Lecture Series | Women Plus Water

The Women Plus Water Lecture Series, hosted by the Global Institute for Water Security and the College of Arts and Science at the University of Saskatchewan, will occur monthly from January to April. The series will showcase research, support young professionals and provide a space for dialogue and networking. Additionally, the series will explore water-related challenges, roles of women in water, gendered water-related impacts, and challenges and opportunities facing women in water research. Women Plus Water is an inclusive community and all are welcome to attend.

2024 Schedule

Women Plus Water Lecture Series 2024 Schedule

Date & Time Topic & Speakers
January 11
10:30-11:30 am CST

UN SDG 6: Women and the Water SDG

Host:  Dr. Ginette Azcona
Guests:  Dr. Sherry Pictou   |   Professor Joyashree Roy

Details

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February 8
12:30-1:30 pm CST

Water as a Key Ingredient for Women and Girls Nutrition

Host:  Dr. Eunice Salubi
Guests:  Professor Gordon Zello   |   Professor Alison Blay-Palmer   |   Melissa D. Ho

Details

 

March 14
12:30-1:30 pm CST

Leveraging Water for Peace

Host:  Dr. Isabela Battistello Espindola
Guests:  Commissioner Adriana Reséndez Maldonado   |   Dr. Zodwa Dlamini

Details

 

April 11
12:30-1:30 pm CST

Protect our Species

Host:  Ines Sanchez Rodriquez
Guests:  Professor Cherie Westbrook   |   Janet Sumner

Details

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Past Series Playlists

Women and Water Playlist: 2023

1. Water Diplomacy Navigating the Space Between Common Goals and Competing Visions

Dr. Kelsey Leonard hosts a panel discussion on water diplomacy from the perspective of Indigenous Waters, social and environmental innovation, and water governance. Guests Dr. Margot Hulbert, Fooman Forough, Elizabeth Koch & Merrell-Anne Phare share their expertise and insights on the topic. For more information on the topic, check out the Water Diplomacy Global Network’s recent global strategy on ' A Path Forward for Women, Water, Peace and Security'.

2. Women Water Networks Catalysts for Change

Host Dr. Leila Eamen and guests Dr. Li Li, Dr. Ellen Wohl, and Jennifer Mandeville have a panel discussion on “Women Water Networks” as a catalyst for change. This event is in honour of the United Nations International Day for Women and Girls in Science.

3. Flood Warnings and Maps Water Models and Tools in Practice

Join host Dr. Chandra Rajulapati as she talks with guests Dr. Monireh Faramarzi and Dr. Tricia Stadnyk about the practical applications of modelling. Topics will include the impacts of climate change on water supply-demand from an agricultural and economic perspective and the use of artificial intelligence for flood risk and resilience.

4. The Climate Crisis is a Water Crisis

In honour of World Water Day (March 22, 2023), Women Plus Water is excited to host a conversation on the climate and water crisis. Host Dr. Inonge Milupi and guests Dr. Martina Angela Caretta and Dr. Tahseen Jafry will provide perspectives on climate justice, gender, poverty, environmental degradation, and the 2022 IPCC Assessment on Water.

5. Civil Society Action for Sustainable Water Futures

Dr. Louise Arnal hosts a conversation on Civil Society Action for Sustainable Water Futures with guests Anita Collins, Makaśa Looking Horse, and Hailey Krolyk. The conversation includes perspectives on Indigenous leadership, activism, and applied conservation research. For more information on how the guests are taking their own action to raise awareness about our water futures, check out these links:

2023 Série de conférences Femmes Plus Eau

1. Diplomatie de l'eau Naviguer dans l'espace entre objectifs communs et visions concurrentes

La Dre Kelsey Leonard anime une table ronde sur la diplomatie de l'eau du point de vue des eaux autochtones, de l'innovation sociale et environnementale et de la gouvernance de l'eau. Les invités Dr Margot Hulbert, Foman Forough, Elizabeth Koch et Merrell-Anne Phare partagent leur expertise et leurs idées sur la diplomatie de l'eau. Pour plus d’informations sur le sujet, consultez la récente stratégie mondiale du Water Diplomacy Global Network intitulée « Une voie à suivre pour les femmes, l’eau, la paix et la sécurité ».

