SAIS examined the critical role of water throughout the world as a special substantive theme for the 2008–09 academic year. The “Year of Water” brought the SAIS community together to explore global water issues as they relate to economics and commerce, agriculture, the environment, new technologies, development and poverty, security, public health, and conflict and cooperation. Read more here about initiatives and events.
HEADLINES:
SAIS Hosted Ambassadors’ Forum on Water Issues in South Asia on May 1 SAIS hosted the Fifth Annual SAIS-SAARC Ambassadors' Forum on "Water Issues in South Asia" on Friday, May 1. Speakers included Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States; Jaliya Wickramasuriya, Sri Lanka's ambassador to the United States; Said T. Jawad, Afghanistan's ambassador to the United States; Humayun Kabir, Bangladesh's ambassador to the United States; Jawed Ashraf, political counselor at the Embassy of India; Kali Prasad Pokhrel, chargé d'affaires at the Embassy of Nepal; Winston Yu, water resources specialist at the World Bank and a SAIS professorial lecturer; and Walter Andersen, associate director of the SAIS South Asia Studies Program.
Author Rose George Spoke on International Sanitation Issues at SAIS on April 14 Rose George, a freelance journalist and author of the new book The Big Necessity, discussed "The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters to International Development," on Tuesday, April 14. Geoffrey Dabelko, director of the Environmental Change and Security Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, provided commentary.
SAIS alumnus and energy analyst Vahid Fotuhi ’02 wrote an op-ed on water scarcity for the United Arab Emirates' daily newspaper The National. Read it here.
JHU Water Experts Spoke at SAIS on April 8 JHU water experts spoke at SAIS on Wednesday, April 8 at a panel discussion entitled, “Bridging Water With Policy, Engineering and Public Health." Panelists included Kellogg Schwab, director of the Center for Water and Health at the JHU Bloomberg School of Public Health; Erik Peterson, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a SAIS graduate; John Boland, professor emeritus in the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering at the JHU Whiting School of Engineering; Bill Ball, professor in the Department of Geography and Environment Engineering at the Whiting School; David M. Lampton, director of the SAIS China Studies Program; Winston Yu, SAIS International Policy Program professorial lecturer; Ted Alcorn, a dual-degree M.A. student at SAIS and the Bloomberg School; and Kristen Gibson, a Ph.D. candidate at the Bloomberg School; and Kristen Downs, an M.A. student at the Whiting School. Click here for video of this event.
SAIS Hosted Forum on Safe Drinking Water in the Developing World on March 31 Greg Allgood, director of Procter & Gamble's Children's Safe Drinking Water Program, spoke about "Safe Drinking Water: How One Company Makes a Difference in the Developing World" on Tuesday, March 31. Click here for a copy of Allgood's presentation. Click here to download video of this event (Windows Media).
SAIS and CSIS Hosted Water and Agriculture Conference on March 30 SAIS and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) held a one-day conference on "Water and Agriculture: Implications for Development and Growth” on Monday, March 30. John Briscoe, the Gordon McKay Professor of the Practice of Environmental Engineering at Harvard University, and Ger Bergkamp, director general of the World Water Council, gave keynote addresses. Experts from international organizations, government, business, NGOs and academia spoke throughout the day. Click here for audio and video of the conference proceedings. Click here for a full conference agenda.
Water Rights Advocate Rohini Nilekani Spoke at SAIS on March 24 As part of the "Year of Water" initiative at SAIS, Rohini Nilekani, founder of the India-based NGO, Arghyam, discussed "Water: A Conflict of Paradigms," on Tuesday, March 24.
SAIS Hosted Water Experts Aaron Salzberg and Geoff Dabelko on February 20 Aaron Salzberg, lead for water and head of the Interagency Working Group on Water at the U.S. Department of State; Geoff Dabelko, director of the Environmental Change and Security Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; and Cinnamon Dornsife (moderator), associate director of the SAIS International Development Program, discussed “Water and International Development” on Friday, February 20.
2008 Issue of SAISPHERE Is Now Available SAIS recently published the 2008 issue of its annual magazine, SAISPHERE. In this issue we asked several members of the faculty, scholar, student and alumni community to explore the theme, "Water: The New Reality" to coincide with our "Year of Water." Click here for the online version or send an email to saispubaffairs@jhu.edu to request a printed copy.
