An 18-member Science Working Group provides technical expertise on the development of the Freshwater Health Index, from the conceptual framework to indicator design and implementation. The group includes global experts on hydrology, ecology, agroecology, land cover change, climate change, economics and water governance and policy.

Dr. Sandy Andelman

President and CEO of the Organization for Tropical Studies

Dr. Andelman, former Chief Scientist and Senior Vice President of the Betty and Gordon Moore Center for Science and Oceans at Conservation International, has pioneered the creation of global monitoring and forecasting systems for climate change and ecological change to recognize and predict thresholds of environmental degradation in time to promote resilient human societies. She has a Ph.D. in behavioral ecology from the University of Washington.

Dr. Chusit Apirumanekul

Research Fellow, Stockholm Environment Institute

Dr. Apirumanekul is a hydrologist with professional experience in the field of hydro-meteorology, integrated water resource management, flood disaster risk management, flood modeling, early warning system and capacity building, especially in the Lower Mekong Region. He also has experience in flood and water resources modelling. 

Dr. Tim Capon

Agricultural and Natural Resources Economist with CSIRO Land and Water

Dr. Capon’s research includes the application of behavioral and experimental economics to understanding the factors that shape decisions and market outcomes. Recent research focuses on understanding how a real options decision framework can be used to investigate how uncertainties about future climate affect the adaptation and transformation of agricultural and natural systems. 

Dr. Naresh Devineni

Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and NOAA Cooperative Remote Sensing Science and Technology Center

Dr. Devineni has expertise in hydro-climate modeling, water sustainability and risk assessment, water systems analysis and statistical methods for water resources. His work addresses the impacts of climate variability on water resources, exploring floods and droughts, their climate determinants over multiple centuries, and how these may affect interlinked human activities at multiple scales. 

Dr. David Dudgeon

Professor of Ecology & Biodiversity and Director of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Hong Kong

Dr. Dudgeon has more than 30 years’ experience as a teacher and researcher and is the author of over 200 scientific papers, numerous book chapters and several books on freshwater ecology and biodiversity conservation. In 2000, he was awarded the Biwako Prize in Ecology by the Japanese government. He is Editor-in-Chief of Freshwater Biology. 

Dr. Tracy A. Farrell

Regional Director, Greater Mekong Program, Conservation International

Dr. Farrell has 10 years of experience aligning research and field activities to ensure solid program delivery. Previously, she served as dean for the School for Field Studies and was also a visiting professor for Virginia Tech’s Department of Forestry.

Dr. Isabelle Fauconnier

Water Policy and Sustainability Advisor for the Global Water Programme at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

Dr. Fauconnier has worked on institutional reform and governance of water services provision and water resources management for over 15 years. She has specifically focused on linking poverty, social equity and economic development concerns with the improved management of water services and resources. She holds a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Dr. Glen MacDonald

Distinguished Professor and the John Muir Memorial Chair of Geography at UCLA

Dr. MacDonald works on issues of climate change and its impacts, particularly in terms of water resources and wetland systems.  He is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and a Guggenheim Fellow. 

Dr. Matthew McCartney

Theme Leader on Ecosystem Services for the International Water Management Institute

Dr. McCartney specializes in water resources and wetland and hydro-ecological studies. He has participated in a wide range of research and applied projects, primarily in Africa and Asia. He was a steering committee member on the UNEP Dams Development Project (2002-2004) and a member of the Ramsar Science and Technical Review Panel (2007-2015).   

Dr. Amy McNally

Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Hydrological Science Laboratory, NASA Goddard and UMD ESSIC

Dr. McNally is studying water resource availability in sub-Saharan Africa and Yemen for the Famine Early Warning Systems Network. Using remotely sensed data and land surface models, her research focuses on improving estimates of soil moisture and evapotranspiration for agricultural drought and water resources monitoring. She holds a Ph.D. in Geography at the University of California Santa Barbara.

Dr. Cho Nam Ng

Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at The University of Hong Kong

Dr. Ng’s expertise lies in environmental policy and planning, environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment, nature and heritage conservation, sustainable development, and climate change and energy policy. He received his PhD from Lancaster University.  

Dr. Alison (Sunny) Power

Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Department of Science and Technology Studies

Dr. Power’s research focuses on biodiversity conservation in managed ecosystems, interactions between agricultural and natural ecosystems, agroecology, the ecology and evolution of plant pathogens, invasive species, and tropical ecology.  She served as Vice-President for Public Affairs for the Ecological Society of America and as the Presidential University Fellow of the Nature Conservancy. 

Dr. Helen Regan

Professor in the Biology Department at the University of California Riverside

Dr. Helen Regan received Bachelor of Science and PhD degrees in applied mathematics. She serves on the IUCN Red List Standards and Petitions Subcommittee and on the editorial boards of the journals Ecology Letters and Diversity and Distributions.

Dr. Kashif Shaad

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Conservation International Singapore

Dr. Kashif Shaad is developing the data resources and modeling approaches for the Freshwater Health Index. He completed his PhD in Environmental Engineering from ETH Zurich and holds a Masters in HyDroinformatics. His research includes developing mathematical models and informatics tools for improving water management.

Dr. Rebecca Shaw

Chief Scientist and Senior Vice President at the World Wildlife Foundation

Dr. Shaw previously led the Land, Water & Wildlife program at the Environmental Defense Fund and served as Director of Conservation Science at The Nature Conservancy. She is a lead author of the section of the 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fifth Assessment Report that focuses on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. She holds a Ph.D. in energy and resources from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Dr. Nicholas Souter

Mekong Case Study Manager, Conservation International Cambodia

Dr. Souter’s areas of expertise are in conservation biology and natural resource management. Previously, he managed Fauna & Flora International’s University Capacity Building Project in partnership with the Royal University of Phnom Penh.

Dr. Caroline Sullivan

Professor of Environmental Economics and Policy at the Southern Cross University, NSW Australia

Dr. Sullivan has been involved in water and forestry research around the world for over 20 years. She conceived of and led the work on the development of the widely cited Water Poverty Index and has worked on the development of a variety of indices with the FAO, the African Development Bank and the governments of Canada, the United Kingdom, Fiji and others.

Dr. Derek Vollmer

Director, Freshwater Health Index

Dr. Vollmer previously worked as a doctoral researcher within the Future Cities Laboratory at the Singapore-ETH Centre for Global Environmental Sustainability. He holds a M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in Spatial Planning from ETH Zurich, Switzerland.

Dr. Raymond Yu Wang

Associate Professor in School of Government, Sun Yat-sen University

Dr. Wang holds a Ph.D. in Geography from The University of Hong Kong, where he continued post-doctoral research in Faculty of Social Sciences. His main areas of expertise include water governance, environmental policy and environmental politics in China.