2. Réseaux d'eau des femmes Catalyseurs du changement

Rejoignez l'animatrice Dr Leila Eamen et les invités Dr Li Li, Dr Ellen Wohl et Jennifer Mandeville pour une table ronde sur les « Réseaux de femmes pour l'eau » en tant que catalyseur du changement. Cet événement est en l'honneur de la Journée internationale des Nations Unies pour les femmes et les filles de science (11 février 2023).

Apprenez-en davantage sur la Swarovski Waterschool et le Women Advancing Rivers Network.

3. Avertissements et cartes d’inondation Modèles et outils d’eau en pratique

Rejoignez l'animatrice Dr Chandra Rajulapati alors qu'elle discute avec les invités Dr Monireh Faramarzi et Dr Tricia Stadnyk des applications pratiques de la modélisation. Les sujets incluront les impacts du changement climatique sur l'approvisionnement et la demande en eau d'un point de vue agricole et économique et l'utilisation de l'intelligence artificielle pour les risques d'inondation et la résilience.

4. L'eau - au cœur de la crise climatique

Bienvenue à la quatrième série de conférences Women Plus Water en 2023 à l'Université de la Saskatchewan, en l'honneur de la Journée mondiale de l'eau (22 mars 2023). Women Plus Water est ravie d'organiser une conversation sur la crise du climat et de l'eau. L'hôte, le Dr Inonge Milupi, et les invités, le Dr Martina Angela Caretta et la professeure Tahseen Jafry, présenteront leurs perspectives sur la justice climatique, le genre, la pauvreté, la dégradation de l'environnement et l'évaluation 2022 du GIEC sur l'eau.

5. Action de la société civile pour un avenir durable de l'eau

La Dr Louise Arnal anime une conversation sur l'action de la société civile pour un avenir durable de l'eau avec les invitées Anita Collins, Makaśa Looking Horse et Hailey Krolyk. La conversation comprend des perspectives sur le leadership autochtone, l’activisme et la recherche appliquée en conservation.

Pour plus d’informations sur la façon dont les invités prennent leurs propres mesures pour sensibiliser à l’avenir de l’eau, consultez le podcast Ohneganos: Parlons eau et la Galerie virtuelle de l’eau, une galerie d’art et de science en ligne.

Women and Water Playlist: 2022

1. Transborder Collaboration: Women and High Mountain Water, featuring:

Izabella Koziell 
Izabella Koziell has over thirty years of experience in climate, environment and development, working with NGOs, donors, international organizations and governments in various leadership positions in policy, programme delivery and research, and across multiple geographies. Recently Izabella joined as Deputy Director-General of the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development, a regional organization working to tackle transboundary challenges of the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, including climate change, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, and land and ecosystem degradation. Previously with the International Water Management Institute in Sri Lanka as Program Director for the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems for five years, and prior to that with the UK Department for International Development (DFID, now FCDO), the International Institute for Environment and Development. Izabella began her career in dryland Tanzania with the Lutheran World Service.

Valentia Radic 
Valentina Radic is an Associate Professor in Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at UBC, Vancouver. She obtained her BSc in 2004 in Geophysics (Meteorology and PhysicalOceanography) from Zagreb University, Croatia, and a PhD in Geophysics (Glaciology) in 2008 from University of Fairbanks Alaska. Her research is focused on quantifying the response of mountain glaciers to climate change on regional and global scales, and projecting glacier contributions to regional streamflow and global sea level rise.

