A changing climate acts first and foremost through the water cycle. Extreme weather events in 2021 have severely disrupted ecosystems and the quantity and quality of water available for humans and other species. Bringing together an expert panel to discuss these disparate and interrelated problems, we aim to attain greater understanding of the immense challenges to global and local water security and to begin to chart future actions.

We are delighted to introduce our extraordinary panel of experts.

Moderator: Erum Sattar is the leader of the multidisciplinary Sustainable Water Management Program (SWM) at the Friedman School and the Tufts Institute of the Environment.

Panelists: Andy Sawyer HR’73, Assistant Chief Counsel at California State Water Resources Control Board.

Jeff Hebert, former First Deputy Mayor & Chief Administrative Officer, Chief Resilience Officer, and Executive Director of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, and current President of HR&A, a firm that aims to help more equitable, resilient and dynamic communities.

Kelsey Leonard, water scientist, legal scholar, policy expert, writer and enrolled citizen of the Shinnecock Nation .

William Moomaw, Emeritus Professor of international environmental policy and founding director of the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy at the Fletcher School of Tufts University.