Global Water Initiative

Global Water Initiative - Events

Events

Global Water Events

The World Water Events were first organized in the spring of 2014 and have been held at UVA every year since. The World Water Events highlight for the UVA community and the broader public key water-related issues that touch upon various disciplines. Typically, the events are centered around World Water Day (22 March) and organized by various departments across the University.

  • World Water Event Details

    2020 Event Details

    TROUBLED WATER, WHAT'S WRONG WITH WHAT WE DRINK

    Speaker: Seth Siegel, New York Times Bestselling Author
    Time: Tuesday, March 3, 5:30 -6:30 pm, 
    Place: Clark 108, 
    Free Book Copies. Sign up

    Seth Siegel will talk to us about his newest work, Troubled Water: What's Wrong with What We Drink, which sets forth an ambitious agenda for a fundamental rethinking of America’s drinking water system. Alarmed by our exposure to potentially thousands of contaminants (chemical compounds, plastics, etc.) in our water, he investigates how we should protect our drinking water, and why we are currently not doing this adequately. What could the EPA do, and why isn’t it acting? How can water utilities protect our drinking water, and why are few neglecting to? And what does the popularity of bottled water tell us about how we perceive the quality of our water, and is bottled water a solution?

     

    BECHTEL CORPORATION'S BUSINESS CARE FOR WATER: ENGINEERING, CONSTRUCTION, AND SOCIETY

    Speaker: Tam Nguyen, Global Sustainability Officer, Bechtel Company 
    Time: Wednesday, March 25, 12:30 – 1:30
    Place: Darden Business School, Rm 50.

    Water Security in a world with a changing climate and a growing population is a global challenge.
    Bechtel Corporation is a multinational with expertise in engineering, construction and project management and a focus on water. Notable projects include the Hoover Dam, the Channel Tunnel and its current work at Fukushima. Tam Nguyen, Bechtel’s global head of sustainability,
    will discuss water security and the balance between industry operations and society’s access to water as a human need.

     

    GROUNDWATER GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT IN THE U.S. AND BEYOND

    Speaker: Prof. Sharon Megdal, Director Water Resources Research Center, University of Arizona 
    Time: Thursday, April 23rd 1-2:30 pm 
    Place: Great hall in Garrett Hall

    Reliance on groundwater -- the “invisible water” – is growing in the United States and globally. Consequently, there is interest in identifying good water governance and management practices. Global organizations such as UNESCO and OECD have undertaken significant efforts to identify "best characteristics" of (ground) water governance and management approaches. Characterizing "best practices" is difficult due to the localized nature or groundwater resources. The presentation will draw upon a large body of work that includes surveys of state-level groundwater experts in the United States, case study analysis of three growing areas in the sunbelt of the United States, work on groundwater assessments at the United States- Mexico border, and other experience. The presentation will highlight some of the challenges associated with analysis of groundwater governance and management where authorities are decentralized and governance practices are evolving.

     

    THE COLORADO IN A CHANGING CLIMATE: ASSESSING THE CHALLENGE

    Speaker: Prof. Jonathan Overpeck, Dean Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan 
    Time: Tuesday, April 28th, 3:30 – 5 pm  
    Place: Clark 108

    Many current assessments of future climate and hydrologic change suggest that current drylands around the globe could become drier with continued anthropogenic climate change. In some regions, such as the southwest U.S., there is an observed trend in this direction. This is particularly true for the Colorado River, where the nature of drought is shifting to a more temperature-dominated climate extreme. At the same time, however, some recent and influential scientific assessments suggest that temperature-driven drying could be compensated by precipitation increases with little net increase to water supply or ecosystem risk. A new approach integrating the examination of temperature, precipitation and drought risk indicate that Colorado River flows, water supplies, and ecosystems in the Southwest are already being seriously affected by warming, and that continued warming could result in much larger water supply losses than widely thought, even if mean precipitation increases. The implications of these results have serious implications for terrestrial systems in many parts of the globe. 

