meet water talk
The goal of Water Talk is to bring communities across California together to talk about water issues, including climate change, scarcity, and access.
A podcast by California scientists for the water curious
Find us on your favorite podcast player!
iTunes | Google Play | Spotify
our podcast hosts
Dr. Mallika Nocco
Mallika is an Assistant Professor in Cooperative Extension specializing in soil-plant-water relations and irrigation management and director of the Conservation Irrigation Lab at the University of California, Davis. She is a 2014 EPA STAR Fellow and 2017 David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellow who is passionate about policy-relevant science and communication. Find her on Twitter @mallika_nocco.
Dr. Faith Kearns
Faith is a scientist and science communication practitioner with the Arizona Water Innovation Initiative at Arizona State University. She writes primarily about water and drought, wildfire, and climate change. Kearns is the author of Getting to the Heart of Science Communication: A Guide to Engagement and her work has been published at New Republic, On Being, Bay Nature, and more. Find her on Bluesky @fkearns and at faithkearns.com.
Dr. Samuel
Sandoval
Samuel is a Professor and Cooperative Extension in Water Resources Management at University of California, Davis. He has developed effective communication programs in English and Spanish for topics related to water and created virtual forums that foster communities of scientists for exchanging ideas, collaborative projects, fact checking and myth busters. To learn more, visit his website.
Meet our production support team
Victoria Roberts
I am a fourth-year student at UC Davis studying Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems and minoring in Native American Studies. I hope to become a sustainable agriculture outdoor educator and teach people about how to make food choices that are healthy, culturally appropriate, and ecologically sustainable.
Paloma Herrera-Thomas
I am a third-year student majoring in Environmental Science & Management at UC Davis. Collaborating with the Water Talk team provides holistic insight into how natural resources interweave through cultural, ecological, and structural contexts. I believe that learning about current water topics will lead my career after I graduate as I work with communities and governments to communicate and solve pressing environmental issues.
This podcast is supported in part by the University of California Renewable Resources Extension Act Program.