Katherine F. Holt, USA
Katherine Holt, who is known affectionately as “The Oyster Lady,” was awarded the prize for her project “Cleaning the Chesapeake Bay with Oysters.” Katherine’s project, which won the national level competition in the U.S. earlier this year, included scientific and business analysis of introducing Asian oysters to clean the water of the Chesapeake Bay near her home in Virginia. Katherine’s research looked at how foreign species could be introduced to benefit the Chesapeake while preserving the Bay’s native oyster species and meeting national environmental goals. The issue of introducing foreign oysters in the Chesapeake is the subject of current debate.
“Katherine has impressively presented a good example of how the introduction of an alien species can actually do good for an environment. I am proud of the role young people play with regard to today’s water environment problems,” said Mr. Björn von Euler, Director for Corporate Communications, ITT Industries, the Global Sponsor of the Prize.
