Sandra Postel is founding director of the Global Water Policy Project and author of the recent book ‘Replenish: The Virtuous Cycle of Water and Prosperity’.  From 2009-2015, she served as Freshwater Fellow of the National Geographic Society, where she co-created Change the Course, the water stewardship initiative awarded the 2017 US Water Prize for restoring billions of gallons of water to depleted rivers and wetlands.

Sandra works to bridge science, policy and practice to build a more water-secure world for people and nature. She has authored four books and numerous articles for scholarly and popular publications, including Science, Natural History, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Scientific American. She has appeared in various media productions including the BBC’s ‘Planet Earth’, Leonardo DiCaprio’s ‘The 11th Hour’, and the National Geographic Channel’s ‘Breakthrough’ series.  She has taught at Mt. Holyoke College and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.  Previously she served as vice president for research at the Worldwatch Institute.  The recipient of several honorary degrees, Sandra has been named a Pew Scholar in conservation and the environment and one of the Scientific American 50, an award recognising contributions to science and technology.