Water Dialogue

Dr. Mehdi Nemati is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Economics and Policy at the School of Public Policy, University of California, Riverside. With a strong focus on applied econometric methods and big data analysis, Dr. Nemati’s policy-oriented research centered around economic issues associated with water management. He actively collaborates with government agencies and industry leaders in California and beyond to tackle pressing water policy challenges. Dr. Nemati earned his Ph.D. and master’s in agricultural economics from the University of Kentucky.  He currently leads the Water Dialogue lab at UC Riverside.

Ariel Dinar is a Distinguished Professor of Environmental Economics and Policy at the School of Public Policy, University of California, Riverside. His work addresses various aspects of economic and strategic behavior associated with the management of natural resources and the environment. Dr. Dinar received his Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dr. Dinar is an International Fellow of the Center for Agricultural Economic Research of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel since November 2010; a Fulbright Senior Specialist since 2003; and was named a 2015 Fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

Daniel Crespo (Zaragoza, 1983) is a Ph.D. candidate in economics at the University of Zaragoza in the Department of Economic Analysis. He completed an MSc degree in Economics and a degree in Economics from the University of Zaragoza. He has a PhD scholarship at the Department of Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics, Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria, CITA-Government of Aragon. He is interested in investigating environmental and natural resources economics, environmental and agricultural policies, water modeling and optimization, water management, water scarcity and droughts, and climate change.

Daniel Crespo's research is focused on upstream-downstream conflicts, integration of ecosystems health and environmental benefits in water management, and the analysis of the reliability of water systems in the face of more frequent, longer-lasting, and more intense drought events.

Zachary Frankel is the founder and Executive Director of the Utah Rivers Council.  Zach started the organization in 1995 after he received his B.S. in Biology at the University of Utah in biochemistry and genetics.  Zach has been working on water education and conservation across the American West for over 25 years.  He successfully led a campaign to stop a 257 foot high proposed dam on the Diamond Fork River in 1997 and authored Utah’s first water conservation law, the Utah Water Conservation Plan Act, which was passed in 1998 by the Utah State Legislature.  Zach also wrote legislation passed by the Utah Legislature in 2002 that amended the Bear River Development Act by removing two proposed dams from being constructed on the Bear River.  Zach is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys paddling, hiking, backcountry skiing and cycling.

Nick Halberg is a Research and Policy Analyst at the Utah Rivers Council. His role is to research various scientific topics associated with water policy—from hydrology to economics—and translate those findings into understandable and implementable policy actions inside the Colorado River Basin. Nick graduated magna cum laude from the University of Utah, where he received an honors BS in economics and a BS in philosophy of science. While in school, Nick worked as a print editor for an outdoor-focused magazine and covered natural resource management issues inside Utah.