Water & Climate: Not Everything Is Negative
27/10/09 15:53
I had a bit of press
coverage during World Water Week last August. I'll
spare you from the article that appeared in the
People's Daily Worker in China, but
ThinkGloballyRadio.org conducted a nice 30-minute
interview (and I didn't say "uh" too much either,
which was a relief). You can stream the interview
at the station's website and clicking on the episode
listed (at the top right of the window) as
091011. I talk about the impacts of climate
change on freshwater ecosystems, the ability of
climate change to bring disparate groups
together, and the state (as of August 2009) of
international freshwater adaptation policy
leading up to
COP15.
There are hilarious
aspects of the interview in the backstory — one of
the hosts refers to me as "Dr. Matthews," while the
other calls me "Prof. Matthews." In Europe, the
honorific "professor" is very important and highly
restricted. A professor in much of Europe refers to
someone who has a high-ranking position in a
university, such as the director of a research
unit. In North America, "professor" just means
someone who teaches at a university or college.
Both usually imply a PhD, but not necessarily.
However, in a background check for the ministerial
panel at World Water Week (described
here), the
Stockholm International Water Institute
(SIWI) asked me if I had an
affiliation with a university; I said, yes,
vaguely. I am not on any payroll, for instance.
But I am linked to a department at a university.
They said, Great! And suddenly I began receiving
these promotional materials that listed me as
Professor John Matthews.
When I went back to my contact, I said, What's with this professor thing? She began to giggle. We needed you to sound very impressive in order to have you speak on the same stage as the ministers. I have yet to live this down with my colleagues in our freshwater network. I have been greeted as professor John over many thousands of kilometers since last August.
Anyway, it's a good interview.
When I went back to my contact, I said, What's with this professor thing? She began to giggle. We needed you to sound very impressive in order to have you speak on the same stage as the ministers. I have yet to live this down with my colleagues in our freshwater network. I have been greeted as professor John over many thousands of kilometers since last August.
Anyway, it's a good interview.
