Water expert appointed to professorship

Garrick

Dustin Garrick has been appointed the Philomathia Foundation Professor in Water Policy and Research. Garrick – currently a research fellow at the University of Oxford – is an expert in water policy, climate change adaptation and drought management. His research interests include responses to water scarcity and climate change and the connection between water and federalism.


Dustin Garrick has been appointed the Philomathia Foundation Professor in Water Policy and Research.

Garrick – currently a research fellow at the University of Oxford – is an expert in water policy, climate change adaptation and drought management. His research interests include responses to water scarcity and climate change and the connection between water and federalism.

The professorship is supported by the Philomathia Foundation, which in 2012 announced a $1-million gift to McMaster to establish the Philomathia Foundation Water Project.

The initiative also supports fellowships and travel scholarships for students studying water-related issues.

“McMaster has a strong reputation for innovation, interdisciplinary research and problem-based learning – all of which will prove essential in understanding and responding to 21st century water challenges,” says Garrick, currently finishing a visiting fellowship at Australian National University.

“The opportunity to work across the faculties of engineering and social sciences is unique and a major pull. Engineering offers insight into complex systems and water-related hazards, while social sciences explores the multiple values tied to water.”

Garrick has more than a decade of experience in water research. He has been a Fulbright Scholar in Australia, where he researched river basin governance in the Murray-Darling basin; a research associate with the Centre for Water Economics, Environment and Policy at Australia National University; and served as project manager on an award-winning knowledge exchange program which integrated climate change information into water resource planning in the Colorado River basin.

Garrick’s three-year term will begin January 1.

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