Tagged Sharon Megdal

High Holiday profiles: Local environmentalists’ passion stems from Jewish roots, family

A view of the Arizona Desert Laboratory from atop Tumamoc Hill, with the sprawl of Tucson beyond it. (Photo Paul Mirocha)
September 11, 2020 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor

The year 2020 has brought us face-to-face with many significant obstacles, from the global coronavirus pandemic to issues of racial injustice. Among the challenges that we are confronting is climate change, which forces us to ask ourselves, “How will we leave the environment for future generations?” In time for… Read more »

Water researcher links arid regions of Arizona, Israel, and Jordan
September 11, 2020 / Sofia Moraga, AJP Intern
Sharon Megdal, Ph.D.

Sharon B. Megdal, Ph.D., director of the Water Resources Research Center at the University of Arizona, was not always interested in water. She studied economics, planning to work in public policy, and became immersed in the world of water as part of that journey. “A lot of people just… Read more »

UA joins global effort with JNF and Israel to secure food, water, energy

(L-R) Jewish National Fund President Sol Lizerbram, JNF Joint Institute Project Co-Director Udi Gat, and Dean of the University of Arizona College of Science and Vice President of Innovation Joaquin Ruiz sign a memorandum of understanding, Sept. 12. Photo courtesy JNF
October 11, 2019 / Nick Enquist, Jewish News, Phoenix

In an effort to boost global agriculture, the University of Arizona has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Jewish National Fund and Israel’s Arava region to establish The JNF Joint Institute for Global Food, Water and Energy Security. The memorandum was signed on Sept. 12 by JNF President… Read more »

UA hosts talks by Israeli water, energy experts

Uri Shani at May 21 University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center lecture on "The Red-Dead Conduit — A Regional Approach to Water Scarcity.”
June 14, 2018 /

As part of the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center’s ongoing efforts to compare water management experiences of Israel and Arizona, the WRRC has scheduled two lectures this spring  and summer. On May 21, Uri Shani, Ph.D., a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, presented “The Red-Dead… Read more »

Nations connect, learn at ‘Wicked Water Problems’ conference in Israel

Sharon Megdal, center, with fellow Central Arizona Project board members Jennifer Brown and Mark Taylor at the ‘Cutting-Edge Solutions to Wicked Water Problems’ conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, September 2017. (Courtesy Jennifer Brown)
October 19, 2017 / Sharon Megdal, Special to the AJP

I recently had the great honor and pleasure of co-chairing the international water conference “Cutting-Edge Solutions to Wicked Water Problems.” Held Sept. 10-11 at Tel Aviv University’s beautiful Porter School of Environmental Studies building, the conference was jointly convened by the American Water Resources Association and the Water Research Center… Read more »

People in the news
June 23, 2017 /

The JEWISH HISTORY MUSEUM/HOLOCAUST HISTORY CENTER presented the Dr. Barry A. Friedman Volunteer of the Year Award to DAVYA M. COHEN at its annual meeting on May 4. Cohen, a volunteer docent at the museum, taught middle school shop for 35 years in Southfield, Mich., before moving to Tucson… Read more »

Israelis prove desalinating water a potent strategy for parched Arizona

Sharon Megdal, director of the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center, and Abraham Tenne, retired Israel Water Authority director of desalination, tour a desalination facility in Hadera, Israel. (Cody Sheehy)
December 3, 2015 / Sharon B. Megdal, Ph.D., Special to the AJP

I just returned from an exciting visit to Israel, my 10th since 2010. Each time I visit the region I learn new things about their efforts to manage water resources. At the WATEC 2015 conference in Tel Aviv, where I was an invited speaker, I had the opportunity to… Read more »

‘Immersed in water’: Sharon Megdal dives into policy and environmental issues
December 27, 2012 / Sheila Wilensky, AJP Associate Editor
Sharon Megdal (third from left) toasts “L’Chaim”with desalinated seawater with her colleagues at a desalination plant in Hadera, Israel.

University of Arizona Distinguished Outreach Professor Sharon Megdal grew up in Irvington, N.J., where scarcity of water wasn’t a problem. After she settled in Tucson in the late 1970s, her perspective began to change. “I lived here a dozen years before becoming immersed in water,” says Megdal, who started… Read more »