  • Speakers

    Groundwater Governance and Management in the U.S. and Beyond

    Speaker: Prof. Sharon Megdal
    Time: Thursday, April 23rd 1-2:30 pm 

    Sharon B. Megdal is Director of The University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center (WRRC), a Cooperative Extension center and a research unit in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Her work focuses on water policy and management, on which she writes and frequently speaks. She also holds the titles: Professor and Specialist, Department of Environmental Science; C.W. & Modene Neely Endowed Professor; and Distinguished Outreach Professor.

    The geographic scope of Dr. Megdal’s work ranges from local to international. Projects include: comparative evaluation of water management, policy, and governance in water-scarce regions; groundwater recharge; and transboundary aquifer assessment. She is the lead editor of the book, Shared Borders, Shared Waters: Israeli-Palestinian and Colorado River Basin Water Challenges. Her policy columns and Reflections can be found here. Dr. Megdal teaches the multi-disciplinary graduate course “Water Policy in Arizona and Semi-arid Regions”.  

    Sharon Megdal serves as Board President, International Arid Lands Consortium and Board Member, American Water Resources Association and represents the residents of Pima County on the elected Board of Directors for the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, also known as the Central Arizona Project (CAP). The CAP delivers Colorado River water to Central Arizona. Dr. Megdal has served on numerous Arizona boards and commissions, including the Arizona Corporation Commission, the State Transportation Board, and the Arizona Medical Board. She holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics from Princeton University.

    Bechtel Corporation’s Business Care for Water: Engineering, Construction and Society

    Speaker: Tam Nguyen
    Time: Wednesday, March 25, 12:30 – 1:30

    Tam is president of bechtel.org, a social enterprise by Bechtel that is dedicated to building resilient and sustainable communities around the world. Concurrently, he is the global head of sustainability for Bechtel Corporation. He leads the formulation and implementation of Bechtel’s enterprise sustainability strategy and program. This includes corporate initiatives and services, stakeholder and policy planning, and development of new tools using artificial intelligence. Tam is a member of the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Advisory Council, vice-chair of the corporate responsibility committee and the Sustainable Development Goals task force of the U.S. Council for International Business, a board member of Chevron’s Niger Delta Partnership Initiative Foundation, and a board member of the Global Engagement Community Resilience Fund. 

    Tam has twenty years launching and leading new corporate policies, strategies and programs in sustainability and public affairs. He was global manager for strategic issues, policy and corporate responsibility at Chevron Corporation.  He chaired the social responsibility working group of IPIECA, a global oil and gas association in London Earlier in his career, Tam spearheaded the first inter-agency partnership between the Asian Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank and served as the partnership manager based in Manila. 

    Educated in the United States, Europe, and Asia, he is a graduate of George Washington University, and holds a doctorate in business administration and two masters’ degrees in international business and international development. Tam was awarded visiting fellowships to the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (Tokyo) and the Center for Corporate Responsibility of the Asian Institute of Management (Manila). He has authored numerous publications on social responsibility in the extractive sectors and continues to speak at international forums on the role of business in society and teach courses on corporate intrapreneurship. 

    The Colorado in a Changing Climate: Assessing the Challenge

    Speaker: Prof. Jonathan Overpeck
    Time: Tuesday, April 28th, 3:30 – 5 pm  

    Professor Overpeck is an interdisciplinary climate scientist and the Samuel A. Graham Dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan.

    Overpeck has written over 210 published works on climate and the environmental sciences, served as a Working Group 1 Coordinating Lead Author for the Nobel Prize winning IPCC 4th Assessment (2007), and also as a Working Group 2 Lead Author for the IPCC 5th Assessment (2014). Other awards include the US Dept. of Commerce Gold and Bronze Medals, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Walter Orr Roberts award of the American Meteorological Society, and the Quivira Coalition’s Radical Center Award for his work with rural ranchers and land managers.

