An Evening Sharing and Networking Session in Oxford

Join us in the Place Suite and Diversity rooms at the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, for a chance to hear about experiences from senior women and network with others working on water challenges. The first hour of the event will be a discussion–led by senior women working on water issues–followed by a second hour of networking.

CWiW is pleased to host this event with the Oxford Water Network (OWN). This in-person event is open to all women working on water issues. Please be sure to register to get additional event details. 

Senior Women Speakers

Professor Katrina Charles

Professor Charles’ research focuses on environmental health risks, using interdisciplinary approaches to analyse how we construct our understanding of environmental health risks, and how to communicate those risks to affect change. With her research team, which includes expertise in water quality, health and social sciences, and through partnerships with UNICEF and governments, she is leading work on drinking water quality and climate resilience that will help progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal for safe drinking water quality for all (SDG 6.1). Her work has been funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), World Health Organization, UK Research & Innovation (UKRI), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and includes work in Bangladesh, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Rwanda, and Uganda. Professor Charles undertook her PhD on a risk-based approach to management of decentralized wastewater treatment systems in Sydney’s drinking water catchments in Australia. She joined the University of Oxford in 2013 having previously been a lecturer at the University of Surrey.

Dr Ines Smyth

Dr Ines Smyth has a PhD in Social Anthropology with an expertise in gender equality and women’s rights. After a decade in academia, she became a practitioner working on development and humanitarian responses with organisations such as Oxfam and the Asian Development Bank. Since 2014, she has been an independent consultant whose clients include UN agencies, FairTrade, GreenPeace, ActionAid, Diaconia, and INTRAC. Her work is largely in Myanmar now. Her many published works include Transforming gender inequalities. Practical guidance for achieving gender transformation in resilient development (openrepository.com) and The Disaster Crunch Model: Guidelines for a Gendered Approach (openrepository.com).

Leslie Morris-Iveson
Leslie Morris-Ivesonis chartered water and environment consultant with experience working for non-profits and international organizations on programs and policy for over 23 years. Leslie started her career working for the Canadian government and environmental charities and private consulting, but then went on to spend 15 years working for both UNICEF and Oxfam GB at headquarters and field-based roles in global water policy, disaster coordination and WASH programming roles. She is now a director of a small consultancy offering strategic advisory support to the world’s leading international organizations, INGOs and donors in water. Some of her clients have included UNICEF (Headquarters and Regions), Greenpeace, WWF, WaterAid, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), The Coca Cola Foundation, The Nile Basin Initiative and The World Bank. She has authored flagship policy and advocacy reports and is the co-author of IWA’s recent open access publication Resilience of Water Supply in Practice: Experiences from the Frontline. 

Samantha Yates

Samantha Yates is Principal of Global Strategy at Aither, a water and environmental consultancy where she leads multi-scale projects all over the world. For almost a decade prior, Samantha was the Secretary General of the Global Water Leaders Group (GWLG) where she led global thinking for best practice on water utility performance and gold standard innovation amongst the GWLG’s vast network of utility CEOs, regulators and water ministers across 100 countries on all inhabited continents. Samantha has also worked in various research and consultancy roles, including water treatment technology markets for unconventional oil and gas, flood pump markets in China, and more. She is a regular speaker at international conferences and has received many awards and accolades for her contribution to the water sector such as two World Water Leadership Awards. She is an alum of the Master of Science in Water Science, Policy and Management from the University of Oxford.

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