Water as an Entity

For this episode, we sat with Ed Struzik who is a speaker, educator and published author focused on a wide range of scientific and environmental issues and has about 40 years of experience in this field. Ed is a fellow at Queen's University and a Jarislowsky Fellow at the University of Waterloo. Many of Ed’s written pieces have been featured in large newspapers, magazines and journals both in Canada and the United States. Ed also has an abundance of experience working very closely with a variety of communities. Ed has always loved the outdoors and so he started interacting with scientists and got involved in projects which turned into a paying job which has led him to where he is today!

For this episode, we sat with Dr. Erin O’Donnell who is a research fellow at the University of Melbourne and author of Legal Rights for Rivers: Competition, Collaboration and Water Governance. Dr. O’Donnell is a water law and policy specialist, focusing on water markets, environmental flows, and water governance. She is recognized internationally for her research into the groundbreaking field of legal rights for rivers, as well as the challenges and opportunities these new rights create for protecting rivers. Her PhD examined the role of environmental water managers in Australia and the USA in delivering efficient, effective and legitimate environmental water outcomes in the context of transferable water rights and water markets. She has recently completed a consultancy for The World Bank, on water markets and their role in water security and sustainable development. 

For this episode, we sat down with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who gave us valuable insight on the spiritual, religious and political aspects of river autonomy. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is a textile artist, curator and a self-proclaimed Zombie. His work explores everything from religion and spirituality to sociopolitical and environmental attitudes in the South Asian, South West Asian and North African Region. Among his many notable works is a personal favourite: the bold curatorial work for ‘Queer Muslim Futures’ has inspired many to view queerness among Muslims in a different way and have necessary conversations to achieve that. Born in Damascus, he is now based in Karachi, Pakistan working on his newest project Bulhan Nameh which translates to Dolphin Diaries. Through this work, we learn about the River Indus - a  3,180 km long river that runs through South and Central Asia home to many freshwater dolphins.