Sir Nicholas Shackleton of the United Kingdom and Dr. Gordon Hisashi Sato of the United States have been named as the recipients of the 2005 Blue Planet Prize.
The Asahi Glass Foundation of Japan, which established the Blue Planet Prize in 1992, made the announcement Monday on its Web site.
Each year the Blue Planet Prize recognizes two individuals and/or organizations whose achievements have contributed to the resolution of global environmental problems. Each prize recipient receives $460,000.
Shackleton, emeritus professor at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, contributed to palaeoclimatology, particularly in identifying the glacial-interglacial climatic cycles and identifying the role of carbon dioxide as well as changes in the Earth's orbit in causing them.
Sato, director emeritus of W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center Inc., developed a new mangrove planting technology in Eritrea and through its utilization showed the possibility of building a sustainable local community in the poorest area of the world.
The award ceremony will be held Oct. 19 in Tokyo, with the commemorative lectures by the prize recipients to be held at the United Nations University in Tokyo Oct. 20.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International
