Best Global Institute For Water Security Podcasts (2024)

1
37 - Opportunities of Irrigation and Mechanization 29:00

1d ago29:00

29:00

ILIMS Deputy Director Jude Cobbing - Opportunities of Irrigation and Mechanization In November 2023, the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute announced a new USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Irrigation and Mechanization Systems (ILIMS). ILIMS enhances global food security by generating research-based solutions to support the growth of …

1
Go With the Flow: Erica Gies on Embracing Water's Natural Path 30:56

9h ago30:56

30:56

What happens when we change our relationship to water? Can we stop trying to control water and just go with the flow? Erica Gies, environmental journalist, National Geographic Explorer, and author of Water Always Wins: Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluge sits down with host Jay Famiglietti to discuss how the engineered control of water sometim…

1
Sewage Spillover in 'Mexico's Toilet Bowl': The Endhó Dam Crisis 27:30

14h ago27:30

27:30

The Endhó Dam north of Mexico City has been called “the largest septic tank in the world” and “Mexico’s toilet bowl”. Once designed to solve water problems in the region, it now receives wastewater from local industry and Mexico City. Arizona State University doctoral students Raquel Neri, in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Envi…

1
John Fleck on the Inconvenient Science of the Colorado River 31:26

14h ago31:26

31:26

What happens when science gets in the way of ambition, politics, and progress? With a look back at the historical figures and forces that led to the overallocation of the Colorado River, and the consequences that continue to play out today, John Fleck joins Jay Famiglietti on What About Water? Fleck is a Water Policy Researcher at the Utton Center,…

1
Tapped Out: The Dire State of America’s Groundwater 33:26

14h ago33:26

33:26

Humans are burning through our fossil fuels, and we're burning through our groundwater at an alarming rate. But are the powers that be even listening? On this episode, Dr. Upmanu Lall joins host Jay Famiglietti to discuss why we’ve reached an “all hands on deck” moment with our groundwater crisis. Lall and Famiglietti discuss (along with Dr. Bridge…

1
Water Costs Money: How Gary White and Matt Damon are Bridging the Gap 33:11

14h ago33:11

33:11

The World Bank estimated in 2016 it would take $1.7 trillion USD to achieve universal access to clean water and sanitation by 2030. By other estimates that amount is now even higher. Gary White is the CEO and Co-founder, along with Matt Damon, of Water.org and WaterEquity. The two also co-wrote the book The Worth of Water: Our Story of Chasing Solu…

1
Quenching Desert Thirst: What Will It ‘Take’? 38:05

14h ago38:05

38:05

What is the true price of water? Considering growth and climate, how do we address the gap between demand and supply? Could we achieve water security by moving it across borders to dry regions like the American Southwest? John Take, Chief Growth & Innovation Officer at Stantec, discusses importing water, desalination efforts, and whether no infrast…

1
Season 5 Trailer 1:50

16h ago1:50

1:50

Freshwater is essential for life on Earth, but analysts at the World Bank say more often than not, there's either too little, too much, or the water is contaminated and polluted. We look at whether desalinating ocean water and piping it across the desert would really solve water scarcity, why some cities and towns keep flooding, and how much is too…

1
36 - Impacts of Drought on Human Health 35:38

1M ago35:38

35:38

Drought is a prolonged dry period that can occur anywhere in the world and results in a water shortage. Unlike some other disasters, drought has a slow onset and a prolonged impact on health, agriculture, economies, energy and the environment. An estimated 55 million people globally are affected by droughts every year and as many as 700 million peo…

1
35 - Nebraska’s Agtech Innovation Ecosystem 23:08

3M ago23:08

23:08

Farmers are the original agtech innovators. As the population grows, and water resources become scarcer, there is a need for continued innovation in agricultural technologies, and a ready network to foster and accelerate them. The 2024 Nebraska Agtech Innovation Ecosystem Map, jointly published by Water for Food and The Combine AgTech Incubator by …

1
34 - Impacts of climate change in the US 57:54

4M ago57:54

57:54

The Fifth National Climate Assessment is federally mandated by Congress and released every four years to serve as the foremost review of research on the current and future impacts of climate change in the United States. In this episode of the Water for Food Podcast, DWFI Director of Communications and Public Relations Frances Hayes discusses key fi…

1
33 - Aakanksha Melkani, DWFI 20:59

5M ago20:59

20:59

Aakanksha Melkani, a postdoctoral research associate at the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, researches the economic implications of drought in the United States, specifically on agricultural sectors. In this edition of the Water for Food Podcast, we are sharing an episode of Nebraska on Tap, a podcast produced by the Middle Republican Na…

1
32 - The Melting Cryosphere and Food & Water Security 30:11

6M ago30:11

30:11

The Melting Cryosphere and Food & Water Security, with Randall Ritzema, Tika Gurung, and Nick Brozović A 2023 report called Water, ice, society, and ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: An Outlook (HI-WISE), published by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), was an urgent call for how disappearing snow and ice in …

