This summer EDGES & the PoWG are fortunate to have three new research assistants joining us to work on water research. Welcome to Jesse, Andrew and Iesha!
Jesse Way: 
Jesse is a recent graduate of the Natural Resources Conservation program within the Faculty of Forestry (BSc, Hons. Co-op). He is now completing a Certificate in Watershed Management though the Faculty of Land and Food Systems as well as the Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture through the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at the UBC Farm.
Jesse has experience working in the mining industry focusing on projects associated with water monitoring and mine reclamation. He has also worked as a research assistant in a Stream & Riparian Ecology Lab where he worked on projects investigating human impacts on fresh water ecosystems through forestry, agriculture and Run-of-River hydroelectric dams. He is particularly interested in the relationship between food and water and how human consumption patterns and methods of food production use and impact the natural environment including water resources and the people that depend on them.
Iesha Yue Wan Zhao Yuan:
Iesha is an undergraduate student in Bio-resource/Environmental Engineering at McGill university, where she worked on a bio-char research project and in the water-soil quality lab. She is currently assisting Dr.Harris’ research team on several water governance projects, including an analysis of submissions on the BC Water Sustainability Act. Iesha comes from a region where water is scarce and therefore precious and contentious; she chose to study environmental engineering with a focus on water resources in order to help alleviate the water shortage problem in her home region.
Andrew K. MacKinnon:
Andrew is an undergraduate student majoring in Environmental Science: Land, Air and Water accompanied with a minor in Economics at the University of British Columbia. He is currently completing various tasks for Dr. Leila Harris and her work with the Program on Water Governance. He acquired the technical and practical skills needed for sustainable solutions to the global water crisis throughout his university coursework. Andrew is the president of the undergraduate environmental science student association and works towards collaborating with like-minded students to propose new ideas aimed at educating communities on the importance of sustainability and resource management. His interests include understanding the interrelationships of socio-economic and environmental hardships felt across the world, specifically in developing countries. His recent academic achievements include an independent study on the diurnal vertical migration of zooplankton in the Pacific Ocean and completion of various environmental and social impact assessments.