Peter Debaere – Global Water Blog

Climate Change, Environment, Uncategorized

Q&A with Earl Swift on Tangier Island

As part of this year’s World Water Events (6th edition), the Global Water Initiative organized a panel on the Chesapeake Bay and how it has been affected by climate change. UVA’s own Larry Band emphasized how extreme weather events that trigger non-point source pollution (i.e. runoff…

By Peter Debaere- July 1, 2019

Climate Change, Environment

Q&A with Rong Fu about the Feedback Effect of Ecosystems (Vegetation) on Precipitation in the Amazon

As part of the World Water Events, Professor Rong Fu from the University of California at Los Angeles gave a talk at UVA. Rong Fu focused on a classic question relating to the water cycle and the extent to which vegetation can drive it. The title of the talk was…

By Peter Debaere- June 15, 2019

Water Policy, Water Quality

Q&A with David Keiser about the Economic Impact of Flint’s Water Crisis

To celebrate World Water Day, David Keiser gave a talk at the Batten Policy School at the University of Virginia. David Keiser is a prolific assistant professor at Iowa State University who has been writing about water quality. He is perhaps best known for his study with Joe Shapiro (Berkeley…

By Peter Debaere- June 3, 2019

Water & Society, Water Policy

Q&A with Ambassador Ram Aviram about Hydropolitics in the Jordan Basin

Ram Aviram hails from Israel. He was active for many years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before becoming chief of staff for then–Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and subsequently, in the early 2000s, Israel’s ambassador to the Greece. For almost 30 years, Aviram has been involved in water…

By Peter Debaere- May 1, 2019

Water Policy, Water Productivity, Water Technology

Q&A with Ariel Dinar about Transboundary/International Basin Treaties

Danube map, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?Ariel Dinar grew up in Israel, an arid country that depends on upstream countries for its water supply. As a farmer in a Kibbutz relying on scarce water, Dinar was very aware of how precious a resource water could…

By Peter Debaere- April 1, 2019

Climate Change, Environment

Q&A with Lint Barrage about Climate Change, Flood Risk, and the Housing Market

Lint Barrage is an Assistant Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies at Brown University, and she will be joining the University of California at Santa Barbara Department of Economics in the Fall of 2019. She gave a talk at the Darden Business School about climate risk beliefs and coastal housing…

By Peter Debaere- March 18, 2019

Built Environment, Infrastructure, Innovation, Water Scarcity

Q&A with Greg Characklis about Risk and Water Utilities

Before multidisciplinary approaches in the study of water had become popular, Professor Greg Characklis was thinking about how to better integrate environmental science, engineering, and economics in his research. After an initial (short) stint in the private sector (at Azurix Corporation), in 2001 Greg Characklis joined the faculty of the…

By Peter Debaere- February 15, 2019

Infrastructure, Water & Society, Water Quality, Water Technology

Q&A with Geoff Geise about Desalination

Professor Geoff Geise is a chemical engineer at the University of Virginia and an expert on the membranes that are commonly used in reverse osmosis, a leading technology in seawater desalination. Geise recently contributed the article “Desalination: Water for an Increasingly Thirsty World” to the Water in Europe and the…

By Peter Debaere- January 18, 2019