Peter McCornick to Deliver Keynote at Groundwater Week, Irrigation Show

The National Groundwater Assn. (NGWA) announced that Peter G. McCornick, Ph.D., PE, D.WRE, will deliver a joint keynote address at the co-located 2016 NGWA Groundwater Week and Irrigation Assn. (IA) Irrigation Show and Education Conference. McCornick’s address is titled “Water for Food Security: Solutions for the Context.”

“Food and water security are two major interrelated challenges facing the world,” said McCornick. “Producing enough food for a growing, urbanizing, and wealthier human population requires increasing the use of water and land, placing more pressure on already degraded ecosystems, especially if we do not manage the use of these resources well.”

McCornick is deputy director general for research at the International Water Management Institute in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Later this year, he will assume a new role at the Water for Food Institute at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, in Lincoln, Neb. He earned his doctoral and master’s degrees in water resources and irrigation engineering from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo., and his bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering from Newcastle University in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. He has more than 30 years of experience in international water policy, water resources management and climate adaptation.

Drawing on insights from his work in Africa, Asia, and the U.S., McCornick will explore the water-for-food challenge, including potential solutions and opportunities. Particular emphasis will be given to agricultural water management solutions in terms of technologies, practices, and policies, and to opportunities to address the sustainability of critical groundwater resources.

“As irrigation is dependent upon groundwater in many cases, the co-location of the two events is a natural complementary fit, as is having Dr. McCornick address both audiences,” said NGWA CEO Kevin McCray, CAE.

McCornick will also be featured in NGWA’s Water Well Journal Q&A in its November issue, which focuses on global water. 

The keynote address is open to all IA and NGWA show attendees and exhibitors. For more information on Groundwater Week, visit www.groundwaterweek.com. To learn more about the Irrigation Show, visit www.irrigationshow.org.

Source: National Groundwater Assn.