Erin Nicholls
Erin is a PhD Candidate working in the McMaster Watershed Hydrology Group in Hamilton, Ontario. Her research is based out of the Yukon Territory, where she examines the influence of climate change driven vegetation change (treeline advance and shrubification) and frozen ground status on water cycling and storage in subarctic, alpine regions.

 

2. Innovation in Watershed Management: Towards Better Engagements Between Upstream and Downstream Voices, featuring:

Deborah McGregor
Professor Deborah McGregor (Anishinabek), is Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice at York University. Professor McGregor’s research has focusedonIndigenousknowledgeand legal systems and their various applications in diverse contexts including water and environmental governance, environmental and climate justice, health and environment and sustainability.

Michela Carriere
Michela Carriere is an indigenous adventure guide from Big Eddy Lodge, 60km northwest of the nearest town, Cumberland House, SK. This area is known as the Saskatchewan River Delta. Michela is owner of Aski Holistic Adventures, her tours will take you deep into the Canadian wilderness to connect with the natural world, while her traditional skill teachings delve into the practices of indigenous herbalists to heal your spirit.

Laila Balkhi
Laila is the Program Manager for Global Water Future’s Integrated Modelling Program (IMPC). She is an early-career professional passionate about policy-relevant research for water security and climate resiliency. She’s studied environmental sciences at University of Pennsylvania and completed her master's in Sustainable Environmental Management at USask in 2019 with a collaborative research focus on identifying meaningful Indigenous engagement principles to inform UNESCO’s Global Geoparkinitiatives. She believes in and focuses her work on collaborative problem-solving and ongoing dialogue to implement effective engagement strategies that connect research solutions with community action and decision-making.

 

3. Women, Water and Food Security, featuring:

Margret Akuriba
Margaret Atosina Akuriba holds a PhD in Development Economics from Wageningen University and Research, Netherlands. She is an academic at the School of Applied Economics and Management Sciences of the University for Development Studies, Ghana. Her current research focuses on irrigation governance and approaches to strengthening agribusiness value chains for food security and rural development.

Alirah Weyori
Alirah Weyori is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Institute of Development and Agricultural Economics, Leibniz UniversityHannover-Germany.His research interest includes food security, poverty and vulnerability, climate change and adaptations, agricultural intensification,rural-urban migration. He has worked extensively with rural house holds across sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia.

Thierno Malick Diallo
Thierno Malick Diallo is a lecturer at Gaston Berger University of Saint-Louis, Senegal. His research centers around labor economics, gender, poverty, and rural economics. He has been involved in research collaborations with the Partnership for EconomicPolicy (PEP), the International Institute of TropicalAgriculture (IITA),the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the African Economic Research Consortium(AERC)

Sabine Liehenehm
Sabine Liebenehm is an Assistant Professor in Agricultural and Development Economics with a joined appointment with the Agricultural and Resource Economics Department and the Economics Department at the University of Saskatchewan. Sabine obtained her PhD from the Leibniz University Hannover, Germany. In her research, Sabine seeks to improve the understanding of the economic decision-making among households living in rural and remote settings often exposed to an adverse environment with limited access to formal safety net mechanisms. She focuses on two aspects that determine the risk management decision: (i) the impact of adverse risks, and (ii) the interaction with people’s preferences and perceptions. To assess the research questions, Sabine applies empirical microeconomic strategies, leveraging rich datasets obtained from household surveys, lab-in-the-field experiments, social network studies, and climate data observations. Geographically, Sabine works primarily with rural agricultural households in Southeast Asia and West Africa, and she is currently establishing a collaboration with a First Nation community in Northern Alberta, Canada.

