Amber Wutich, an ASU professor who has dedicated her career to specializing in water insecurity research, was recently named to the National Academy of Sciences. Wutich, who is the President’s Professor at ASU’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss her work and her new role.
The program is a panel created in the United States designed to help advise the government. Members are often asked to assist the government with special reports on how they could make better policy and conduct better research.
Wutich says this achievement was a shock to her. Even though she was awarded the MacArthur Fellow in 2023 also for water insecurity research, Wutich says the MacArthur Fellow rewarded her for what she could do, this membership was granted to her based on what she has done.
The position is still very new to Wutich, but she hopes to share what is being done in Arizona to combat water insecurity and use that information to influence future policy.
“Arizona is frequently focused as being this, sort of, difficult site for water. But, what people often forget, is that we are historically a site of extraordinary innovation,” Wutich said. “When I fly into the city of Phoenix and I look down at those canal systems that were created by the Hohokam, and still used today, I feel such inspiration.”
As an anthropologist, Wutich believes that society needs to first recognize that there is a problem with water insecurity, and then look back through human history to understand what they should do and what they could do better.
Another key component of water insecurity, that Wutich says people can do today, is to know your nieghbors.
“If you have a water breakage, going to your neighbor and asking for a bucket of water is the most common survival strategy in the world,” Wutich said. “Another, we know, is that as water gets more unsafe, people rely on their neighbors or their family members to haul water to them.”
