Freshwater Fellow, National Geographic Society
Global Water Policy Project
Sandra Postel directs the independent Global Water Policy Project and lectures, writes and consults on global water issues. In 2010, she was appointed Freshwater Fellow of the National Geographic Society, where she serves as the Society’s lead water expert. Postel is co-creator of Change the Course, the national freshwater conservation and restoration campaign that is being pioneered by National Geographic and its partners and piloted in the Colorado River Basin.
Postel is the author of several acclaimed books, including the award-winning "Last Oasis," which appears in eight languages and was the basis for a PBS documentary. She has authored more than 100 articles for popular and scholarly publications, from "Science and Natural History" to "Foreign Policy" and "Ecological Applications." The recipient of several honorary degrees, Postel has also been named a Pew Scholar in Conservation and the Environment and one of the "Scientific American 50" for her contributions to water policy.
Previously, Postel served as visiting senior lecturer at Mount Holyoke College and as director of the college’s Center for the Environment. She has appeared in dozens of television and radio shows nationally and internationally, as well as in some half dozen films, including the BBC’s "Planet Earth" and Leonardo DiCaprio’s "The 11th Hour."