Malin Falkenmark

Malin Falkenmark "is the Senior Scientist at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and Chair of the Scientific Program Committee for the Stockholm Water Symposium, an annual meeting on global water issues convened each August to develop practical solutions and strategies that will help to alleviate the world water crisis. Prof. Falkenmark is Professor Emerita of Applied and International Hydrology at the former Swedish Natural Sciences Research Council and tied to the Department of Systems Ecology at the Stockholm University. For many years Prof. Falkenmark worked as a hydrologist at the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute in Stockholm. Since 1965 she has served as Scientific Secretary and later also Executive Member of the Committee for Hydrology at the Natural Sciences Research Council, Stockholm, where in 1986 she received a personal chair as Professor of Applied and International Hydrology. During her career, Prof. Falkenmark has served as an expert in several international and Swedish Governmental Committees. Since 1993 she has been a member of the UN Committee on Natural Resources and was in 1999 elected to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for Development by the United Nations' Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Among her most influential achievements in Sweden is the chairing of two preparatory committees at Linköping University and the planning of interdisciplinary research at a new Department on Water and Environmental Studies, which has now produced more than 80 PhDs. Much of Prof. Falkenmark's work deals with the problem of water scarcity in developing countries. She showed early on that the number of individuals that society can successfully support depends on many factors, among which are climate, patterns of water use, technology used and water management capability. She has also claimed that population growth drives countries with low per capita water availability towards a water barrier, which will make it increasingly difficult to satisfy further water demands. Prof. Falkenmark received her education at Uppsala University, Sweden. In her Ph. Lic. she specialised in hydrology with a thesis in 1963. In 1975 she was conferred a Ph. D. Honoris Causa at Linköping University."


 * Winner of the 1998 Volvo Environment Prize
 * Editorial Board, People and Planet