 

4. Making the Invisible Visible: Chemical Exposure and Groundwater, featuring:

Karletta Cheif
Dr. Karletta Chief (Diné) is an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist in the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Arizona. She is also the Director of the Indigenous ResilienceCenter.As an Extension Specialist, she works to bring relevant water science to Native American communities in a culturally sensitive manner. The Indigenous Resilience Center aims to facilitate efforts of UArizona climate/environment researchers, faculty, staff, and students working with Native Nations to build resiliency to climate impacts and environmental challenges. Two of her primary tribal projects are The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Climate Adaptation and Traditional Knowledge Project and Gold King Mine Spill Diné Exposure Project. In partnership with Diné College, Dr. Chief leads the NSF Indigenous Food, Energy, and Water Security and Sovereignty Program and is training 39 graduate students. Indige-FEWSS’s vision is to develop a diverse workforce with intercultural awareness and expertise insustainable food, energy, and water systems (FEWS), specifically through off-grid technologies to address the lack of safe water, energy, and food security in Indigenous communities. Dr. Chief received aB.S. and M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University in 1998 and 2000 and a Ph.D. in Hydrology and Water Resources from UA in 2007.

Sarah Dickson-Anderson
Dr. Sarah Dickson-Anderson is the Associate Chair - Graduate in the Department of Civil Engineering, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering at McMaster University. Dr. Dickson- Anderson's expertise is in hydrogeology, with a focus on fractured rock systems. She and her graduate students conduct research on the characterization of these systems and investigate the transport and fate of particulate and chemical contaminants within them, including a comprehensive understanding of these systems required to inform aquifer vulnerability studies and thus the risks posed to drinking water sources. Dr. Dickson brings this background to the study of local water security, particularly in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities. She collaborates with other disciplines towards a holistic understanding that encompasses the physical, social, cultural, and economic elements of local water security.

Jay Famiglietti
Dr. Jay Famiglietti is a professor of hydrology and Executive Director of the Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan, where he holds the Canada 150 Research Chair in Hydrology and Remote Sensing. Before moving to USask, Jay served as the Senior Water Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Jay’s research group uses satellites and develops advanced computer models to track how freshwater availability is changing around the globe. Jay, a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the Geological Society of America, is a regular advisor to state, provincial, and federal government officials on water security issues. Jay is also the host of the What About Water? Podcast

 

5. Women in Science for Water and Society, featuring:

HRH Princess Dr. Nisreen El-Hashemite
Executive Director Royal Academy of Science International Trust (RASIT)

Ms. Alice Bouman-Dentener
Co-Founder Cansu Global

Dr. Corinne Schuster-Wallace
Global Water Futures Associate Director

 

6. In Between Worlds: Navigating the Globe as a Deaf Scientist in a Hearing World, featuring:

Dr. Linda Campbell
Dr. Linda Campbell is a professor at Saint Mary’s University in Nova Scotia in the Department of Environmental Science. The focus of her research is on Aquatic Ecosystem Health including the impact and fate of toxicants and human interactions with aquatic ecosystems.

 

7. The Environment & History Colliding: The Case of Legacy Gold Mine Tailings in Nova Scotia Canada, featuring:

Dr. Linda Campbell
Dr. Campbell's research focuses on how gold is often geologically associated with toxic arsenic compounds and can be extracted using mercury amalgamation methods. As a result, historical gold mining sites and modern artisanal mining sites in low-income countries frequently have co-occuring mercury and arsenic contamination.

We're sorry, but due to technical difficulties, we are unable to provide a recording of Lecture 4 - Women and Rural Water Security Around the World, featuring Gervin Apatinga, Corinne Schuster-Wallace, and Andrea Rowe.

2022 Série de conférences Femmes Plus Eau

1. La Collaboration Transfrontalière : Les Femmes et L'Eau de la Haute Montagne, avec:

Erin Nicholls
Candidate au Doctorat
Unversité de McMaster

Dr Valentina Radic
Professeure Agrégée en Sciences de la Terre et de L'atmosphère, Université de la Colombie-Britannique

Izabella Koziell
Directrice Général Adjointe, Centre International Pour le Développement Intégré des Montagnes (ICIMOD)

 

2. Innovations Dans la Gestion des Bassins Versants vers un meilleur échange entre les voix de l'amont et de l'aval, avec:

