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Pacific Institute

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The Pacific Institute (full legal name: the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security) is an American non-profit research institute created in 1987 to provide independent research and policy analysis on issues of development, environment, and security, with a particular focus on global and regional freshwater issues. It is located in Oakland, California (USA).[1] The focus of the Institute is to find solutions to problems like water shortages and contamination, environmental conflicts, global climate change, and environmental terrorism. The mission of the Institute is to "conduct interdisciplinary research and partner with stakeholders to produce solutions that advance environmental protection, economic development, and social equity—in California, nationally, and internationally."[2]

Since its founding, the Institute staff has analyzed scientific and policy issues, published papers, and provided both community and high-level policy workshops and briefings around water, climate, energy, environmental security, globalization, and more, with a special focus on issues in the hydrologic sciences, water management, and water policy. Its interdisciplinary approach is applied to resource issues, strategies for community involvement, and economic globalization, and they also address the misuse and abuse of science in the policy context.[3] The Institute has also worked on new thinking around sustainable water resources management and use.[4] In 2011, the Institute was awarded the first U.S. Water Prize. Researchers at the Institute also defined the concept of peak water.[5] The Institute's most well-known publication is the The World's Water: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources(published by Island Press, Washington, D.C.).[6][7][8] In 2012, the Institute produced a new book "A 21st Century U.S. Water Policy" (published by Oxford University Press).[9]

The director and co-founder of the Pacific Institute is Dr. Peter Gleick, a MacArthur Fellow and member of the National Academy of Sciences.[10]

Research

Institute researchers in 2014 warned that the lack of replenishment water in the Salton Sea was leading to a "period of very rapid deterioration." With the increased shrinkage, dust storms would increase and a rotten-egg smell could reach to the coastal cities.[11]

Honors/Awards

  • Awarded 2005 Excellence Award for Statewide/Institutional Innovations, California Urban Water Conservation Council
  • Awarded 2007 Top Environmental Achievement Awards for Freshwater Protection and Restoration, Environment Now Foundation
  • Recipient of the 2009 American Water Resources Association's (AWRA) "Csallany Award" for exemplary contributions to water resources
  • Recipient of 2009 Region 9 Award for Environmental Excellence from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
  • 2011 Winner of the first U.S. Water Prize
  • Awarded in 2013 the first "Lifetime Achievement" award for Water Conservation by the Silicon Valley Water Conservation Awards Program.

References

  1. ^ "Pacific Institute: Research for People and the Planet". Pacific Institute. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  2. ^ "About the Pacific Institute". Pacific Institute. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  3. ^ See, for example, the Institute's 2007 testimony on the integrity of science to the U.S. Congress. "Testimony of Dr. Peter Gleick" (PDF). Hearing on Climate Change Research and Scientific Integrity. February 7, 2007. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  4. ^ See, for example, reports in Science [2003] and Nature [2002]: Peter Gleick, "Global Freshwater Resources: Soft-Path Solutions for the 21st Century," State of the Planet, Science 302 (November 28, 2003): 1524–28. doi:10.1126/science.1089967. "Soft Water Paths," Nature 418 (July 25, 2002): 373.
  5. ^ Gleick, Peter H.; Palaniappan, M. (2010-04-08). "Peak Water: Conceptual and Practical Limits to Freshwater Withdrawal and Use". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 107 (25): 11155–11162. doi:10.1073/pnas.1004812107.
  6. ^ The World's Water 2006–2007: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources, by Peter H. Gleick et al. [ISBN 1-59726-106-8], Island Press.
  7. ^ The World's Water 2008–2009: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources, by Peter H. Gleick et al. [ISBN 1597265047], Island Press.
  8. ^ The World's Water, Volume 7: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources, by Peter H. Gleick et al. [ISBN 1597269999], Island Press.
  9. ^ Christian-Smith, Juliet; Gleick, Peter, eds. (2012). A 21st Century U.S. Water Policy. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 334. ISBN 978-0-19-985944-3.
  10. ^ "CV for Dr. Peter H. Gleick". Pacific Institute. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  11. ^ Perry, Tony (November 21, 2014) "'Looming environmental crisis' at Salton Sea prompts plea for help" Los Angeles Times
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