    He has active climate research programs on five continents, focused on understanding drought and megadrought dynamics (and risk) the world over, and has also served as the lead investigator of Climate Assessment for the Southwest and the SW Climate Science Center – two major programs focused on regional climate adaptation. Overpeck also works more broadly on climate and paleoclimate dynamics, ice sheets and sea level, climate-vegetation interaction, conservation biology, legal issues related to climate change, environmental communication and environmental education. He has appeared and testified before Congress multiple times, is a Fellow of AGU and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and tweets about climate-related issues @GreatLakesPeck.

    Troubled Water, What’s Wrong with What We Drink

    Speaker: Seth Siegel
    Time: Tuesday, March 3, 5:30-6:30 pm

    Seth M. Siegel is a serial entrepreneur, water activist and a New York Times bestselling author. His critically acclaimed award-winning book Let There Be Water: Israel’s Solution for a Water-Starved World has been published in 17 languages and is on sale in more than 50 countries. His newest work, Troubled Water: What's Wrong with What We Drink, sets forth an ambitious agenda for a fundamental rethinking of America’s drinking water system. Seth has been recognized for his thought leadership and advocacy on water scarcity and quality. He is a Senior Fellow at the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Water Policy. His commentary has appeared in many leading publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. Seth has spoken on water issues at more than 275 venues in 66 cities, 24 states and on four continents. For more information, visit www.SethMSiegel.com. You can connect with Seth on Twitter @SethMSiegel.  
     

Past Events and Speakers

  • 2019 Events

    2019 World Water Events

    HYDRO-POLITICS IN THE JORDAN RIVER BASIN: CAN IT HELP RESOLVE WATER SCARCITY 

    Time: Monday, 18 February, 1:30–2:30 p.m.
    Partner: Darden Business School

    Climate change is expected to make arid areas more arid, and wet ones wetter. The Middle East is a region where water is a very scarce resource. Moreover, it is a region rife with political tensions, in which international rivers connect neighbors that have not always gotten along. Ram Aviram, former ambassador, expert in water diplomacy, and intimately familiar also with desalination, will shed light on the international treaties that relate to the Jordan River, and place them in the context of neighboring countries that address water scarcity in their own ways.

    FIELD TRIP: SWIFT RESEARCH CENTER (SUFFOLK) & Norfolk Office of Resilience

    Time: Wednesday, February 26
    By invitation only

    Sinking water levels in aquifers and intrusion of salt water pose a challenge in Eastern Virginia. At the SWIFT Research Center (at Nansemond Treatment Plant, Suffolk) it is studied how treated wastewater can be injected in the aquifer. With the Norfolk Office of Resilience we will visit spots in Norfolk that illustrate the challenges of sea-level rises & flooding, and how to address them.

    CLIMATE CHANGE AND CHESAPEAKE BAY: SINKING TANGIER ISLAND AND THE WATER QUALITY CHALLENGE

    Time: Tuesday, 2 April, 6 p.m.
    Partner: UVA Engineering

    Climate Change will be affecting many water-rich areas. In particular the Chesapeake Bay will see its effects. As journalist and author Earl Swift writes in his recent book Chesapeake Requiem, Tangier Island in the bay is sinking and is expected to completely disappear. Earl Swift will explain the circumstances, while also focusing on how the community deals with this prospect. Professor Lawrence Band will focus in particular on efforts to improve the bay’s water quality — an aspect that has received much attention over the years. He will reflect on what has been achieved and what is to be expected from a changing climate (with more extreme water). Ellen Gilinsky, former administrator with the Environmental Protection Agency, will place the challenges for the Chesapeake in the broader policy context and what is to be expected under the current Trump Administration.