1
31 - Agriculture in Space with Yufeng Ge, Santosh Pitla and David Jones 33:50

7M ago33:50

33:50

Yufeng Ge, Santosh Pitla and David Jones have already conducted research in the areas of ag-relevant sensors for more efficient application of fertilizer and water, and the development of an autonomous planter capable of seeding a 5-acre field all on its own. But now they’ve set their sights quite a bit higher — growing food in space. The three bio…

1
30 - Marjan Kalmakhanova and Dan Snow 16:16

8M ago16:16

16:16

Since 2013, UNL Water Sciences Lab Director Dan Snow and other researchers in the University of Nebraska system (NU) have collaborated with faculty and students in Central Asian institutes to improve water quality research across the globe. The purpose of this effort is to share NU’s knowledge and expertise in water quality research with a region t…

1
29 - Nicole Lefore, DWFI 26:56

9M ago26:56

26:56

DWFI was recently selected to lead USAID's Feed the Future Lab for Irrigation and Mechanization Systems (ILIMS). In this episode of the Water for Food Podcast, Nicole Lefore, the director of the new lab and the associate director of sustainable agriculture water management at DWFI, shares the purpose of USAID's overall Feed the Future initiative; h…

1
28 - Ron Yoder - UNL Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources 19:53

11M ago19:53

19:53

Ron Yoder is a pillar of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln community and most recently served as the senior associate vice chancellor for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln ‘s (UNL’s) Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR). In this episode, DWFI Director of Communication and Public Relations Frances Hayes talks with Ron about the im…

1
27 - Dick Wolfe and Felicia Marcus - Water for Food 18:06

11M ago18:06

18:06

1
Drilling Deeper Won't Fix This 55:33

12M ago55:33

55:33

People in the lower Colorado River basin are now witnessing drastic cuts to their allotments. In many cases, developers find alternate sources of water by drilling into underground aquifers. But in places like Pinal County, Arizona, that groundwater is already becoming scarce. We hear from Stephen Q. Miller, who sits on both the Pinal County Board …

1
The Colorado River's Alfalfa Problem 48:18

1y ago48:18

48:18

The meat and dairy industries are some of the biggest water users in the American West, thanks to one of cows' favorite foods – alfalfa. As aridification continues across the American southwest, water is becoming far more scarce on the Colorado River. A critical source of water for roughly 40 million Americans, we look at why so much of the Colorad…

1
26 - Mure Agbonlahor and Louise Mabulo - Water for Food Conference 17:22

1y ago17:22

17:22

This is the second in our series of podcasts from the 2023 Water for Food Global Conference, May 8-11. In this episode, we hear from Dr. Mure Agbonlahor, who works at the African Union Commission as senior Policy Officer, and Louise Mabulo, chef, farmer, entrepreneur, and founder of The Cacao Project.…

1
25 - Soumya Balasubramanya - The World Bank 23:27

1y ago23:27

23:27

Soumya Balasubramanya, Senior Economist at The World Bank, was a speaker at the recent 2023 Global Water for Food Conference in Lincoln, Nebraska. This is the first in a series of podcasts from the conference.

1
24 - Ankit Chandra and Nick Brozović, DWFI - Agribusiness Matters 1:19:58

1y ago1:19:58

1:19:58

Daugherty Water for Food Institute (DWFI) Research Program Manager Ankit Chandra and Director of Policy Nick Brozović recently published research on “Entrepreneurial trends in the Indian agricultural water ecosystem” and the larger business landscape of agricultural water use and investments. In this edition of the Water for Food podcast, we are sh…

1
23 - Dan Snow – Water Sciences Lab Director 25:24

1+ y ago25:24

25:24

In this episode of the Water for Food Podcast, Nebraska Water Center Public Relations and Engagement Coordinator Ann Briggs sits down with her colleague and Water Sciences Laboratory Director Dr. Dan Snow who shares his path to water quality research in Nebraska and beyond. They address known and emerging contaminants throughout the state, building…

1
World Water Day 2023 with Autumn Peltier 18:17

1+ y ago18:17

18:17

When Autumn Peltier was eight, she learned the tap water on a neighbouring reserve wasn’t safe to drink, or even to use for hand-washing. That injustice triggered her decade-long advocacy campaign for safe drinking water. She made headlines as a 12 year-old, admonishing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at an Assembly of First Nations event for the cho…

1
22 - Dave Aiken - Water Law and the Perkins County Canal 24:39

1+ y ago24:39

24:39

Dave Aiken is a DWFI faculty fellow and a professor of agricultural economics at UNL’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. His research areas include water law and policy, energy law, environmental law and global warming. In this episode, DWFI Communications Specialist Arianna Elnes talks to Dave about water law, water legal histories, …