PepsiCo International CEO Michael White Spoke at SAIS on November 20 Michael White, chairman and chief executive officer of PepsiCo International and a SAIS graduate, delivered the W.P. Carey Global Leader Lecture on "Sustainability and Responsibility: 21st Century Leadership Imperatives" on Thursday, November 20.
Water Resources Expert Jerome Delli Priscoli Spoke at SAIS on November 18 Jerome Delli Priscoli, senior adviser for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Institute for Water Resources, spoke on "Water and Security" on Tuesday, November 18.
Water Policy Expert Erik Peterson Spoke at SAIS on October 31 As part of the “Year of Water” initiative at SAIS, Erik Peterson, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a SAIS graduate, discussed "Staying Above the Surface: Global Water Futures," on Friday, October 31.
EVENTS: Friday, May 1 “Water Issues in South Asia” 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Building Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States; Jaliya Wickramasuriya, Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the United States; Kali Prasad Pokhrel, chargé d’affaires at the Embassy of Nepal; Jawed Ashraf, political counselor at the Embassy of India; M. Humayun Kabir, Bangladesh’s ambassador to the United States; Ahmed Khaleel (invited), permanent representative of the Maldives to the United Nations; Lhatu Wangchuk (invited), permanent representative of Bhutan to the United Nations; Said T. Jawad, Afghanistan’s ambassador to the United States; and Winston Yu, water resources specialist at the World Bank and a SAIS professorial lecturer, will discuss this topic at the Fifth Annual SAIS-South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Ambassadors’ Forum. For more information and to RSVP, contact 202.663.5722 or southasia@jhu.edu.
Tuesday, April 14 "The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters to International Development" 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.– Rome Building Auditorium The SAIS Global Health and Foreign Policy Initiative and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars will host a discussion with Rose George, journalist and author of the new book, The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste. Geoffrey Dabelko, director of the Environmental Change and Security Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, will provide commentary. For more information and to RSVP, contact 202.663.5786 or globalhealth@jhu.edu.
Wednesday, April 8 "Bridging Water with Policy, Engineering and Public Health" 12:30 to 2 p.m. – Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Building Kellogg Schwab, director of the Center for Water and Health at the JHU Bloomberg School of Public Health; Erik Peterson, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a SAIS graduate; John Boland, professor emeritus in the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering at the JHU Whiting School of Engineering; Bill Ball, professor in the Department of Geography and Environment Engineering at the Whiting School; David Lampton, director of the SAIS China Studies Program; Winston Yu, professorial lecturer in the SAIS International Policy Program; Ted Alcorn, a dual-degree graduate student at SAIS and the Bloomberg School; Kristen Downs, an M.A. student at the Whiting School; and Kristen Gibson, a Ph.D. candidate at the Bloomberg School, will participate in this JHU water experts panel. A lunch will precede the forum at noon. For more information and to RSVP, contact 202.663.5636 or saisevents@jhu.edu. Tuesday, March 31 NOTE: This event will now take place in the Rome Building Auditorium. "Safe Drinking Water: How One Company Makes a Difference in the Developing World" 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. – Rome Building Auditorium(A lunch reception will precede the forum at 11:30 a.m.) Greg Allgood, director of Procter & Gamble’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program, will discuss this topic. For more information and to RSVP, contact saisevents@jhu.edu. Monday, March 30 "Water and Agriculture: Implications for Development and Growth" 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. – Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Building As part of the “Year of Water” at SAIS, various water experts will discuss this topic during a daylong conference hosted by SAIS and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). John Briscoe, Gordon McKay Professor of the Practice of Environmental Health in the Harvard University School of Public Health, will provide the morning keynote address on “Availability, Distribution and Control of Water for Agriculture,” at 9:15 a.m. Ger Bergkamp, director general of the World Water Council, will provide the afternoon keynote address on “Futures of Water and Agriculture” at 3:15 p.m. For a full conference agenda or to participate via live Webcast, click here. For more information and to RSVP, contact 202.775.3296 or water@jhu.edu. Tuesday, March 24 "Water: A Conflict in Paradigms" 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. – Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Building(A lunch reception will precede the forum at noon.) Rohini Nilekani, founder of the India-based NGO Arghyam, will discuss this topic. For more information and to RSVP, contact 202.663.5626 or saisevents@jhu.edu. Friday, February 20 "Water and International Development" 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. –Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Building Aaron Salzberg, lead for water and head of the Interagency Working Group on Water at the U.S. Department of State, Geoff Dabelko, director of the Environmental Change and Security Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and Cinnamon Dornsife, associate director of the SAIS International Development Program, will discuss this topic. For more information and to RSVP, contact 202.663.5943 or developmentroundtable@jhu.edu. Wednesday, February 4 “China’s Environmental Crisis and Prospects for the Future” 5:15 to 7 p.m. – Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Building Kenneth Lieberthal, professor of political science at the University of Michigan, will discuss this topic. For more information, contact 202.663.5816 or zji@jhu.edu.