    STORM WATER TOUR OF UVA MAIN GROUNDS WITH PROFESSOR TERESA CULVER

    Time: Friday, 5 April, 1 p.m.
    Partner: UVA Sustainability

    WATER IN THE AMAZON AND CLIMATE CHANGE

    Time: Thursday, 11 April, 3:30–5 p.m.
    Partner: UVA Environmental Science
    Speaker: Rong Fu, UCLA

    Viewing the Earth’s Global Environment from Space: From Scientific Knowledge to Societal Benefits

    Time: Friday, Sept. 27, 2- 3 pm (Engineering)
    Place: Olsson 009
    Speaker: Jack Kaye, Associate Director for Research, Earth Science Division, NASA HQ  

    Nestlé’s water strategy

    Time: Tuesday, October 1,st 2:45-4:10 pm (with Darden)
    Place: Rm 30, Darden
    Speaker: Fernando Mercé, CEO of Nestlé Water North America 

    Changing freshwater availability as viewed from space with implications for human security

    Time: Thursday, November 7, (Env. Sciences)
    Place: Clark 108
    Speaker: Prof. Jay Famiglietti, Director Global Institute for Water Security, University of Saskatchewan

    The value of water quality: Estimating amenity and recreational benefit

    Time: Friday, November 8, noon (with Batten School)
    Place: Rouss Hall 260
    Speaker: Prof. Sheila Olmstead, Univ. of Texas, Austin

    The Politics of Poison: Elite Capture of Low-Arsenic Water in Bangladesh

    Time: Tuesday, November 12, noon (with Economics)
    Place: Monroe Hall, Rm 120
    Speaker: Prof. Mushfiq Mubarak, Yale University

    Graduate Water Symposium

    Time: Wednesday, Nov. 20, noon – 5 pm
    Place: Harrison Auditorium, Small Collections Library

    Session 1:

    Prakrut Kansara  - Analyzing effects of vegetation cover change on the intensity and frequency of forest fires in Amazon using MODIS products (Civil Engineering) 
    Valerie Michel - Measuring Resilience in Coastal Communities (Systems Engineering)
    Faria Tuz Zahura - Assessing a machine learning surrogate for a detailed physics based model used to predict urban coastal street flooding (Civil Engineering)

    Session 2 :

    Ben Bowes - Reducing Flooding with Reinforcement Learning for Real-time Smart Stormwater Infrastructure Control (Civil Engineering)
    Maria Tahamtani - Advancing Water Sustainability in the Colorado River Basin through Voluntary and Compensated Water Conservation on Farms (Urban & Environmental Planning)
    Charles Burgis - Tracking Denitrification in Green Stormwater Infrastructure with Nitrate Stable Isotopes (Civil Engineering)

    Session 3:

    Ana Estrella-You - Investigating the synergistic effects of chlorine and silver on waterborne pathogen disinfection (Civil Engineering)
    Cal Buelo - Algal blooms and ecosystem metabolism in a managed drinking water reservoir (Environmental Science)
    Hyunglok Kim - Observation of Global-scale Soil Moisture Estimation Using Advanced Satellite and Hydrological Modeling Technology (Civil Engineering)

  • 2019 Speakers

    2019 World Water Event Speakers


    (RET). AMBASSADOR RAM AVIRAM

    Ram Aviram’s experience is based on over 35 years of multilateral and bilateral diplomacy, while serving in high-ranking positions at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and also as chief of staff of H.E. Shimon Peres and Ambassador to Greece. His career at the ministry was highly connected to hydropolitics and water-related issues. His responsibilities included director of Water and Environment Department and head of Israel’s negotiating team on water issues within the framework of the multilateral peace process. He participated in numerous international forums and multilateral negotiations on environment and water issues between Israel and its neighbors. He is a lecturer at Tel-Hai Academic College at the post-graduate program for Water and Galilee Studies.


    LAWRENCE BAND
    ERNEST EARN PROFESSOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & PROFESSOR OF ENGINEERING, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

    Lawrence Band is the Ernest Earn Professor of Environmental Science & Professor of Engineering at the University of Virginia, and a fellow of the Geological Society of America and the American Geophysical Society. Band is an eco-hydrologist with research spanning the continuum of natural through urban watersheds. Before coming to UVA, Band was at the University of North Carolina, where he was the director of the Institute for the Environment. Band holds a Ph.D. from UCLA.


