Christopher Scott works on the Arid Americas and Andes-Himalayas components of the International Water Security Network. He is Director of the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, Professor at the School of Geography & Development (see: Water Resources and Policy Group), Distinguished Scholar at the University of Arizona, adjunct professor in several other UA departments, and Co-Director of the AQUASEC Center of Excellence for Water Security. He has fifteen years of previous experience outside the academy, including serving as the first India Director of the International Water Management Institute, IWMI Mexico Program Leader, and working for NGOs, government agencies, and applied-research institutes. Chris obtained his Ph.D. and M.S. in hydrology from Cornell University, and holds B.S. and B.A. degrees from Swarthmore College. He speaks Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, and Nepali.
Chris is an interdisciplinary scholar with expertise and practical experience in climate adaptation, the water-energy-food nexus, water reuse, groundwater irrigation, and watershed management in the Southwest U.S., Latin America, and South Asia. His applied research emphasizes the importance of science-policy dialogues with particular attention to ecosystem services, groundwater depletion, water reuse, and transboundary adaptive management. Chris is a member of numerous scientific associations and has provided programmatic reviews for the U.S. National Science Foundation, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, World Bank, European donors, and others. He is coordinating lead author of the water security chapter of the Hindu Kush Himalayan Monitoring and Assessment Programme (HIMAP). He has twenty years of experience in leading teams and collaborating with diverse partners. He is a skilled public speaker and effectively communicates with the media.
