Two separate international organizations are honoring Dr. Robert G. Wetzel, Bishop Professor of Biological Sciences at The University of Alabama, for his water and wetland research efforts.
The Society of Wetland Scientists has informed Wetzel he will be presented with the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award for 2000 during the group’s annual meeting in August.
In a letter notifying Wetzel of the honor, the group’s president stated, “The Society is pleased to recognize your lifetime commitment to wetland and aquatic sciences, your outstanding degree of excellence as a scientist and scholar, and your training of a remarkably able group of graduate students who have achieved distinction in their own right.”
The award will be presented in Quebec and comes with a lifetime membership in the Society. The Society is dedicated to the conservation, management and scientific understanding of the world’s wetland resources.
The International Water Academy has also elected Wetzel to a lifetime membership, one of only 500 memberships awarded by the Academy to water educators, scientists, water administrators and economists worldwide. The Academy cites as its vision the fostering of a community of experts to aid in the management and use of water for the benefit of all mankind.
Wetzel, who joined UA in 1990 and is one of the world’s leading experts on the crucial relationships between water and the land, said water-related problems would become an increasingly visible issue. “The single greatest environmental problem that we’ll have in the 21st century is the availability of quality fresh water,” he said. “There will be wars fought over water. That’s already starting in the Middle East.”
Last fall, Wetzel gave multiple lectures at five major Japanese universities after his selection for the Japanese Academy of Sciences National Lectureship.
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Chris Bryant, Assistant Director of Media Relations, 205/348-8323