UCSB Geography graduate student Kate Voss was a guest speaker on an online KCRW radio talk, “Mad Men, Adapting to Climate Change & Brunei Brutality,” hosted by Madeleine Brand on May 6, 2014. Kate’s segment was titled “Desalination to Fight Drought”: “According to the White House report released today on climate change, it’s going to be hotter and drier here in California. So, how are we going to get all the water we need? One idea now being re-considered is desalination – turning ocean water into drinking water.”
The online KCRW description of the talk was as follows: “While scientists and climate advocates try to reverse global warming, others are preparing for a future where this is a reality. Experts are working to create crops and farm animals that are more resilient to increased temperatures. Another idea being re-considered is desalination, or turning ocean water into drinking water. We also look at why protesters are boycotting LA hotels with connections to Brunei. We meet Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner, and we look at the latest accusations against X-Men director Bryan Singer.”
Other participants included Gale Strasburg, Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Michigan State University; John Sifton, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch; Matthew Weiner, Emmy award-winning executive producer and writer of The Sopranos, and creator of AMC’s original drama Mad Men, set in the ad world of the 60’s; and Kim Masters, Editor-at-Large of the Hollywood Reporter and host of KCRW’s The Business.
“At UCCHM, Kate connect[ed] the group’s hydrological research to broader water policy and management implications. As a 2009 NSF REU fellow, she developed a global groundwater scarcity index. Since then, Kate researched the political, economic, and social implications of global water trends seen by the GRACE satellite system, and completed case studies for northwest Australia, the Tigris-Euphrates River Basin, and China. In addition to her research at UCCHM, Kate conducted field work looking at the connection between the environment and development in northeast Thailand; and during Spring 2011, worked with Aqueduct, the water-risk team at World Resources Institute. She holds a BSFS in Science, Technology, and International Affairs from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University” (source).
Editor’s note: Many thanks to graduate student Kelsey Bisson, an IGPMS PhD student in the Siegel lab, for bringing this material to our attention.
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