Dr. Amy E. Childress, 2024 Clarke Prize Laureate
National Water Research Institute (NWRI) is pleased to announce that the 2024 Clarke Prize Laureate is Dr. Amy E. Childress. Dr. Childress’s research at the University of Southern California (USC) addresses the global challenge of freshwater scarcity. The Clarke Prize is awarded annually to thought leaders in water research, science, technology, or policy
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​“Dr. Childress’s contributions as a researcher, educator, and mentor personify the Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize,” said NWRI Executive Director Kevin Hardy, “and her substantial contributions to optimizing membrane technologies and systems will help water providers in Southern California – and around the world – to ensure long-term water security.”​
Childress is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at USC, where she also is Director of the ReWater (Water Reuse and Resource Recovery Center) Center and Academic Lead for the Water Reuse Consortium. At the ReWater Center, Dr. Childress and her team of researchers develop innovative solutions to contaminant and energy challenges in water reuse and desalination. They collaborate with industry partners to test innovative water reuse technologies and to cultivate a diverse, inclusive, and skilled technical workforce.
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“Through rigorous research, education, and community engagement, our center explores sustainable and equitable solutions to ensure the availability of clean water for generations to come,” said Childress. “Our objectives address the United Nations Sustainable Development goal of clean water and sanitation as well as the National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenge of providing access to clean water.”
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Childress is a past president of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors, a recent Fulbright US scholar, and has just stepped down from serving on the US EPA Science Advisory Board. She chairs and serves on expert panels for potable reuse and seawater desalination projects in the United States and abroad. Childress has received awards for publications, research innovation, technology education, and mentoring. She is regularly invited as a plenary or keynote speaker to technical conferences worldwide. Childress is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Water Reuse, Co-Editor of Desalination, and she also serves on the advisory boards of other technical journals.
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Dr. Childress will deliver the 2024 Clarke Prize Lecture during the award ceremony on October 5, 2024, at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences & Engineering in Irvine, California.
NWRI presents the annual $50,000 prize to recognize researchers that solve real-world water problems.
The Clarke Prize was established in 1993 in honor of NWRI’s co-founder, the late Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke.