Water Day 2019

Join us for our Annual Water Day Event, held in recognition of World Water Day 2019. This Event is sponsored in part by the University Student Union and will host Guest Speakers and CSUN Sustainability Leaders who will present and discuss important issues surrounding water supply, quality, and access to clean water.

Attendees can choose to attend single sessions, which will be scheduled to align with class periods, in the University Student Union Northridge Center. We encourage faculty members to bring their classes, offer students extra credit for attending sessions, and inform students know about this event. This event is FREE to all students, so make sure to spread the word and bring along your classmates and friends since this is a campus-wide event.

To support water conservation on this important day, all Freudian Sips will go meatless on Water Day! Did you know one pound of beef requires an input of approximately 2500 gallons of water, whereas a pound of soy requires 250 gallons of water and a pound of wheat only 25 gallons? Going for a meatless, plant-based diet will significantly reduce your water footprint, one gallon at a time!

Conference Schedule

9:30am-10:45am: Science to Inform Solutions: Understanding Pollution and Conservation through Research

• Dr. David Keating (Assistant Professor, Communication Studies). Dr. Keating will be speaking on the topic: "Effective Messaging for Sustainability". He will discuss his research related to persuasive messages and prosocial behavior. He will focus on a recent project examining how messaging can be designed to effectively promote water consumption behaviors.
• Dr. Priya Ganguli (Assistant Professor, Geological Sciences, Water Science Program). Dr. Priya Ganguli will be speaking on the topic: "How Mercury Made the California Gold Rush Possible". Her research at CSUN is focused on addressing questions regarding contaminant cycling at the land-sea margin (e.g., influence of land use and sea level rise).
  

11:00am-12:15pm: Your Water, Your City: Watershed Planning for a Viable Future

• Melanie Winter (Executive Director, The River Project). Melanie has been involved in water and land use policy for nearly 25 years, bringing significant funding for and national attention to the Los Angeles River. She organized the Coalition for a State Park at Taylor Yard, led stakeholders through the development of the Tujunga/Pacoima Watershed Plan, and established the innovative urban acupuncture program, Water LA. Melanie is the founder of The River Project, a non-profit organization that advocates for a 21st century watershed approach to water, land use, and climate change. She will be speaking about specific challenges we face, and how communities can engage in efforts to restore local water supplies, improve public health, sequester greenhouse gasses, enhance biodiversity, and create a climate resilient future for Los Angeles.

12:30pm-1:45pm: From Data to Dance: Visual Tools for Highlighting Water Issues

• Dr. Regan Maas (Assistant Professor, Geography; Associate Director, Center for Geospatial Science and Technology) & Joel Osuna (CGST Project Manager). Dr. Regan Maas and Joel Osuna will be presenting on refining a standardized water agency boundary dataset, developing more effective models for identifying disadvantaged communities and creating a comprehensive schema to tie these datasets together using Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

• Steven Appleton (Sculptor, River Advocate and Lead Artist) for the Future Currents Project. Steven Appleton from the Future Currents project will be presenting at this session as well. The Future Currents Project is a collaboration between students of the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication, the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Performing Arts, and local and national artists. They bring interaction with and awareness to complexities surrounding the LA River by utilizing repurposed waste materials and invasive plants during creative activities.
  

2:00pm-3:15pm: Applications of Research for Addressing Water Challenges in LA and Beyond

• Dr. Scott Hauswirth (Assistant Professor, Geological Sciences, Hydrogeology). Dr. Hauswirth will be speaking about hydrogeology, especially topics focusing on contaminants in the environment.
• Dr. Erica Wohldmann (Professor, Psychology; Interim Director, Institute for Sustainability). Dr. Wohldmann will present about her research on water conservation and best-practices in sustainability.

Faculty members can email to sign up their class.