Coffee scientist and researcher Dr. Aaron Davis says even with rising temperatures, and more drought -- that doesn’t have to be the case. This week on What About Water? we hear why reintroducing forgotten wild coffee species will be the key to growing enough coffee in the future.

In this episode, Jay learns about the professional coffee-tasting process and just how much flavor factors into the equation for coffee farmers’ bottom lines.On the Last Word we meet Daniel Sarmu, a coffee development specialist in Sierra Leone who is helping small farmers grow heat-tolerant Stenophylla coffee. He is also searching for more Stenophylla coffee trees in the wild.

Aaron Davis

Dr. Aaron Davis is the Senior Research Leader of Plant Resources at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (UK). Davis is the leading authority on coffee species and has traveled widely to countries in Africa to study coffee in the wild. His team at Kew is dedicated to the identification and understanding of the beneficial traits of crops and associated organisms, particularly within the context of environmental stress resilience and climate change.Davis’ work on coffee spans over 30 years, and includes the naming and classification of coffee species, molecular (DNA) studies, conservation, climate change and resilience, and sustainable development. More recently he has published research on the value of wild coffee species (and diversity) for the sustainability of the global coffee sector. Ongoing and new work includes the development of climate resilience methods and the use of wild coffee species for the development of next-generation coffee crops. Daniel Sarmu

Daniel Sarmu is a Coffee Development Specialist from Kenema, Sierra Leone. He has worked in the development world for over 20 years, primarily in agriculture, helping small farmers maximize their profits in the coffee industry. In 2018, Daniel re-discovered the long-forgotten Stenophylla coffee plant in the hills of Sierra Leone alongside Dr. Jeremy Hagar and Aaron Davis. In recent years, Daniel has also written Sierra Leone’s coffee policy and is putting finishing touches on it so that small farmers across the country can use it.

On this episode of What About Water? we’re learning from traditional knowledge.   Jay sits down with Tasha Beeds, a grassroots Indigenous academic and Water Walker.

She takes us through the origins of Water Walking - an Indigenous ceremony recognizing and connecting with water. Beeds enters into ceremony for the water - discussing what it means to raise consciousness about water as a living entity.

On the Last Word, we hear from Josée Street, a young Indigenous woman who shows how scientists can bridge the gap between traditional ways of knowing and western thinking.

On this episode of What About Water? we take a look at the state of our rising seas from space, and learn what coastal communities on the ground are doing to adapt. Jay speaks with long-time colleague Dr. Steve Nerem, a principal investigator on NASA’s Sea Level Change team.  

We learn that by 2100, we could see around one meter of global sea level rise, but there is still time to stop the worst-case scenarios for future generations.

On the Last Word, we hear from Matt Osler about the City of Surrey’s Coastal Flood Adaptation Strategy. He outlines how researchers, First Nations, and municipalities in Southwest British Columbia are working together to implement cross-disciplinary approaches to sea level rise through the Living with Water project. 

Matt Osler is a Senior Project Engineer in the Drainage Section at City of Surrey.  He joined the Engineering Department in 2006 and currently oversees the implementation of the City’s Coastal Flood Adaptation Strategy.  He completed a Master of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University.

With climate change threatening freshwater sources, water demand across the globe is likely to increase by 20 - 30% between now and 2050. In this episode, we’re looking at two promising solutions to create clean drinking water from surprising places: our sewers and our oceans. We speak with General Manager of the Orange County Water District, Mike Markus, about debunking the “toilet to tap” fear and how turning our wastewater into clean drinking water can be a closed-loop solution to mounting water scarcity. On the Last Word, we hear from Dr. William Tarpeh about new research he's leading at Stanford University that could make desalination a more viable solution; one that’s less costly and better for the environment.

Transboundary waters - the rivers, lakes, and aquifers shared by two or more countries - are found in 153 of the world’s 192 countries. They account for an estimated 60 per cent of global freshwater flow.

As a critical component of our survival, water has long been a source of conflict between nations. The stakes are higher with a rapidly increasing population and threats of water scarcity.

