About the Event

About 60% of an adult human body is made of water and about 71% of the planet’s surface is covered in water. Water is the essence of life. However, as climate change perturbs the water cycle, too much or too little water in the wrong place at the wrong time can have devastating effects. In this panel we’ll explore the state of the water cycle, the Colorado River, water quality, and much more, as well as efforts to effectively conserve and manage our water resources, and protect our lands and its inhabitants from flood damage.

Panelists: Stephanie Malin, environmental sociologist, CSU; Frank Kinder, water efficiency department manager, Northern Water; and Brad Udall, senior water & climate research scientist, Colorado Water Institute, CSU.

Moderated by Susan Moran, print/online journalist and a host and producer of KGNU’s “How on Earth” science show.

Co-presented by City of Longmont Sustainability

About the Panelists

Frank Kinder and his team at Northern Water serve a water conservancy district serving one million people in northeast Colorado. Services include landscape efficiency grants, consultations, audits, training, tools, outreach, events, and a demonstration garden. Kinder has a bachelor’s degree in finance and master’s in geography and environmental studies from the University of Colorado. His professional experience includes Oracle, sustainability consultancy for the US military, commercial water conservation at Colorado Springs Utilities. Kinder’s certifications include Watershed Wise Landscape Professional, Qualified Water Efficient Landscaper, EPA WaterSense New Home Inspector, and Sustainable Landscape Management Certification. In 2020 Northern Water was recognized as an EPA WaterSense Promotional Partner of the Year.
Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District

Stephanie Malin, PhD. is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at Colorado State University. As an environmental sociologist, Dr. Malin specializes in environmental and natural resource sociology, governance, and rural development. She conducts community-based and mixed methods research focusing on the community impacts of resource extraction, energy production, and environmental de-regulation. Her recent interests and research include environmental justice, environmental health, the intersection of water and public health and racial justice issues, and the socio-environmental effects of market-based economies. Dr. Malin is the author of The Price of Nuclear Power: Uranium Communities and Environmental Justice (Rutgers University Press), as well as many journal papers.

Susan Moran (moderator) is a freelance print/online journalist and editor and a host and producer of “How on Earth,” the KGNU science show. Her work covering the environment, energy development, food & agriculture, etc., has been published in The New York Times, The Economist, bioGraphic, Nature, etc. Moran was an adjunct journalism instructor at CU Boulder for seven+ years. She served on the board of the Society of Environmental Journalists (2014-2020). Moran was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT (2009-2010) and a Ted Scripps Fellow in Environmental Journalism at CU Boulder (2001-2002). She previously worked on staff at Reuters (Tokyo, New York, Silicon Valley), Business 2.0 magazine, and other news organizations. She earned a MA in Journalism from Columbia University, and a MA in Asian Studies from UC Berkeley.

Brad Udall is the senior water & climate research scientist at the Colorado Water Center, at Colorado State University. He has an extensive background in water and climate policy issues, including as former director of the Western Water Assessment (University of Colorado), as the first director of the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment (University of Colorado). He was the lead author of the water sector chapter of the Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States (2009), a publication of the United States Global Change Research Program, and an author of the Western Water Assessment’s Climate Change in Colorado Report.

About the Big Picture: Climate Change Series

• Monday–Thursday, April 19–22
• Recordings available for FREE, scroll down

 We take a big-picture view of how humans, largely by burning fossil fuels, have drastically altered the global climate system and living conditions on Earth. We will also explore how humans, from grassroots activists to national and global leaders, are seeking solutions. Our four panels–focusing on earth, air, fire, and water–bring together locally based scientists and other experts. The series is designed to move the public conversation forward, and to inform, engage and empower us all to think globally and act locally.

What we’re learning about these vast and shifting realms is both disturbing and encouraging. Nineteen of the 20 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001. The largest and most powerful storms ever recorded have occurred in the past five years. Mega-wildfires have raged in Australia, California, and right here in our own backyard. Air pollution is ravaging the health of many people, including a disproportionate number of people of color. Yet many cities and states are also making huge progress in transitioning to cleaner, and more equitable, economies and communities. Come join the conversations and be part of the solution.

All panels moderated by Susan Moran, print/online journalist and a host and producer of KGNU’s “How on Earth” science show.

View the rest of the series:

• Air: As We Live & Breathe, Monday, April 19
• Fire: Friend and Foe, Tuesday, April 20
• Earth: Grounds for Innovation, Thursday, April 22

Watch WATER: The Essence of Life