Udall Center: Robert Varady

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Staff

Robert G. Varady, Ph.D.
Deputy Director and Director of Environmental Policy Programs
Research Professor of Environmental Policy and of Arid Lands Studies
Adjunct Professor of Hydrology and Water Resources
Director, Joint International Unit on Water, Environment and Policy

Address: 803 E. First St., Tucson, AZ 85719
Phone: (520) 626-4393
E-mail: rvarady@u.arizona.edu

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Robert Varady is deputy director and director of environmental programs at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at The University of Arizona. He is also a research professor of environmental policy at the Udall Center, research professor of arid lands studies, and adjunct professor of hydrology and water resources. Varady obtained his Ph.D. in 1981 in modern history from the University of Arizona, and holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in mathematics from the City College of New York and the Polytechnic University, respectively.

At the Udall Center since 1989, Varady's work mostly has addressed environmental and water-management policy in arid regions, with an emphasis on transboundary issues, especially along the U.S.-Mexico border. He spent the 2003-04 academic year on sabbatical in Paris at UNESCO's International Hydrological Programme, studying the history, evolution, and significance of global water initiatives—a subject on which he is continuing to write.

Varady is president of the International Water History Association (IWHA), having served as vice president, and before that, secretary of the association.

He also has directed environmental and agricultural projects in West Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. He has published essays on environmental history and policy, agricultural development, information management, and transportation systems.

CURRENT PROJECTS

projects and funding sources

> Global Water Initiatives
> Transboundary Environment, Climate, and Water
> Water and Climate in Southwest U.S./Northern Sonora (Inter-American Institute; NOAA)
> Joint International Unit on Water, Environment and Policy (UA/CNRS)

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

*Conservation of Shared Environments: Learning from the United States and Mexico* López-Hoffman, Laura, Emily McGovern, Robert G. Varady, and Karl Flessa, eds. 2009 (in press). Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

Transboundary ecosystem services on the Mexico-US border: Policy options for shared services López-Hoffman, Laura, Robert G. Varady, Karl Flessa, and Patricia Balvandera. 2009 (in press). Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

Charting the emergence of "Global Water Initiatives" in world water governance Varady, Robert G., Katherine Meehan, and Emily McGovern. 2009. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 34: 150-5. [pdf]

Global Water Initiatives: What do the experts think? Report on a survey of leading figures in the 'World of Water' Varady, Robert G., and Matthew Iles-Shih. 2009. In Impacts of Megaconferences on the Water Sector, ed. Asit K. Biswas and Cecelia Tortajada, 15-85. London: Springer Verlag. [pdf]

Hydrosolidarity and international water conflict Gerlack, Andrea, Robert G. Varady, and Arin Haverland. 2009. International Negotiations 14: 311-28.

Integrating science and policy for water management Richter, Holly, David C. Goodrich, Anne Browning-Aiken, Robert G. Varady. 2009. In Ecology and Conservation of the San Pedro River, ed. Julie C. Stromberg and Barbara J. Tellman, 388-406. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. [pdf]

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and environment in the U.S.-Mexico border region Varady, Robert G., Katherine Meehan, and Emily McGovern. 2009. In Encyclopedia of Environment and Society, ed. Paul Robbins. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. [pdf]

What's old and what's new in arid lands water management Hutchinson, Charles F., Robert G. Varady, and Sam Drake. 2009. In Water and Sustainability in Arid Regions: Bridging the Gap Between Physical and Social Sciences, ed. Graciela Schneier-Madanes and Marie François Courel. New York: Springer.

Science and socio-ecological sustainability: Examples from the Arizona-Sonora border Morehouse, Barbara J., Daniel B. Ferguson, Gigi Owen, Anne Browning-Aiken, Pablo Wong-Gonzales, Nicolás Pineda, and Robert Varady. 2008. Environmental Science and Policy 11: 272-84. [pdf]

Strengthening global water initiatives to sustain world water governance Varady, Robert G., Katherine Meehan, John Rodda, Matthew Iles-Shih, and Emily McGovern. 2008. Environment 50: 18-31. [pdf]

A flood of institutions? Sustaining global water initiatives Varady, Robert G., and Katherine Meehan. 2006. Water Resources Impact 8: 19-22. [pdf]

“Mega-networking” at the Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico City: looking for opportunities at a megaconference Varady, R. G., M. Wilder, S. Eden, A. Browning-Aiken, K. Jacobs, and J. Valdes. 2006. “Guest View” in Arizona Water Resource 14,4:6. [pdf]

The birth of a Mexican watershed council in the San Pedro basin in Sonora Varady, Robert G., and Anne Browning-Aiken. 2005. In Planeación y cooperación transfronteriza en la frontera México-Estados Unidos (Transboundary Planning and Cooperation in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region), ed. César Fuentes-Flores and Sergio Peña-Medina. Ciudad Juárez: El Colegio de la Frontera Norte & Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Ambiente y Desarrollo.

Asuntos ambientales en la frontera México-Estados Unidos: Temas y acciones Liverman, D., R.G. Varady, O. Chávez, R. Sánchez, A. Browning-Aiken, and L. Stauber. 2004. In Fronteras en América del Norte: Estudios multidisciplinarios, ed. A. Mercado Celis and E. Gutiérrez Romero. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Centro de Investigaciones Sobre América del Norte.

Global water initiatives: their evolution and significance Varady, R. G. . 2004. IAHR/AIRH (formerly International Association for Hydraulic Research) Newsletter 42(2): 22. [pdf]

The US-Mexican Border Environment Cooperation Commission: Collected perspectives on the first two weeks Varady, Robert G., David Colnic, Robert Merideth, and Terry Sprouse. 1997. Journal of Borderland Studies 11: 89-113.

MORE INFORMATION

Curriculum Vitae [pdf]

Research [website]