In this episode, we talk to Dr. Aaron Wolf, a trained mediator and facilitator and Professor of Geography in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University, about transboundary cooperation as a useful tool for adaptation. On the Last Word, we hear from Reverend Michelle Singh about the connections between water, faith, and dialogue. Rev. Singh is the Executive Director of Faith & the Common Good, a national interfaith network based in Toronto. 

We’re already reaping the financial repercussions of climate change. Four Twenty Seven projects that by 2040, roughly $78 trillion, equivalent to about 57% of the world’s current GDP, will be exposed to flooding.

On this episode of What About Water? we ask the question: can market incentives align with climate priorities? And how do we hold big corporations accountable? We speak with Mindy Lubber, CEO and president of Ceres, a sustainability nonprofit driving climate solutions through a surprising demographic – influential investors and fortune 500 companies.

Mindy breaks down investors’ call for action leading up to COP26 and how, if we really want to create change, influencing corporate interest is part of the solution. 

The good news is: we can look back to nature for solutions. 

In this episode we speak with Sandra Postel, one of the world’s leading freshwater experts, about how solutions rooted in nature - like cover cropping and river restoration - are key to mending the broken water cycle.

We also speak with Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy, a Director of River Restoration for American Rivers, about a demolition project along the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvaniad.

She sees dam removal as a critical first step to river restoration. mending our planet's broken water cycle.  

About our guests:

Sandra Postel is an American conservationist, a leading expert on international water issues, and Director of the Global Water Policy Project. She is the winner of the 2021 Stockholm Water Prize. During her years at the Worldwatch Institute in Washington, DC, she was early in adopting a multi-disciplinary approach to water, after having studied geology, political science, and environmental management.

In 1994 Postel founded the Global Water Policy Project. She is also the co-creator of the water stewardship initiative Change the Course, as well as a prolific writer and a sought-after communicator. Between 2009 and 2015, Postel served as Freshwater Fellow of the National Geographic Society. 

Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy

Lisa joined American Rivers in 2008 to work with communities, individuals, government, and other non-profit organizations to facilitate the removal of dams that have outlived their useful life. She has been involved in the removal of nearly 100 obsolete dams.Lisa is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and brings more than three decades of experience in community and regional planning, environmental and resource protection planning, water resource management, project management, community economic revitalization, geology, and hydrogeology to her position.Lisa was an associate producer for American Rivers’ documentary “Restoring America’s Rivers,” and has completed several demonstration projects using Large Wood Debris for river restoration and aquatic habitat in Pennsylvania.

It’s no surprise growing food uses lots of water.

One cow needs anywhere from 3 to 30 L of water a day. It takes 3200 L of water to grow one pound of lentils.

In this episode we ask, what do we do when there's not enough water to feed our food?

Here in Canada, 2021 made history as prairie farmers experienced one of the worst droughts western North America has seen in the last 1,200 years. After three years of reduced precipitation, prolonged dry spells change everything from the crops we’re able to grow, right down to the cost of the food on our plates. 

In this episode, we hear from Merle Massie and Reg Lowe -- Saskatchewan farmers who are experiencing the impact of drought and unpredictable precipitation firsthand.

Jay talks with Leon Kochian, Associate Director of the Global Institute for Food Security, about the 'root' of the problem. We look at how far science has come in breeding drought-resistant crops to help farmers adapt to both floods and water scarcity, and at where it's headed as we try to feed an ever-expanding human population.

This month, residents were alerted not to drink or cook with water due to contamination. But for years, the city’s main water supply - Lake Geraldine - has experienced dropping levels. And overall, climate change is impacting everything from the city’s water supply, to thawing permafrost.

Janet Pitsiulaaq Brewster served as Deputy Mayor of Iqaluit, and was recently elected to her territory's legislature.

In this episode, recorded shortly after that alert was issued, she shares how the people of Iqaluit are coping with these water challenges and what they mean for the Inuit and their traditional way of life.

Katharine Hayhoe’s new book, Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World, is a practical and compassionate guide for talking about climate change across differences.

Combining her research with thousands of conversations with everyday people, Hayhoe shows us how shared values can activate ordinary citizens to become climate change champions.

Hayhoe joins us for our first episode of the third season to discuss reframing the climate conversation and the foundation for real climate hope: action.