The Making Water Insecurity Visible group aims to address major gaps in the measurement and visibility of the underlying issues driving the global water crisis by using ethnographies, surveys and biosensors to produce new data on water insecurity and issues of water quality.

More than two billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services, yet there are major gaps in the measurement and visibility of the underlying issues driving the global water crisis, such as inadequate water infrastructure, demand exceeding supply or institutions failing to balance communities’ needs. This group seeks to shed new light on the water crisis by conducting social science research, engineering testing and remediation solutions and fostering policy conversations that translate data into action. The group will conduct research in the U.S., Mexico and Kenya, using ethnographies, surveys and biosensors to produce new data on water insecurity and issues of water quality.

Co-leads:

• Julius Lucks, Chemical and Biological Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering
• Sera Young, Anthropology and Global Health, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences

Northwestern group members:

• William Dichtel, Chemistry, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
• Jean-François Gaillard, Civil and Environmental Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering
• Charlayne Mitchell Global Health Studies, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
• Noelle Samia, Statistics and Data Science, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
• Robert Weinstock, Clinical Law, Pritzker School of Law

External group members:

• Pablo Gaitán, Research Professor, Ibero-American University's Research Institute for Equitable Development (EQUIDE)
• Simon Thuo, Consultant, Alliance for Global Water Adaptation

• On April 21 and 22, 2023, two members of the Making Water Insecurity Visible working group—Northwestern anthropologist Sera Young, a fellow at the University’s Institute for Policy Research, and Pablo Gaitán Rossi, director of Iberoamericana’s Research Institute for Equitable Development (EQUIDE)—led a meeting that convened 60 thought leaders from across North and South America to discuss how better measurement can lead to global progress in public health.
• On April 26, 2023, group co-lead Sera Young discussed the Making Water Insecurity Visible group's unique approach to its mission during the Foreign Policy Climate Summit panel on "Strategies for Strengthening Water Security," providing insight into how quantifying the types and degrees of water insecurity can inform strategies to more effectively address these vulnerabilities.