Win the St Andrew’s Prize

18 August 2010. The University of St Andrews and international integrated energy company ConocoPhillips have announced the call for entries for the St Andrews Prize for the Environment 2011. Applications are invited from individuals, multi-disciplinary teams or community groups for the 2011 annual prize of $75,000 USD for the winner and $25,000 USD for each of the two runners-up.

The primary objective of the prize is to find innovative solutions to environmental challenges. The solutions should be practical, combining good science, economic reality and political acceptability. The prize offers people from all backgrounds around the world the chance to help transform their environmental ideas into reality and also provides a network of connections and support.

An innovative method of removing arsenic from groundwater without using chemicals, won the 2010 St Andrews Prize for the Environment. A team from Queen’s University, Belfast, addressed the alarming levels of arsenic contamination of water in West Bengal and established operations in six rural areas which now supply clean and arsenic free water to the local populations.

The prize is an environmental initiative by the University of St Andrews, in Scotland, and the international integrated energy company ConocoPhillips. Recognising significant contributions to environmental conservation since its launch in 1998, the prize has attracted entries from more than 50 countries each year on topics as diverse as sustainable development in the Amazon rainforest, urban re-generation, recycling, health and water issues, and renewable energy. The submissions for the annual prize are assessed by eminent trustees from science, industry, and government.

Anyone wishing to enter the 2011 prize should submit a single page project summary of no more than 500 words by 31 October 2010. The shortlisted entries will be invited for a more substantial submission in January 2011 and the winners will be announced at a seminar at the University of St Andrews in May 2011.

Full details about the Prize, and how to enter are available from the website www.thestandrewsprize.com or from the St Andrews Prize for the Environment office at St Andrews University on Tel + 44 (0)1334 462161. Email entries to: prize@st-andrews.ac.uk.