    TERESA CULVER
    ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING SYSTEMS AND ENVIRONMENT AND DIRECTOR OF THE UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM IN CIVIL ENGINEERING, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

    Teresa Culver is associate professor in the Department of Engineering Systems and Environment and the director of the Undergraduate Program in Civil Engineering at UVA. Culver’s research focuses on the development of techniques for effective water resources management, including nutrient management for complex watershed-stream-aquifer systems and sustainable urban storm water designs.


    RONG FU
    PROFESSOR IN THE ATMOSPHERIC AND OCEANIC SCIENCES DEPARTMENT AND ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF JIFRESSE, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-LOS ANGELES

    Rong Fu is professor in the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department and associate director of JIFRESSE at UCLA. Dr. Fu’s research aims at understanding the role of the atmospheric hydrological cycle and its interaction with earth’s surface in determining the stability of the earth’s climate at global and regional scales, and at applying climate science to support regional decision. She is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society. Before joining UCLA, Fu was a professor of geological sciences at the University of Texas-Austin.


    ELLEN GILINSKY
    PRESIDENT, ELLEN GILINSKY, LLC.

    Ellen Gilinsky is president of Ellen Gilinsky LLC since 2017. Between 2011–16 Gilinsky was associate deputy assistant administrator for water at the Environmental Protection Agency, and before that director of the water division at the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Gilinsky has a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She has been a past president of the Association of Clean Water Administrators and member of the State Advisory Board of the Virginia Water Resources Research Center.


    EARL SWIFT
    JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR

    Earl Swift is a Virginia-based freelance journalist and author of many monographs, among others, his most recent “Chesapeake Requiem, A year with the Watermen of Vanishing Tangier Island.” Currently, Swift is a residential fellow at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities at the University of Virginia.

  • 2018 Events

    April 2018

    Screening of What Lies Upstream followed by Panel Discussion 

    Speaker: Professor Cale Jaffe, UVA School of Law (we co-sponsor)
    Time: 18 April
    Location: Jefferson Maddison Regional Library, McIntire Room
    World Water Event

    Panel Discussion: Impact Investing in Water: The Ecologist, Investor and Broker Perspective

    Panelists:
    Andrea Barrios, Rockefeller Foundation
    Disque Deane, founder, Water Asset Management
    Brian Richter, Sustainable Waters
    Kevin Schuyler, Cornerstone Partners
    Time: 16 April
    Location: Darden School, Room 50
    World Water Event

    Tupuna Awa: People and Politics of the Waikato River as part of Panel on Community Care for Country

    Speaker: Marama Muru-Lanning, University of Auckland, Anthropology, Director of James Henare Maori Research Center
    Time: 13 April
    Location: Brooks Hall Commons

    March 2018

    D.C. Water's Blue Plains Water Treatment Plant and World Bank Water Group

    Time: 29 March 
    Location: Washington, D.C.
    (by invitation only)
    World Water Event

    Beta Bridge Stream Cleanup

    Time: 31 March 
    Location: Meet at Westminster Presbyterian Church
    World Water Event

    Screening of Ocean Cities, a documentary by Professor Tim Beatley

    Time: 22 March 2018, 5 p.m. 
    Location: Clark Hall 107 
    World Water Event

    February 2018

    Reducing Arsenic Exposure From Well Water in South Asia: Lessons Learned

    Speaker: Professor Lex Van Geen, Columbia University
    Time: 16 February 
    Location: Olsson Hall 120 
    World Water Event

    Designing Multireservoir Operations to Manage Food-Energy-Water Tradeoffs in Multipurpose River Basins

    Speaker: Julie Quinn 
    Time: 13 February
    Location: Mechanical Engineering Building 205

    Speaker: Paul Bukavecas, Virginia Commonwealth University
    Time: 1 February
    Location: Clark Hall 108 
     

