Director, Board on Earth Sciences and Resources, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Elizabeth Eide directs the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources and Water Science and Technology Board at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The Boards oversee activities including energy and mineral resources; hazards; geotechnical engineering; geospatial and geographical science; and all issues related to water. Prior to joining the Academies in 2005, she was a research geologist for 12 years at the Norwegian Geological Survey. She is a Fulbright Scholarship recipient and was elected to the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters. She completed a Ph.D. at Stanford University and B.A. at Franklin & Marshall College, both in geology.

Senior Scientist, Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas

Jim Butler is a Senior Scientist and Chief of the Geohydrology Section of the Kansas Geological Survey at the University of Kansas, where he has worked since 1986. He holds a B.S. in Geology from the College of William and Mary, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Applied Hydrogeology from Stanford University. Jim was the 2007 Darcy Distinguished Lecturer of the National Ground Water Association and the 2009 recipient of the Pioneers in Groundwater Award of the Environmental and Water Resources Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Director Emeritus, Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas

Rex Buchanan is the Director Emeritus of the Kansas Geological Survey, based at the University of Kansas.  A native of Kansas, he is the co-author of Roadside Kansas: A Guide to its Geology and Landmarks  (rev. edition, 2010) and editor of Kansas Geology: An Introduction to Landscapes, Rocks, Minerals, and Fossils  (rev. edition, 2010), both published by the University Press of Kansas; and co-author of The Canyon Revisited: A Rephotography of the Grand Canyon, 1923-1991, published by the University of Utah Press (1994). He served as Secretary of the Association of American State Geologists and  chaired the Kansas Task Force on Induced Seismicity.  In 2008 he was named a fellow of the Geological Society of America and in 2016 received GSA’s Public Service Award.

Director of Policy, Water for Food Global Institute, University of Nebraska

Nick Brozovic is Director of Policy at the Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska. He works to ensure that the Institute’s programs inform water management policies and decision makers. Brozovic has over 15 years of experience in water policy worldwide. A particular focus of his research is on evaluating policies and governance structures for agricultural water management, including water market design and implementation. He holds doctoral and master’s degrees in agricultural and resource economics from the University of California-Berkeley, a master’s degree in geology from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree in geology from Oxford University.

Former Director, Nebraska Department of National Resources

Ann Bleed, Ph.D., P.E. Emeritus, is retired, but currently is director on the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District. For most of her career Ann worked at the State of Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, first as the State Hydrologist, then as Deputy Director, and finally as Director of the Department. While at the Department she also served as a Nebraska representative on the negotiating teams that settled two interstate water allocation lawsuits over the North Platte and Republican Rivers before the U. S. Supreme Court, and helped develop the Platte River Recovery and Implementation Program.

Jean Bahr has been on the faculty of the Department of Geoscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 1987. She also participates in interdisciplinary graduate programs in Geological Engineering, Freshwater and Marine Sciences, and Water Resources Management. Her research focusses on the interactions between physical and chemical processes controlling solute transport and transformation in groundwater systems. She is current President of AGI and also an Editor of the American Geophysical Union’s journal Water Resources Research. She was the 2003 Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer for Hydrogeology Division of the Geological Society of America (GSA) and served as GSA President in 2009-2010.

Director of Science and Technology, National Ground Water Association

Dr. William M. Alley is Director of Science and Technology for the National Ground Water Association. He served as Chief, Office of Groundwater for the U.S. Geological Survey for almost two decades. Dr. Alley has published over 90 scientific publications and received numerous awards for his work, including the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award. He holds a B.S. in Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, an M.S. from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University.  He and his wife, Rosemarie, recently completed a general science book, “High and Dry,” on the world’s groundwater to be published in early 2017.

Ph.D. Geoscience, Director/Producer - Written On Water, After-Dinner Keynote Speaker

Written on Water’s Producer and Director Merri Lisa Trigilio has an art degree in photography and film, and a doctorate degree in Geosciences from Penn State University. After fifteen years working as a geophysicist and later as a researcher in carbon sequestration, Merri Lisa found her way back to documentary storytelling. In 2012, she was a fellow at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC where she wrote and produced educational documentaries. She continues to explore science communication through the film medium, working as a freelance producer and director for educational institutions.

Associate Professor, San Francisco State University, Keynote Speaker

Dr. Jason Gurdak is an Associate Professor of Hydrogeology in the Department of Earth & Climate Sciences at San Francisco State University. He is Coordinator of the UNESCO-International Hydrologic Program called Groundwater Resources Assessment under the Pressure of Humanity and Climate Change (GRAPHIC). GRAPHIC is a global-scale research, education, and outreach program that addresses climate change and sustainability of global groundwater resources. Prior to joining SFSU, he was a Hydrologist for 11 years with the USGS. Dr. Gurdak has authored more than 50 publications in hydrology, including topics on the science and policy of climate change impacts and adaptation of groundwater resources. 

Director, University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center, Keynote Speaker

Sharon B. Megdal is Director of The University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center, an Extension and research unit in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She also holds the titles: Professor and Specialist, Department Soil, Water, and Environmental Science; C.W. & Modene Neely Endowed Professor; and Distinguished Outreach Professor.  Her work focuses on water policy and management challenges and solutions, on which she writes and frequently speaks. Current projects include: comparative evaluation of water management, policy, and governance in growing, water-scarce regions; groundwater management and governance; groundwater recharge; and transboundary aquifer assessment.  Sharon, who holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University, is active in several national water organizations and is an elected member of Central Arizona Project board, which is responsible for the rates, taxes, and policies of the largest surface water conveyance project in Arizona.