Dr John Cherry is a world-renowned hydrogeologist and a leading authority on the threats to groundwater from contamination. As the creator of the academic field contaminant hydrogeology, he has changed the scientific paradigms of groundwater research. He was awarded the Stockholm Water Prize in 2020 for his work.,
Many students (myself included) have had their understanding of groundwater shaped by the textbook Groundwater, which John Cherry co-authored together with Alan Freeze in 1979. Making groundwater knowledge available to students and practitioners around the world has always been close to his heart and most recently this has resulted in the innovative Groundwater Project. In response to recurring requests for him to update the textbook, Dr. Cherry started collaborating with other leading groundwater scientists around the world to make their texts available free of charge for anyone to use. The project was launched in August 2020.
Contaminant hydrogeology studies how chemicals and waste leaches into the groundwater. A geological engineer by training, Dr Cherry has pioneered highly collaborative field experiments and new systematic approaches to monitor, control and clean up contaminated groundwater. This has provided keen insights into contaminant transport processes and made it easier to protect groundwater, the source of drinking water for nearly half the global population.borative field experiments and new systematic approaches to monitor, control and clean up contaminated groundwater. This provided keen insights into contaminant transport processes and made it easier to protect groundwater, the source of drinking water for nearly half the global population.
On receiving news of the Stockholm Water Prize, Dr. Cherry said: “I’m very pleased to receive the Stockholm Water Prize and to get this opportunity to speak about the importance of protecting groundwater. Though the global water crisis is starting to get more attention, groundwater is often forgotten, despite making up 99 per cent of the planet’s liquid freshwater. Many people still perceive it as pristine when in fact it is threatened by human activity.”The joint statement resulted from a SIWI Shared Waters Partnership convened workshop.
With the Stockholm Water Prize, John Cherry is recognized for his contributions to science, education, practice and for translating his well-earned stature into a passionate and highly effective advocacy for groundwater science to inform current and future policies, laws and collective deliberations that governments must establish to protect water, our most essential and yet most imperilled resource.
Dr Cherry’s work has had enormous influence. Through the innovative Borden Groundwater Field Research Facility, which he established already in the 1980s, many important scientific discoveries have been made by researchers from different parts of the world. Dr Cherry’s approaches to groundwater monitoring have also been used in many countries, including Canada, Brazil and the United States.
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What is the global water crisis?
Many important global organizations have concluded that there is a global freshwater crisis. In the past few years both the UN and UNESCO have convened major conferences on the crisis. The freshwater crisis is exacerbated by global warming, yet, in the short term, water scarcity with impacts on food and poverty are the most immediate threat to civilization.
2.1 billion people live without safe water (United Nations, 2019)
Why is Groundwater Critical to Solving the Global Water Crisis?
The global water crisis is in fact a groundwater crisis because groundwater makes up 99% of all liquid fresh water and in times of drought, groundwater is the only freshwater available in many regions. Yet much of the educational material needed to solve the crisis exists behind expensive paywalls and global university programs are at present inadequate to address the issue.
Our Goal
Commitment to advancement of groundwater education through creation and provision of free, high-quality materials for all readership levels under all global circumstances to serve humanity and our planet’s ecology. Over 1,000 volunteer experts from around the globe aim to raise groundwater consciousness and strengthen groundwater expertise by making groundwater knowledge accessible for everyone everywhere
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