    2018 World Water Events Flyer

  • 2017 Events

    November 2017

    Water Research Workshop

    Speaker: Band Lawrence, Environmental Science and Molly Lipscomb, Batten Policy School
    Time: 16 November 
    Location: Monroe Hall 134  

    Water Research Workshop

    Speaker: Safa Montesharei, Maryland and Salvi Asefi Najafabadi, GWI postdoc
    Time: 3 November 
    Location: Monroe Hall 134  

    October 2017

    Damming Eden, Water Security in Turkey, Syria and Iraq 

    Speaker: Julia Harte, Reuters
    Time: 25 October 

    Water Research Workshop

    Speakers: Geoff Geise and Chris Gratien
    Time: 20 October  

    Speaker: Frank Wolak, Stanford, organized by the Batten Public Policy Center
    Time: 6 October  

    September 2017

    Water Research Workshop, Climate Change and Water

    Speaker: Deborah Lawrence
    Time: 22 September 

    May 2017

    Water Workshop and Water Symposium 

    Speakers: 
    Professor Teresa Culver, UVA Environmental and Civil Engineering 
    Professor Sheetal Sekhri, UVA Economics
    Professor Tess Farmer, UVA Middle Eastern Studies
    Panelists: 
    Professor Christian McMillen, UVA History
    Professor Debjani Ganguly, UVA English
    Professor Jim Igoe, UVA anthropology
    Time: 8 May
    Description At the workshop, UVA environmental and civil engineering Professor Teresa Culver presented her research on improving water management; UVA economics Professor Sheetal Sekhri presented her research on water in India and its links to globalization, political economy and health; and UVA Middle Eastern studies Professor Tess Farmer presented her research on the anthropology of water. The broader symposium included a discussion about the scope of a future UVA humanities lab focused on water, led by UVA history Professor Christian McMillen. UVA English Professor Debjani Ganguly of the Humanities Center and UVA anthropology Professor Jim Igoe also participated in the panel discussion on the potential humanities lab.

    April 2017 

    Water Workshop 

    Speakers: Professor Christian McMillen and Professor Bill Shobe, UVA Public Policy and the Cooper Institute
    Time: 28 April
    Description: Professor Christian McMillen presented his research on access to safe water and sanitation through a historical perspective. UVA public policy Professor Bill Shobe of the Cooper Institute presented his research on consignment auctions and applying them to improve water allocations.

    Two Years After Flint: Water Quality, Infrastructure and Social Justice

    Speakers: 
    Professor Amy Pruden, Virginia Tech
    Professor Cale Jaffe, UVA School of Law
    Ruffner Page (MBA '86), President and CEO, McWane
    Time: 13 April 
    Description: Virginia Tech Professor Amy Pruden, UVA School of Law Professor Cale Jaffe and McWane President and CEO Ruffner Page (MBA ’86) participated in a wide-ranging panel discussion about the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, as well as water’s impact on public health.

    Water Quality Testing Clinic

    Leader: Robbi Savage, The Rivanna Conservation Alliance
    Time: 8 April 
    Description: Robbi Savage of the Rivanna Conservation Alliance led a field trip introducing the basics of the Rivanna River watershed and challenges around the Charlottesville, Virginia, area. The group also tested Rivanna River water quality.

    March 2017 

    Keynote Address 

    Speaker: Professor David Sedlak, University of California-Berkeley, Co-Director of the Berkeley Water Center and Director of the Institute for Environmental Science and Engineering,
    Time: 28 March
    Description:  University of California-Berkeley Professor David Sedlak, co-director of the Berkeley Water Center and director of the Institute for Environmental Science and Engineering, delivered a World Water Event keynote address on urban water infrastructure, based on his book Water 4.0. Sedlak summarized 2,500 years of water history and looked ahead, emphasizing two different paths for water infrastructure in the future.

