image: Prof Shane Snyder is the winner of the Clarke Prize 2021. He's the Executive Director of the Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute (NEWRI) at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore). view more
Credit: NTU Singapore
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. – National Water Research Institute (NWRI) is pleased to announce the 2021 Clarke Prize Laureate is Dr. Shane A. Snyder, Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), and Executive Director of NTU’s Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute (NEWRI). NWRI presents the annual $50,000 prize to recognize researchers that solve real-world water problems.
“Dr. Shane Snyder personifies the qualities that the Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Water Science and Technology was designed to recognize,” said NWRI Executive Director Kevin Hardy. “His contributions to the water community exemplify a Clarke Prize laureate.”
While Dr. Snyder’s scientific, technical, and leadership accomplishments are remarkable, the Clarke Prize Executive Committee noted that, “Dr. Snyder is known as a compassionate and personable character that always enjoys sharing his knowledge.”
For more than two decades, Dr. Snyder’s research has focused on water quality, treatment, and sustainability. He has published over 300 manuscripts and chapters on emerging contaminant analysis, treatment, and toxicology. He is currently Editor in Chief of the American Chemical Society journal, Environmental Science & Technology Water and he was Editor in Chief of the Elsevier journal, Chemosphere.
“I am tremendously honored to have been selected as the 2021 Clarke Prize Laureate, and to join this league of the world’s most influential water researchers” Snyder said. “Over the past decades, I have been most inspired by the rapid proliferation of water recycling projects across the world. My hope for the near future is to enable and empower underserved communities to also embrace water recycling, along with the appropriate technologies and skills to improve access to reliable and safe water for those who currently suffer the most from inadequate water quantity and quality.”
He has briefed the US Congress several times on emerging water quality issues such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and endocrine disruptors. He has served on numerous EPA panels and was a member of the National Academy of Science’s National Research Council expert panel for the development of Water Reuse: Potential for Expanding the Nation's Water Supply Through Reuse of Municipal Wastewater (2012). He was also an author for the World Health Organization’s Potable Reuse: Guidance for Producing Safe Drinking-Water (2017).
Snyder is a Fellow of the International Water Association and served on the World Health Organization’s Drinking Water Advisory Panel. He has served on numerous expert panels regarding potable water reuse programs throughout the United States and other countries. He is a passionate advocate for sustainable water technologies that protect people and the environment.
At NTU Singapore, Dr. Snyder leads a team of over 300 faculty, staff, research fellows, and students to advance water and environmental research, including wastewater and solid waste management, recycling, and upcycling. Most recently, his research team has discovered unique natural products that can greatly reduce asthma and allergy suffering.
Today, Dr. Snyder dedicates much of his time to advancing safe water and sanitation in underserved communities in South and Southeast Asia. Dr. Snyder also led philanthropic work for NEWRI, enabled by a generous endowment provided by the Lien Foundation and the Singapore government. This work has benefitted more than 2 million people through practical application of water technologies.
Dr. Snyder will deliver the 2021 Clarke Prize Lecture during the award ceremony on October 28, 2021, via web broadcast. The time and link to view the broadcast will be announced on the NWRI website https://www.nwri-usa.org/.
The Clarke Prize was established in 1993 in honor of NWRI’s co-founder, the late Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke. The Clarke Prize is awarded annually to thought leaders in water research, science, technology, or policy and is recognized by the International Congress of Distinguished Awards as one of the most prestigious water awards in the world.
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