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STAR Nano Researcher Wins Clarke Prize
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Dr. Pedro Alvarez, the recipient of several EPA STAR research grants, has won the 2012 National Water Research Institute’s (NWRI) Clarke Prize for excellence in water research. Alvarez, an environmental engineer and the George R. Brown Professor of Engineering at Rice University in Houston, Texas, is renowned for his ground-breaking work and leadership in bioremediation and environmental nanotechnology to sustain water quality through water pollution control. His research has impacted the development of federal and state guidelines preventing groundwater contamination by underground storage tanks and, his models have been used by petroleum companies to determine how some biofuels may impact groundwater.
The $50,000 Clarke Prize, named for NWRI co-founder Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke, has been awarded annually since 1993 to honor an outstanding water science and technology researcher who is significantly contributing toward the discovery, development, improvement, and/or understanding of the issues associated with water quality, quantity, technology, or public policy.
Alvarez’s most recent STAR funded research involved identifying the interactions of natural organic matter with nanomaterials (C60 Fullerene) and their impact on C60 transport, bioavailability and toxicity in surface and ground water.
More info on Alverez’s STAR research:
Interactions of Natural Organic Matter with C60 Fullerene and their Impact on C60 Transport, Bioavailability and Toxicity
Professor Alvarez’s home page 