DUKE UNIVERSITY ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST TO
RECEIVE NATIONAL WETLANDS AWARD
DURHAM, N.C. – Curtis
J. Richardson, professor
of resource ecology at Duke University’s Nicholas
School of the Environment and Earth Sciences
and director of the Duke University Wetland Center,
has won the Environmental Law Institute’s 2006
National Wetlands Award for Science Research.
The Science Research award is one of six awards
presented annually by the non-profit institute
to individuals who exemplify excellence and innovation
in wetlands protection, restoration and education.
In selecting Richardson for the honor, the institute
cited his “singularly impressive” contribution
to wetlands science through research on wetlands
loss and restoration in the Everglades; along
the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast; in rapidly
developing urban landscapes of North Carolina;
in the heavily degraded Mesopotamian marshes
of southern Iraq, which some scholars believe
to be the site of the Biblical Garden of Eden;
and in other threatened wetland ecosystems worldwide.
“I feel this award really belongs to all the
fantastic students and Wetland Center researchers
and staff with whom I have had the great fortune
to work on these issues,” Richardson said. “Wetland
ecosystem science is a team effort. It’s not
possible to solve complex environmental problems
without vital contributions from truly dedicated
collaborators."
National Wetlands Awards are presented in six
categories: Science research; education and outreach;
landowner stewardship; conservation and restoration;
state, tribal and local program development;
and wetland community leadership. They are co-sponsored
by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service,
the U.S. fish and Wildlife Service, the Federal
Highway Administration, the USDA Forest Service,
and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s
National Marine Fisheries Service.
Richardson and his five fellow 2006 honorees
will receive their awards at a ceremony on Capital
Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 10.
To learn more about Richardson and the Duke
Wetland Center, go online to http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/wetland.
For further information about the National Wetlands
Awards, go to http://www2.eli.org/nwa/nwaprogram.htm.
Peers and research sponsors from the Soil Science
Society of America, the Society of Wetland Scientists,
the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental
Affairs, and the Durham County (N.C.) Board of
Commissioners nominated Richardson for the award.
Among other achievements, they cited his leadership
on the Duke Wetland Center’s Southern Wetland
Assessment and Management Park (SWAMP), an ongoing
project in which students and faculty at the
Wetland Center and Nicholas School are restoring
the heavily degraded and eroded Sandy Creek wetland
in Duke Forest, near the university’s West Campus.
"Our goal is to recreate an ecosystem similar
to what you would have found here 75 to 100 years
ago," said Richardson. "By restoring
the natural flood plain that used to be here
before the onslaught of urban development, we'll
recreate a healthy wetland ecosystem that sops
up pollutants and improves wildlife habitat."
Besides being an example of a rare Piedmont
wetland, the restored ecosystem will provide
a site for research by students and faculty members
at Duke and other area schools and universities
on biological diversity, hydrology, mosquito
control, invasive plant species and other environmental
concerns. "What we learn here will benefit
many wetlands and watersheds nationwide," Richardson
said.
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