On the eve of the Stroud Water Research Center’s 50th anniversary, the 2017 Stroud Award for Freshwater Excellence will be presented to His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco at The Water’s Edge, the Stroud Center’s fundraising gala, on Sunday, Sept 17.

The event will be held in Delaware, at Winterthur, the childhood home of collector and horticulturist Henry Francis du Pont. This 1,000-acre preserve of rolling meadows and woodlands was designed by du Pont. Its 60-acre naturalistic garden is among America’s best, with magnificent specimen plantings and massed displays of color.

Prince Albert will be recognized for his commitment to freshwater resources through the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. Though geographically small, Monaco is globally significant, and the Prince has used his worldly influence to promote bold environmental and ecological ideals.

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Since its inception in 2003, The Water’s Edge has featured an impressive list of individuals who have made noteworthy contributions to the world of science, fresh water, and conservation. The inaugural year speaker was Jane Goodall. Starting in 2011, the Stroud Award for Freshwater Excellence has been presented to an individual or organization with outstanding achievements in freshwater-related activities.

The Stroud Center and its 50-year history began and continues on the banks of White Clay Creek in Pennsylvania. Today, the Stroud Center is an independent, not-for-profit, non-advocacy organization recognized as a global leader in the field of freshwater science, environmental education, and watershed restoration, with a secondary location studying tropical ecosystems in Costa Rica.

Fifty years ago, it opened as a field station of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. The mission — to understand how streams and rivers work in an effort to preserve clean waterways and restore polluted ones — came from founders Ruth Patrick, Ph.D., an eminent freshwater ecologist at the academy, and philanthropists Dick and Joan Stroud.

Over the past five decades, the Stroud Center’s staff continues to diligently answer the question, how do streams work, through research, education, and watershed restoration.

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