Laila Balkhi
La Directrice
Programme de Modélisation Intégrée GWF

Dr Deborah McGregor
Professeure Agrégée et Chaire de Recherche du Canada sur la Justice Environnementale Autochtone, Université York

Michela Carriere
Guide d'aventure Autochtone et La Propriétaire d'Aski Holistic Adventures

 

3. Les Femmes et la Sécurité de L'eau en Milieu Rural Dans le Monde, avec:

Corinne Schuster-Wallace
Professeure Agrégée
Université de la Saskatchewan

Gervin Apatinga
Etudiant au Doctorat
Université de la Saskatchewan

 

4. La Collision de L'histoire et L'environment : Le residue de mine d'or en Nouvelle-Écosse Canada, avec:

Dr Linda Campbell
Chercheur principal en santé des écosystèmes aquatiques
Université St.Mary's

Women and Water Playlist: 2021

1. Water Policy, featuring: 

Felicia Marcus
Felicia Marcus is an attorney/consultant who has served in positions in government, the non-profit world, and the private sector. She is currently the Landreth Visiting Fellow at Stanford University's Woods Institute Water in the West Program. She is also a member of the Water Policy Group, an international network of former and current high level water officials (http://waterpolicygroup.com). Felicia was most recently Chair of the California State Water Resources Control Board. She previously served as Regional Administrator of the U.S. EPA Region IX and as head of the Los Angeles Department of Public Works. She has a JD from NYU School of Law and an AB cum laude in East Asian Studies from Harvard College.

Graham Strickert
Dr. Graham Strickert (PhD) is an Assistant Professor at the School of Environment and Sustainability and a founding member of the Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Strickert's research seeks to better understand how different people think about and use water and how their thinking influences behavior and water use through the use of social science tools to incorporate people's values and attitudes into water sciences. Dr. Strickert has worked with government agencies including LandCare Research - Menaaki Whenua, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Saskatchewan Association of Watershed, Saskatchewan Water Security Agency, the Government of the Northwest Territories, and Environment Canada. He has also worked in the private sector for Uretech Surfaces, Inamr Industries, and Johnson and Johnson and as an ally to indigenous communities in the Yukon, NWT, Saskatchewan, and Ontario.

 2. Sustainable Ecosystems, featuring: 

Isabelle Durance
Isabelle Durance is a professor at Cardiff School of Biosciences. Her research focuses on three key areas: the role of river biodiversity in sustaining key ecosystem services, the role of landscape processes in driving freshwater ecosystems, the impact of global changes on freshwater ecosystems. Isabelle believes that interdisciplinary research is necessary to find solutions to current environmental challenges and aims to foster collaborations between academics and stakeholders through her different roles. She is the Director of Cardiff Water Research Institute, of the GW4 Water Security Alliance and of GW4 FRESH Centre for Doctoral Training.

Jared Wolfe
Jared Wolfe is the Project Manager for the Prairie Water project under the Global Water Futures program and is based out of the University of Saskatchewan's Global Institute for Water Security. He is an aquatic ecosystems ecologist with an interest in exploring how the interaction between science, policy, and management can promote sustainable water resources. He places a strong emphasis on collaboration in projects and providing an open space for dialogue on wicked environmental issues. Jared also sits on the National Board for the Sierra Club of Canada Foundation as the Regional Director for the Prairie Region. Within this role, he serves on the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion National Committee that aims to operationalize principles of diversity and inclusion in organizational programming at national and local levels. Through listening to and working with his colleagues, Jared hopes to serve as an ally to promote approaches of inclusion within his wider community.

