According to a UNM press release, John Fleck has been named director of UNM’s Water Resources Program.
Fleck, a professor of practice in water policy and governance in the Department of Economics, has been the Water Resources Program’s writer-in-residence since January 2015, according to the press release.
According to the release, Fleck is a former staff writer for the Albuquerque Journal, and has taught water policy and governance, as well as technical and scientific communication in the Water Resources Program since 2013.
He elicited his position as writer-in-residence to complete "Water is For Fighting Over: and Other Myths about Water in the West," a study of the water issues facing New Mexico and the Colorado River Basin and possible solutions, according to the press release. He has also written about water issues in southern California, New Mexico and across the western United States.
“Working with UNM Water Resources Program students over the last few years has been incredibly rewarding,” Fleck is quoted as saying in the press release. “The chance to continue that work as the program’s director, to connect our students with faculty working on water across the UNM campus to find ways to solve our water problems, is an exciting opportunity.”
According to the release, the Water Resources Program, an interdisciplinary program housed in Graduate Studies, brings together faculty from across UNM to work on New Mexico’s water problems and solutions.
The program’s main focus is on training future water managers in hydroscience and water policy and management, according to the press release. Fleck succeeds Economics Professor Robert Berrens, who headed the program since 2013.