    Water Workshop 

    Speaker: Professor David Sedlak, University of California-Berkeley, Co-Director of the Berkeley Water Center and Director of the Institute for Environmental Science and Engineering,
    Time: 28 March
    Description: University of California-Berkeley Professor David Sedlak presented the Environmental Science & Technology journal to about 20 students and faculty, clarifying which articles are fit for submission to the journal, of which he is the editor.

    Ragged Mountain Reservoir Tour and Trek 

    Leader:  Brian Richter, chief water scientist with The Nature Conservancy
    Time: 24 March
    Description: Brian Richter, chief water scientist with The Nature Conservancy, and staff from UVA Sustainability and the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority led a trek to the Charlottesville, Virginia, area’s newest reservoir. The tour was attended by more than 40 students. Darden School of Business Professor Peter Debaere and Richter previously developed a case on the reservoir titled, “Securing a City’s Future Water Supply: Building a Reservoir in Charlottesville, Virginia.”

    Amphibious Landscapes and Urban Wetlands

    Speaker: Ila Berman, UVA School of Architecture Dean
    Time: 15 March 
    Description: UVA School of Architecture Dean Ila Berman’s presentation provided a visual feast illustrating the dynamic interaction between city landscapes and their liquid environments. Berman examined unique water environment challenges in New Orleans, The Netherlands, Vienna and Venice. 

    Water Workshop 

    Speaker: Professor Jim Smith, UVA environmental and civil engineering
    Time: 2 March
    Description: UVA environmental and civil engineering Professor Jim Smith presented on his drinking water purification solution, the Madi drop, and his nonprofit venture,  Pure Madi. UVA Darden School of Business Professor Peter Debaere also introduced key insights at the heart of his research on water markets and the global economics of water.

    January 2017

    Water Workshop 

    Time: 27 January
    Description: UVA environmental science Professor Mike Pace presented his research on ecosystems, resilience and regime shifts. Brian Richter of The Nature Conservancy presented on global water scarcity and the changing crop composition in the United States and around the world.

    2017 World Water Events Flyer

  • 2016 Events

    Storm Water Workshop: From Concept to Implementation

    Panelists: 
    Robbi Savage, Rivanna Conservation Alliance Executive 
    Professor Jon Cannon, UVA Environmental Law and Director of the Environmental and Land Use Law Program at UVA 
    Kristel Riddervold, environmental administrator of the city of Charlottesville 
    Ann Mallek, Albemarle County Board Supervisor
    Time: 25 March 
    Description: A panel of experts discussed the impact of the U.S. Clean Water Act on point-source water pollution. Rivanna Conservation Alliance Executive Director Robbi Savage provided expertise on congressional legislation; UVA environmental law Professor Jon Cannon, director of the Environmental and Land Use Law Program at UVA, provided expertise on federal regulation; Kristel Riddervold, environmental administrator of the city of Charlottesville, provided expertise on local storm water utilities; and Albemarle County Board Supervisor Ann Mallek provided expertise on local elected officials.

    Rivanna River Cleanup at Free Bridge and Meadow Creek

    Leader: The event was led by the Rivanna Conservation Alliance.
    Time: 19 March 

    Seminar

    Speaker: Jampel Dell’Angelo, The University of Maryland’s National Center for Socio-Environmental Synthesis
    Time: 18 March 
    Description: Jampel Dell’Angelo of the University of Maryland’s National Center for Socio-Environmental Synthesis presented her research on diagnosing the global water grab syndrome.

    Watershed Conservation: Why and Where It Makes Sense

    Speaker: Daniel Shemie, The Nature Conservancy Director of Water Funds
    Time: 16 March 
    Description: The Nature Conservancy Director of Water Funds Daniel Shemie led a discussion at the UVA School of Architecture.

    Keynote Address

    Speaker: Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Nestle Chairman and former CEO
    Time: 29 February
    Description: Nestle Chairman and former CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe delivered a Leadership Speaker Series keynote at the Darden School of Business about the global water challenges ahead and sat down with Darden Dean Scott Beardsley for a Darden Ideas to Action C-Suite Insights interview further discussing global water challenges as well as topics like leadership and global business. 

