prevention of cholera and other waterborne infectious diseases has helped protect the health and lives of millions.

Colwell has been studying cholera for more than 45 years, combining high tech instruments with molecular biology to make major advances in detecting outbreaks. "We're using satellites to correlate sea height and sea temperature in order to predict and reduce cholera epidemics," she said. "It's proven to be uncannily effective because outbreaks are associated with plankton blooms."

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• Stockholm Water Prize
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• Cholera
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