The Future of Water: Conflicts, Cooperation and Communities

press release: Join the Nelson Institute’s 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award winners, Rebecca Wodder and Aaron Wolf, to discuss their work with domestic and international communities on water challenges and solutions.

Rebecca Wodder (Water Resource Management Alumna) is a nationally known environmental leader whose conservation career began with the first Earth Day, when she was working as the legislative assistant to Senator Gaylord Nelson. In 1981, she joined The Wilderness Society as Alaska Lands Program Director and later served as the Vice President of Membership, Marketing and Development, where she worked to increase awareness and protection of public lands. From there she spent 17 years as the President and CEO of American Rivers, followed by two years as a senior advisor to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior where she developed and led a major watershed conservation initiative. Today, Wodder serves on several conservation-related boards and has been named a Top 25 Outstanding Conservationist by Outdoor Life magazine. In her writing and speaking, Wodder explores how communities can enhance their resilience to climate impacts via sustainable, equitable approaches to rivers and freshwater resources.

Dr. Aaron T. Wolf (Water Resource Management and Land Resources,now Environment and Resources, alum) is a Professor of Geography in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. His research and teaching focus on the interaction between water science and water policy, particularly as it relates to conflict prevention and resolution. He has acted as a consultant to the World Bank and several international government agencies on various aspects of transboundary water resources and dispute resolution. Wolf is also a trained mediator/facilitator, and directs the Program in Water Conflict Management and Transformation, through which he has offered workshops, facilitations, and mediation in basins throughout the world. He coordinates the Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database, and is a co-director of the Universities Partnership on Transboundary Waters. He is the author/editor of seven books, as well as almost 50 journal articles, book chapters, and professional reports on various aspects of transboundary waters.