FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 2, 2006
Harrisburg, Pa. — Dr. Bern Sweeney, Director of the Stroud Water Research Center in Avondale, PA, was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) for his outstanding contribution to the environmental field.
Sweeney has been an invaluable ally in CBF’s efforts to restore the Chesapeake and its watershed. Currently, he is assessing the impact of acid mine drainage streams’ abilities to process nutrients. His findings are providing the critical link between Pennsylvania’s two leading causes of stream impairment and will be critically significant for advancing CBF’s nitrogen reduction efforts in Pennsylvania.
He has been a credentialed leader in stream ecosystem research and education for decades. A former Vice-President and Curator for the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia and President of the North American Benthological Society, at present Sweeney also serves on a number of state and federal committees which deal with developing and implementing groundbreaking science relating to streams and riparian ecosystems.
Sweeney and the Stroud Water Research Center are fully committed to seeing that information is disseminated to academics, decision makers, conservation professionals, watershed activists, and school children and to seeing it put to use in policy decisions.
“These awardees are truly examples of individuals who make a difference in the lives of others”, CBF President William C. Baker said. “We honor them for their substantial contributions toward improving the quality of our environment, and specifically, to improving the water quality of Pennsylvania’s streams and rivers which ultimately impact the Bay.”
The Lifetime Achievement Awards are presented by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s board of trustees infrequently and only to those most deserving individuals whose longstanding dedication to and achievement in saving the Bay merit special recognition.
Also honored were Selinsgrove high school science teacher, Bill Bechtel, as Educator of the Year and Karl Blankenship for Lifetime Achievement for creating, editing, and writing the Bay Journal since 1991.
Fittingly held riverside at the Civic Club in Harrisburg, these three outstanding professionals were honored by CBF, their peers, friends, and family for the monumental work each has done to improve the quality of our environment.
PA State Representative Russ Fairchild presented the group with a resolution on behalf of the House of Representatives. On behalf of Senator Mike Waugh, Ann Swanson, Director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission and Marel Raub, PA Director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission presented the awardees with a similar resolution from the Senate.