Wednesday, February 4 “The World’s Water” 3 to 5 p.m. – Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 6th Floor Auditorium, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. Peter H. Gleick, co-founder and president of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security, will discuss this topic. For more information and to RSVP, contact 202.691.4292 or gib.clarke@wilsoncenter.org.
Wednesday, January 28 “River Rivalry: Disputed Waters of South Asia” 12:30 to 2 p.m. – Room 206, Rome Building Kashif Hasnie, co-author of Nuke Waters, will discuss this topic. For more information and to RSVP, contact 202.663.5722 or southasia@jhu.edu.
Tuesday, December 9 "Art, Water, War, Child Artists, Child Soldiers No More" 6 to 8 p.m. – Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Building Andrew Briggs, founder of Freedom in Creation, and Mark Winter, board member for Living Water International, will give remarks at the "Art, Water, War, Child Artists, Child Soliders No More" exhibit opening, featuring artwork by former child soldiers from Uganda. Musician Andy Zipf will also perform during the event. For more information and to RSVP, contact 202.775.3296 or rposner@csis.org. Thursday, November 20 "Sustainability and Responsibility: 21st Century Leadership Imperatives" 12:30 p.m. - Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Building (A reception will precede the forum at noon.) Michael White, chairman and chief executive officer of PepsiCo International and a SAIS graduate, will discuss this topic. For more information and to RSVP, contact 202.663.5636 or saisevents@jhu.edu.
Tuesday, November 18 "Water and Security" 6 to 7 p.m. – Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Building Jerome Delli Priscoli, senior adviser for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Institute for Water Resources, will discuss this topic. For more information and to RSVP, contact 202.663.5636 or saisevents@jhu.edu.
Friday, October 31 "Staying Above the Surface: Global Water Futures" 12:30 p.m. - Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Building Erik Peterson, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a SAIS graduate, will discuss this topic. For more information and to RSVP, contact 202.663.5636 or saisevents@jhu.edu. Tuesday, October 21 "Development Effects of Electricity: Evidence From the Geologic Placement of Hydropower Plants in Brazil" Noon to 1:30 p.m. - 1776 Massachusetts Avenue N.W., Third Floor A. Mushfiq Mobarek, assistant professor of economics at Yale University's School of Management; Vijaya Ramachandran, senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, and Karen Macours (moderator), assistant professor of international economics at SAIS, will discuss this topic. This event is open to the SAIS community and invited guests only. To RSVP, click here. For more information, contact events@cgdev.org.
Monday, September 22 “Aquaporin Water Channels: From Atomic Structure to Malaria” 5:15 p.m. (local Italian time) – Bologna Center Auditorium Peter Agre, the 2003 Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry and director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, will speak about his current research on the possibility of treating or preventing malaria through the use of aquaporins, a family of water channel proteins found throughout nature and responsible for numerous physiological processes in humans. Click here for more information.
Wednesday, September 17 "Wars Over Water: Is Benefit-Sharing a Necessary Condition for Cooperation?" 12:30 to 2 p.m. - Room 200, Rome Building Winston Yu, water resource specialist in the South Asia region for the Sustainable Development Section of the World Bank, will discuss this topic. Members of the public should RSVP to 202.663.5786 or anorris@jhu.edu.
Monday, September 8 “Life as a Judge on the Law of the Sea Tribunal” 4:30 p.m. – Room 812, Rome Building Helmut Tuerk, judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and former Austrian ambassador to the United States, will discuss the “waning freedom” of navigation of the seas, combating terrorism at sea, the problems of land-locked states, and the role of the tribunal. Members of the public should RSVP to itlong@jhu.edu or 202.663.5745.