    2016 World Water Events Flyer

  • 2015 Events

    Water Crisis in California: Opportunities for Innovation

    Speakers:
    Professor Leon Szeptyki, Stanford University
    Jon Radtke, Coca-Cola North America Director of Water Sustainability
    Walter Norley, CEO and founder of OnGol and UGMO Technologies,
    Time: 1 April 
    Description: Stanford University Professor Leon Szeptyki, Coca-Cola North America Director of Water Sustainability Jon Radtke and Walter Norley, CEO and founder of OnGol and UGMO Technologies, led a panel discussion on the severe drought in California and how it raised awareness on the key role water scarcity can play in society.

    Keynote Address

    Speaker: Sandra Postel, director of the Global Water Policy Project and a Freshwater Fellow with the National Geographic Society
    Time: 30 March
    Description: Sandra Postel, director of the Global Water Policy Project and a Freshwater Fellow with the National Geographic Society presented a talk called Our Global Water Future: Solutions for a Thirsty World.

    Rivanna River Cleanup at Meadow Creek, Rivanna Reservoir and Freebridge

    Time: 21 March 
    Description: The event was held in collaboration with the Rivanna Conservation Alliance.

    Seminar

    Speaker: Professor Gerald Galloway, University of Maryland
    Time: 20 March
    Description: University of Maryland Professor Gerald Galloway presented his research through a seminar titled, How Wet Are You Willing to Get? Managing National Flood Risk in the Face of Climate Change and Population Growth.

    Moore Lecture

    Speaker:  George Hornberger, University Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt University
    Time: 19 March 
    Description: George Hornberger, University Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt University, presented a lecture on agricultural decision-making and adaptation to precipitation trends in Sri Lanka.
     

    2015 World Water Events Flyer

  • 2014 Events

    Water and Health: A South African Case Study

    Speakers: 
    Rebecca Dillingham, UVA’s Center for Global Health 
    Thomas Harrison Hunter, Professor of International Medicine Richard Guerrant
    Time: 21 March
    Description: Rebecca Dillingham of UVA’s Center for Global Health, Thomas Harrison Hunter Professor of International Medicine Richard Guerrant and a panel of experts discussed concerns over water in post-apartheid South Africa, and water’s specific inclusion in South Africa’s constitution as a human right.

    Water Markets: Challenges and Opportunities

    Speakers:
    Ellen Hanak, director of water policy at the Public Policy Institute of California 
    Todd Votteler, executive manager of resource policy and stewardship at the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority 
    George Wallace of Colorado State University
    Time: 21 March
    Description: Ellen Hanak, director of water policy at the Public Policy Institute of California; Todd Votteler, executive manager of resource policy and stewardship at the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority; and George Wallace of Colorado State University discussed water challenges in California, Texas and Colorado as increased competition for water among cities, industry and agriculture rises in those states.

    Keynote Address

    Speaker: Jamie Pittock, director of international programs at the Fenner School of Environment and Society and UNESCO Chair in Water Economics and Transboundary Governance at Australian National University
    Time: 21 March
    Description: Jamie Pittock, director of international programs at the Fenner School of Environment and Society and UNESCO Chair in Water Economics and Transboundary Governance at Australian National University, delivered a keynote address on sustaining water in an era of climate change.

    Chasing Water: A Guide for Moving from Scarcity to Sustainability

    Speaker: Brian Richter, director of global freshwater strategies at The Nature Conservancy,
    Time: 24 January
    Description: Brian Richter, director of global freshwater strategies at The Nature Conservancy, presented a talk titled, Chasing Water: A Guide for Moving from Scarcity to Sustainability. The presentation covered the overuse and depletion of water resources from Texas to Australia as well as the real causes behind those shortages.

    2014 World Water Events Flyer

Global Water Initiative