Global Vision, Global Action: Water for the World

(Photo: Allen McInnis)

Sarah Lee spent her summer in the middle of the Negev Desert. “It was incredibly beautiful and different – like living on the sunny side of the moon.”

A master’s candidate in integrated water resources management at McGill’s Macdonald Campus, Lee interned at the Blaustein Institute for Desert Research of Ben-Gurion University, studying the role of desalinization in Israel’s water management strategy.

“I conducted in-depth interviews with water authority personnel, academics, environmentalists, and other key decision-makers,” says Lee, who worked with Israeli experts including her supervisor, Dr. Yaakov Garb. She describes the experience as “so broad and interesting” and plans to publish at least one article from her research.

The first recipient of a Norman Zavalkoff Family Foundation Travel Fund for Water Resources Management, Lee is keenly appreciative of donor generosity. She received her BA from Cornell University, and readily acknowledges her time there would not have been possible without “robust financial aid, some helpful grants – and working three jobs!”

After her BA, Lee spent 33 months with the Peace Corps, gaining grassroots experience in African communities. “After that, I knew I wanted to study water scarcity, and I’d always dreamed of coming to McGill.”

How did she prepare for her summer? “I did a lot of reading and I wrote some papers. But there’s nothing like actually being there.”