Dr Jackie King has been recognised for her efforts in highlighting the importance of rivers across the globe by the Stockholm International Water Institute.
Stockholm, Sweden – The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) announced the winner of their International Water Prize for 2019, and it happens to be a proudly South African scientist.
Dr Jackie King is a professor at the Institute for Water Studies at the University of the Western Cape and an independent consultant on water issues in South Africa.
As an aquatic ecologist, she became influential in the recently-established field of Environmental Flows. Her early research focused on South African rivers, but since the 1990s she has moved into advisory work on river systems across Africa and Asia.
Dr Jackie King is a well-recognised scientist in South Africa having already been recognised with for the Gold and Silver Medals from the Southern African Society of Aquatic Scientists and with South Africa’s “Women in Water” Award in the research category. She was also the 2016 recipient of WWF-South Africa’s “Living Planet Award”, and now the incredible South African has just been named the winner of the 2019 Stockholm International Water Awards!
She has spent years committed to raising awareness of the value of rivers and their importance in millions of peoples lives. This has meant that Dr King is highly regarded by academics and water managers globally.
“I find it humbling, energizing and very rewarding. I have never sought high-profile jobs but was happy to be a working scientist, free to say what I felt needed to be said. I am delighted that the silent voices of river systems and their dependent people are increasingly being acknowledged. We all lose if rivers become severely degraded due to poorly-informed development and management. It does not have to be like that.” – Dr Jackie King
Dr King will be presented with her Water Prize on the 28th of August in Stockholm. The ceremony will take place at the same time as World Water Week. During the Royal Award Ceremony, His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Patron of Stockholm Water Prize will hand Dr King here prize.
Take a look at her speech below.
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