International Water Resources Conference Features PSIPW Prizewinners
The 10th International Conference on Water Resources and Arid Environments (ICWRAE 10) took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26-28 December 2022. ICWRAE is an international scientific conference held every two years. The conference was held under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and organized by King Saud University (KSU); the Prince Sultan Institute for Environmental, Water and Desert Research; the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW); the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud Foundation; and the Saudi Ministry of the Environment, Water, and Agriculture.
The opening ceremony was addressed by the Saudi Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, H.E. Eng. Abdulrahman A. AlFadley, who represented the conference patron. The address of honour was given by H.E. Dr. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, former President of the Republic of Mauritius and current Ambassador for the Small Island Developing States at the World Diplomatic Academy.
The opening ceremony was followed by a tour of the exhibition and a dedicated workshop on the Saudi Green Initiative, where scientists and researchers engaged with senior level officials to examine the development of the initiative, its progress, its achievements to date, as well as its future outlook.
The hybrid event attracted hundreds of attendees, both inside Saudi Arabia and throughout the world. Scientific participation was also international. Upholding a tradition from the very first conference, this partcipation included the winners of the current (10th) Award of the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW).
Creativity Prize winner, Professor Dionysios Dionysiou of the University of Cincinatti, represented the 10th Award winners at the opening ceremony, where he spoke at length about the prize, its awards ceremony at the United Nations Office in Vienna, and the importance of the award.
He also spoke during the scientific sessions about advanced oxidation technologies and nanotechnologies for water treatment and reuse and as nanosensors for toxin detectors.
Creativity Prize winner, Professor Thalappil Pradeep of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, spoke about achieving affordable clean water using advanced materials.
Surface Water Prize winner, Professor Dennis Baldocchi of the University of California Berkeley, spoke about evaluating evaporation with eddy covariance and models.
Groundwater Prize winner, Professor Linda Abriola of Brown University, spoke about modelling the transport and retention of emerging surface-active contaminants in the vadose zone.
Alternative Water Resources Prize winner, Professor Chinedum Osuji of the University of Pennsylvania, spoke on self-assembled nanostructured membranes for precise nanofiltration at the 1 mm scale.
Water Management and Protection Prize winner, Professor Matthew McCabe of KAUST, spoke on harnessing Earth observation for food and water security.
All of the presentations at the conference are available for viewing at the ICWRAE website.