1
Will Sarni: Can We Tech Our Way Out of Wicked Water Problems? 30:01

1+ y ago30:01

30:01

Can we really “tech” our way out of freshwater shortages, scarcity, and pollution? In our Season 4 finale, we’re asking the big question of the season – will new water technology be enough to solve wicked water problems? Will Sarni joins Jay for a look back at the bright ideas and inventions we’ve heard about this year, sharing his view on technolo…

1
What Lurks Beneath: How Robots Can Save City Plumbing with Vanessa Speight 26:37

1+ y ago26:37

26:37

In this episode, we’re going underground, undersea and into your water and sewer pipelines with science fiction’s favorite problem-solvers…robots! Jay sits down with Vanessa Speight, a professor of Integrated Water Systems at the University of Sheffield, to learn how new, spider-like robots have the potential to locate and fix leaks in aging water …

1
An AI Fix for Aging Water Systems with Seyi Fabode 27:52

1+ y ago27:52

27:52

On this episode of What About Water? an entrepreneur in Austin, Texas turns his dishwasher sensor into a tech startup that’s feeding water utilities snapshots of their water quality in real time. Jay sits down with Seyi Fabode, the CEO and co-founder of Varuna, to discuss how his company’s cloud-based software is helping cities keep track of their …

1
Chemical Cocktails: What’s in our Groundwater? with John Cherry 30:42

1+ y ago30:42

30:42

If it’s not stuck in glaciers or polar ice, 99 per cent of the world’s freshwater is groundwater. Water underground supplies nearly half of the world’s drinking water. But what happens when dangerous chemicals and waste – polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), oil, gasoline and road salts – percolate down into that supply? On this episode of What About…

1
21 – Peter McCornick – A New Year at Water for Food 27:23

1+ y ago27:23

27:23

In this episode of the Water for Food Podcast, DWFI Communications Specialist Arianna Elnes discusses exciting projects coming out of the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute and what lies ahead in the upcoming year with Executive Director, Dr. Peter McCornick. McCornick leads the institute in delivering on its vision of a water and food secur…

1
Dirty Laundry: Water and the World of Fast Fashion 34:31

1+ y ago34:31

34:31

Call the fashion police! In this special holiday edition of What About Water? we dive into the apparel industry’s dirty secret: its water use. Behind oil and gas, fashion is the single most polluting industry on the planet. It accounts for 8 per cent of all carbon emissions and 20 per cent of global wastewater. We start by catching up with shoppers…

1
Into Thin Air: A Smarter Way to Water Crops, with A.J. Purdy 26:12

1+ y ago26:12

26:12

How can we measure water when it disappears into thin air? On this episode of What About Water? we’re looking at evapotranspiration, or “ET” for short. It’s the combination of water evaporating from the soil, combined with the measure of water transpiring through crops’ leaves. Accounting for this water loss helps farmers know exactly how much wate…

1
20 - Christopher Neale, DWFI 34:45

1+ y ago34:45

34:45

20 – Christopher Neale – Remote sensing, water and agriculture In this episode of the Water for Food Podcast, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI) Director of Communications Frances Hayes sits down with her colleague and DWFI’s Director of Research Dr. Christopher Neale. Dr. Neale shares how his technical research translates to a more s…

1
Submerged 40:43

1+ y ago40:43

40:43

In the quest to find clean, renewable sources of energy, we turn to a familiar method: hydroelectricity. Today, the ancient method of harnessing the power of flowing water is hitting enormous new heights. Hydroelectric dams are some of the biggest human-made structures in the world. As humans dam more and more rivers, the scale and sheer size of th…

1
Field Smarts: Protecting Farmers’ Wallets and Our Water, with Bruno Basso 30:00

1+ y ago30:00

30:00

It’s estimated that by 2050, we’ll have over 9 billion people on earth. To feed everyone, we will need to produce 60 per cent more food - and we'll need to grow it using less water. On this episode of What About Water? we’re looking at new technology that can make that shift possible. Jay sits down with colleague and friend Bruno Basso, an agro-eco…

1
19 - Renee San Souci, Member of the Omaha Tribe 32:40

1+ y ago32:40

32:40

Renee San Souci – Member of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska and Iowa In this episode of the Water for Food Podcast, DWFI Director of Communications Frances Hayes caught up with Renee San Souci at the 2022 Platte River Basin Conference in Kearney, Nebraska. Renee was a featured speaker at the conference, providing a tribal perspective on creating vibran…

1
Under the Sea: Hidden Freshwater Reserves with Brandon Dugan 29:13

2y ago29:13

29:13

By 2025, experts predict over half the world’s population will live in water-stressed areas. With a number of our freshwater resources on land receding, is it time to look to the ocean - or, rather, underneath it for fresh water? Jay sits down with Brandon Dugan, the Associate Department Head and Baker Hughes Chair in the Department of Geophysics a…

