About the Center
Founded in 2016, NU Water is the home for all things water at Northwestern. As the only R1 university on the Great Lakes, and with 50+ faculty across 7 schools interested in water, we are extremely well-positioned to lead in the water space.
Our mission is to promote water security globally—that is, better access to reliable and safe water for a healthy life. We achieve this through great science, top-notch education, and policy-relevant outreach around the world. We firmly believe that the best work is done across disciplines, so we prioritize facilitating collaboration between faculty and students across all 12 colleges at NU.
Our goal is to lead on innovations in water quality (purification, sensing, safety), water availability (resources, supply, reuse), and ensuring societal well-being (prosperity, health). At their intersection is water security. Technical expertise in each of these domains is coupled with excellence in education and policy-relevant outreach, to ensure broad impact.
Faculty Leadership
Aaron Packman
Center Co-Director
Sera Young
Center Co-Director
Affiliated Faculty
Patricia Beddows
Professor of Instruction, Earth, Environment, and Planetary Sciences
Expertise: Karst and cave systems, hydrogeology, open-source instrumentation
Bryan Brayboy
Dean, School of Education and Social Policy
Expertise: Water as a pedagogical partner
William Dichtel
Professor of Chemistry
Expertise: Water purification; PFAS
Vinayak Dravid
Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
Expertise: Water purification
Jennifer Dunn
Professor, Chemical and Biological Engineering.
Expertise: Water consumption and quality effects of energy and materials systems
Omar Farha
Professor of Chemistry
Expertise: Water capture and remediation
Paul Gillingham
Professor, History
Expertise: History of Water in Mexico
Mark Hauser
Professor of Anthropology
Expertise: Archeological records of water
Daniel Horton
Associate Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences
Expertise: Climate change and water
Julius Lucks
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Expertise: Synthetic Biology and biosensors
Magdalena Osburn
Associate Professor of Earth, Environment, and Planetary Sciences
Expertise: Modern and ancient aqueous environments
Robert Weinstock
Clinical Professor & Director, Environmental Advocacy Center
Expertise: State and federal laws about water quality and protection
George Wells
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Expertise: Environmental biotechnology
Student Leadership Council (Wave Makers)
Ally Snead
Ann Sinclair
Clare McGillis
Emma Shapiro
Joaquina Noriega
Kelly Matuszewski
Staff
Emilie Giacobbe
Director of Operations and Outreach of NAISE
Jordan Price
Business Administrator of NAISE
Sanaiya Khatwani
CoWERC Project Manager
Sawyer Bohannan
NU Water Program Assistant
Vanessa Bly
NU Water Visual Storyteller
Friends of NU Water