3. Valuing Water, featuring:

Diane Dupont
Diane P. Dupont is a Professor of Economics at Brock University, where she has held a Chancellors Chair for Research Excellence and was awarded the Brock University Distinguished Research and Creative Activity Award. She is also a member of Brock's Environmental Sustainability Research Centre and was the Scientific Director of the Water Economics, Policy, and Governance Network, a SSHRC Partnership Grant, from 2016-2020. Her editorial positions have been with Water Resources Research, Water Resources & Economics, Canadian Journal of Water Resources, Society and Natural Resources, Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Water Economics and Policy, and Water Resources and Economics. She works in the fields of environmental and natural resource economics, particularly where they intersect in the area of non-market valuation. Her research program concentrates upon examining ways to encourage more efficient and sustainable use of water resources both on the supply and demand side. On the supply side, she looks at factors that help to identify which water utilities operate most efficiently and sustainably. On the demand side, she has undertaken a number of non-market valuation studies to determine the value of good quality water as it relates to individuals' perceptions of the health effects of tap water, as well as their willingness to pay for water-based recreational activities.

Diana Karanja
Dr. Karanja is a widely published medical researcher with experience of over 30 years working with Kenya Medical Research Institute, while collaborating with International Universities in Canada, Japan, Europe and United States, as well as global Institutions including the World Health Organization and the United Nations.  She is the Director of a National Non-Governmental Organization in Kenya; whose focus is on community health and wellbeing.  She is extremely interested in youth mentorship. 

Andrea Rowe
Dr. Andrea Rowe (PhD) joined the Global Institute for Water Security (GIWS) and Global Water Futures (GWF) as an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Specialist in September of 2020. Andrea is one of the original Co-Founders and Chief Research Officers at Feminuity, an evidence-based research-driven firm specializing in EDI in the tech sector. Andrea has a Ph.D. in Comparative Public Policy from McMaster University, where she researched gender equality in national innovation systems in Canada, Sweden, and the OECD in Paris, France.  

4. Women in the Field, featuring:

Stephanie Pow
Stephanie is a graduate of the Water Resource Engineering Technology program at Saskatchewan Polytechnic Palliser Campus.  She has worked at Environment Canada and Climate Change with Water Survey of Canada for 15 years.  She graduated from the departments' apprenticeship program as Hydrometric Technologist.  She has held several supervisory roles within the department.  She was promoted to Head of Operations of Saskatchewan in March 2020. 

Lorelei Ford
Lorelei Ford, M.E.S., is a Water Quality Ecologist with the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency. She has worked in the fields of fisheries, limnology, and unregulated drinking water over her 17 years in government. Her primary responsibility is to ensure the monitoring and reporting of water quality for streams, rivers, and lakes in Saskatchewan.

Lindsey Langs
Lindsey is a Research Officer and Technician working at the Centre for Hydrology's Coldwater Lab in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, based in Canmore, AB. She completed her M.Sc degree in forest hydrology at the University of Waterloo, and continues to apply her field and research experience within the Mountain Water Futures project, pulling from 5 years of field-based experience.

Women and Water Playlist: December 2018 - April 2019

  1. Women in Water: A Goal of Roles, Responsibilities, and Opportunities
  2. Climate Change and Society, featuring:
    • Dr. Maureen Reed, Researcher, University of Saskatchewan
    • Dr. David Natcher, Researcher, University of Saskatchewan
    • Maria Mora, PhD Candidate
  3. Ecosystem Services, featuring:
    • Dr. Heidi Swanson, Assistant Professor, University of Waterloo
    • Dr. Michelle Johnson-Jennings, Associate Professor, University of Saskatchewan
    • Dr. Patrick Lloyd-Smith, Assistant Professor, University of Saskatchewan
  4. Knowledge Mobilization, featuring:
    • Kathryn Warden, Director of Research and Profile, University of Saskatchewan
    • Stephanie Merrill, Knowledge Mobilization Specialist, University of Saskatchewan
    • Holly Annand, PhD Candidate
  5. Snow and Ice, featuring:
    • Dr. Gwenn Flowers, Glaciologist, Simon Fraser University
    • Caroline Aubry-Wake, PhD Candidate