1
Running Dry: Nik Kowsar on Iranian Censorship and Water Scarcity 29:54

2y ago29:54

29:54

For Nik Kowsar, civil unrest in Iran is not new. As a geologist and journalist, he's been sounding the alarm about water shortages and censorship in his home country for decades. After being arrested and jailed for one of his cartoons and receiving death threats from pro-regime Islamists, Kowsar fled Iran in 2003. Today, he is an award-winning Iran…

1
18 - Renata Rimšaitė – DWFI and National Drought Mitigation Center 14:49

2y ago14:49

14:49

Renata Rimšaitė is a senior program manager with DWFI and the National Drought Mitigation Center. Renata studies incentive-based water management, including tools designed to motivate or incentivize water using or managing parties to modify the way they use water, not only because it is sustainable, but also because it's in their financial interest…

1
Water Affects Your Pension: Cate Lamb at World Water Week 28:13

2y ago28:13

28:13

Can water risk disclosure move the needle on corporate water stewardship? And what does that risk mean for our own retirement funds? In this very special episode of What About Water? - recorded on location at World Water Week - Jay sits down with Cate Lamb in Stockholm, Sweden to discuss valuing water. We hear how companies with high water-related …

1
Don't Mess With the Data: Virginia Burkett on Louisiana's Vanishing Coastline 29:46

2y ago29:46

29:46

In the first episode of our fourth season, Jay sits down with renowned scientist and IPCC author, Virginia Burkett, to talk about technology, its pitfalls and its promises for a water-secure future. Burkett is the Chief Scientist for Climate and Land Use Change at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), where she’s worked for over three decades. She is …

1
17 - Karina Schoengold – UNL Agricultural Economics 12:10

2y ago12:10

12:10

DWFI Faculty Fellow Karina Schoengold is leading a $6 million, 4-year project to reduce the use of plastics, herbicides and associated environmental impacts in agricultural production. The use of plastics has been growing in agriculture over recent years to help increase productivity by limiting weeds, protecting growth and extending growing season…

1
Season 4 Trailer 1:18

2y ago1:18

1:18

Our planet is in crisis. When it comes to water, there are many promising solutions. But in a world full of new technologies, what innovations should we pay attention to? And will they be enough? On Season 4 of What About Water? we're diving into New Technologies, Water Realities. Host Jay Famiglietti will sit down with the experts, innovators and …

1
Can Peace and Prosperity Flow from Water? 17:18

2y ago17:18

17:18

What happens when tensions over water reach their boiling point? In our final bonus episode of the summer season, we explore the causes of water conflicts and what we can do to stop them. We start with the Middle East, a water-scarce region where conflict brews over shared water resources. We then turn to Latin America, where migrants are spurred b…

1
16 - Erin Haacker - Nebraska Groundwater 34:11

2y ago34:11

34:11

Erin Haacker is a hydrogeologist and assistant professor at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. As Erin would say, her professional path has been a winding road. She has two bachelor’s degrees – zoology from the University of Montana and geology from University College Cork in Ireland. She ventured to Michigan State University for her Ph.D., double…

1
15 - Roric Paulman – Paulman Farms 27:00

2y ago27:00

27:00

Roric Paulman is a producer and owner of Paulman Farms, located just south of Sutherland, Nebraska and in the heart of the Ogallala Aquifer, comprised of both irrigated and rain fed farmland. The farm was established and harvested its first crop in 1985 and uses the latest on-farm technology to grow more than a dozen crops. It is one of two “smart …

1
14 - Jackson Stansell – Sentinel Fertigation 29:41

2y ago29:41

29:41

Jackson Stansell is CEO and founder of Sentinel Fertigation, a Lincoln, Nebraska ag startup founded in 2021 that uses drone- and satellite-collected imagery to predict when a corn crop needs fertilization — saving growers money and reducing environmental impact. Jackson has a connection to the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute. He received …

1
Engineering a New Water World 16:25

2y ago16:25

16:25

In our third bonus episode of the summer season, we look back at the innovative ways people are sourcing their freshwater, from building home water systems on the Navajo Nation to engineering a state of the art wastewater treatment facility in Orange County. We hear what improvements need to be made to America's aging water infrastructure. And we l…

1
13 - DWFI Policy Team – Business Ecosystem in Rwanda 24:23

2y ago24:23

24:23

Of Rwanda’s roughly 600,000 hectares of irrigable land, only 10% is currently irrigated. With a more developed irrigation industry, farmers would be able to take advantage of three growing seasons, rather than one, enabling better food security and income. However, there are gaps in knowledge needed to advance the industry. Seeking to make these ad…

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