Water Institute Symposium Keynote Speakers Announced

The Water Institute is excited to announce Dr. Joseph Shapiro and Dr. Elizabeth Anderson as the keynote speakers for the 2026 Biennial Water Institute Symposium. Their interdisciplinary and integrative expertise brings a unique perspective regarding pressing water challenges throughout the now three-day symposium. 

Dr. Sapiro is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, in Agricultural and Resource Economics and the Department of Economics. His research studies two areas: the interactions of globalization and the environment, and the effectiveness, efficiency, and equity of environmental policy. His work examines water pollution, air pollution, clean energy, and renewable and exhaustible natural resources with links to the economics of international trade, public finance, and health. Dr. Shapiro also serves as a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a Research Associate at the Energy Institute of Haas. Dr. Shapiro is the inventor of a machine learning technology which is under license to help firms comply with Clean Water Act regulation, and he has received an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, a Kiel Institute Excellence in Global Affairs Award, and a Marshall Scholarship. 

Dr. Anderson is a freshwater conservation ecologist based at Florida International University in the Department of Earth and Environment. Her work aims to increase scientific knowledge of the importance of a river’s flow to people and the ecosystem and have that knowledge be applied to freshwater conservation and management. This extends to an international scale, with her work taking place in South Florida, the Amazon Basin, and East Africa. Dr. Anderson’s work has built collaboration networks across the world, and her research has been supported by the MacArther Foundation, the Tinker Foundation, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the National Geographic. Dr. Anderson is a three-time recipient of a Fullbright from the U.S. Department of State that has taken her work to Costa Rica, Peru, and Colombia.  

Learn more about how to participate in the UF Water Institute Symposium as a speaker or sponsor on the symposium webpage here. 

October 7, 2025