Sandra Postel

Fellow, Water

Water

Sandra Postel is a leading authority and prolific author on international water issues; she directs the independent Global Water Policy Project and in March 2010 she was named the National Geographic Society's first Freshwater Fellow.

In 1992 Postel authored Last Oasis: Facing Water Scarcity, which now appears in eight languages and was the basis for a PBS documentary that aired in 1997. She is also author of Pillar of Sand: Can the Irrigation Miracle Last? (1999) and co-author of Rivers for Life: Managing Water for People and Nature (2003). Her article "Troubled Waters" was selected for inclusion in the 2001 edition of Best American Science and Nature Writing. Sandra has authored well over 100 articles for popular, scholarly, and news publications, including Science, Scientific American, Foreign Policy, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

videos

Sandra Postel at TEDXMidAtlantic

length: 21:00   credit: TEDxMidAtlantic

Post Carbon Fellow Sandra Postel explores the theme 'Water is Life' and how this impacts on our relationship with water, biodiversity, the environment, and our own humanity. Sandra's presentation begins at 1.00:30.

audio

Please Explain: How to Save the World—The Global Water Supply

length: 40:12   credit: The Leonard Lopate Showdownload

Sandra PostelWe're kicking off a series of Please Explains on how to save the world—ways to approach complex global problems such as climate change, food supply, garbage disposal, population control, and violence. Today's topic is how to protect the world's water supply. Upmanu Lall, Director of the Columbia Water Center, and Sandra Postel, founder of the Global Water Policy Project and National Geographic Freshwater Fellow join us to discuss the state of fresh water around the globe.

Latest Publications

Keystone XL, Clean Water and Democracy

Sandra Postel    Nov 22, 2011   

[Extract] Bravo for Nebraskans. In today’s economy, job creation trumps just about everything.  But for Nebraskans, at least one thing ranks higher – and that’s protecting their precious water … >>

“Sewer Mining” – Efficient Water Recycling Coming to a Community Near You

Sandra Postel    Jan 23, 2012   

It sounds yucky at best, but mining sewage is growing in popularity, especially in Sydney, Australia, where a decade of drought forced some creative thinking about how to get, use and manage water. In 2004, when reservoir … >>

WATER: Adapting to a New Normal

Sandra Postel    Jun 22, 2010   

EXCERPT: Water, like energy, is essential to virtually every human endeavor. It is needed to grow food and fiber, to make clothes and computers, and, of course, to drink. The growing number of water shortages around the … >>

The Post Carbon Reader

Sandra Postel

How do population, water, energy, food, and climate issues impact one another? What can we do to address one problem without making the others worse? The Post Carbon Reader features essays by some of the world’s most … >>

press coverage

Postel quoted in Aljazeera article on rivers

Sandra Postel  

Post Carbon Fellow Sandra Postel was quoted in this article on the damage being doing to river ecosystems by dams. From the article: The biggest challenge is not the science of evaluating what to save, but generating the … >>