Sandra Postel

Corrales, New Mexico

Sandra is founding director of the Global Water Policy Project and author of 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, aquifers and wetlands. In 2021, Sandra was awarded the Stockholm Water Prize, often described as the Nobel Prize for water.

Sandra works to bridge science, policy and practice to build a more water-secure world for people and nature. She has authored four books (one co-authored with Brian Richter) and numerous articles for scholarly and popular publications, including Science, Natural History, and Scientific American. Her first book, Last Oasis, appeared in eight languages and served as the basis for a television documentary. Sandra appeared in the BBC’s Planet Earth, Leonardo DiCaprio’s The 11th Hour, and the National Geographic Channel’s Breakthrough series. Previously, Sandra served as vice president for research at the Worldwatch Institute. The recipient of several honorary degrees, Sandra has taught water policy courses at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, as well as at Mt. Holyoke College, where she also directed the Center for the Environment. She lives in the Rio Grande watershed.