Seminar

Professor Cherry received a Bachelors Degree in geological engineering
from the University of Saskatchewan in 1962, a Masters Degree in geological engineering from the
University of California in 1964 and a Ph.D. in geology with specialization in hydrogeology in 1966.
He is co-author (with R.A. Freeze) of the widely used textbook Groundwater, published by Prentice
Hall in 1979. He was the 1985 recipient of the O.E. Meinzer Award of the Geological Society of America,
and the 1985 recipient of the Horton Award of the American Geophysical Union for advances in the
knowledge of the physical Union for advances in the knowledge of the physical and chemical behaviour of
contaminants in groundwater. In 1986 he was the first Henry Darcy Distinguished Lecturer for the
National Water Well Association (USA) and in 1987 he was awarded from this organization the M.K.
Hubbert Award for major scientific contributions to the ground water community, and also in 1987 he
received the Excellence in Research Award in the area of Liquid and Solid Waste Research, from the
Ontario Ministry of the Environment. In 1988 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and
a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. He was the 1996 co-winner of the Romanowski Medal of
the Royal Society of Canada for contributions to resolution scientific aspects of environmental problems.
He received the William Smith Medal from the London Geological Society, England in 1997, the
Distinguished Service Award of the Geological Society of America in 1998 and the Hydrogeology Award
of the Canadian Geotechnical Society in 2001. Recently he has become the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize
(2016) Laureate for his lifelong contributions to the advancement of groundwater science and technology.
For the past 45 years his research interests have focused on field detailed studies of contaminant
migration using investigations of sites and controlled field experiments, with emphasis on both physical and
geochemical processes in sandy aquifers, in fractured and unfractured clayey aquitards, and in fractured
rock. He has been active in the development of innovative new equipment for groundwater monitoring and
remediation and is co-holder of several patents. In the early 1980’s he recognized the importance of
chlorinated solvents in groundwater contamination and then focused much of his efforts and the efforts of
his research group on this problem. He is co-editor with James Pankow and co-author of five chapters of
the authoritative book: Dense Chlorinated Solvents and other DNAPL's’ in Groundwater, 1996.