UNIPORT Biochemist, Dr. Nwaichi Awarded the 2022 John Maddox Prize

Dr Eucharia Oluchi Nwaichi, a biochemist at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, has been awarded the 2022 John Maddox Prize for engaging communities in conflict to research solutions to pollution in the oil fields of the Niger Delta, Myschoolnews report.

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The judges commended her for putting forward evidence and trial methods for soil recovery, courageously advancing public discourse with sound science despite the personal risk.

On being informed of the award, Dr Nwaichi commented:  

“Receiving the John Maddox Prize from such reputable institutions is a huge honour, with a resonating feeling that is hard to put into words. When my husband received the great news, he said ‘the ‘uninformed bully and chauvinists who failed to recognize your work for society have unintentionally referred you to the right people’. Scientists like me are emboldened by this singular award to confront obstacles and ensure credible evidence is used to inform policies for sustainable development.”

The Niger Delta is West Africa’s largest oil producing region, resulting in large areas suffering serious contamination. Research to trial effective ways to clean up the soil (phytoremediation) is urgently needed. Dr Nwaichi convinced local communities and oil companies to engage with the evidence she gathered and take part in the research, despite the intense and often dangerous levels of conflict between them. 

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Through her constructive approach using scientific evidence, she has been able to resolve a dispute between local communities and an oil company on the effects of liquid waste on fish stocks in Rivers State, diffusing a conflict that threatened to escalate into violence. She continues to work with local communities to trial new methods for soil remediation despite the intense personal threat to her from representatives of a different oil company whose officials confiscated her recordings and data and objected to the work being conducted by a woman. 

In spite of this, Dr Nwaichi has remains committed to finding solutions to oil pollution and continues to try to find ways to conduct her field work without interference. She and her team are currently working on formulating slow-release nutrients to counter soil exhaustion. 

The John Maddox Prize is a joint initiative of the charity Sense About Science and the scientific journal Nature, continues to attract global nominations from individuals, across the disciplines, who are conducting essential work in standing up for sound science in the public interest and in the face of adversity and opposition. This year 55 nominations were received from across the globe.

The prize is run and funded by Sense about Science, where Sir John Maddox was a founding trustee, and Nature, where he was editor for over 20 years, with support from Clare and Andrew Lyddon.