Make Water Work Podcast

In this episode of the Make Water Work Catalyst Collab, Isaac Pellerin and Chelsea Boozer (Executive Director, Rogue Water Lab) sit down with Shannon Kring, Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker, director, and president of Red Queen Media. Shannon's work spans more than 70 countries and includes the feature documentary Nine Little Indians (executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and Tony Robbins) and End of the Line: The Women of Stan...

In this episode of the Catalyst Collab, hosts Isaac Pellerin and Chelsea Boozer (Rogue Water Lab) sit down with Ameerah Palacios, APR, Director of Engagement for STV's National Water practice. Ameerah has spent more than two decades helping utilities and public agencies build trust, navigate crisis, and turn complex infrastructure work into real community connection — and she pulls back the curtain on what actually separates ...

No one wants a water main. They want clean water. No one needs a highway. They need to get their kids to school safely.

In this episode of the Make Water Work Catalyst Collab, Isaac Pellerin and Chelsea Boozer (Executive Director, Rogue Water Lab) sit down with Dr. Shalini Vajjhala, Executive Director of PRE Collective, to talk about the messy, unglamorous early stage of infrastructure work that most projects skip, and why skippi...

Most professionals operate at 50 to 70 percent of their communication capacity, and they don't even know it.

In this episode of the Make Water Work Catalyst Collab, Isaac Pellerin and Chelsea Boozer (Executive Director, Rogue Water Lab) sit down with Dr. Bernard Armada, Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of St. Thomas, to unpack why improv, storytelling, and vulnerability might do more for public trust...

Water is the environmental issue Americans care about most, so why does it still struggle to break through the news cycle?

In this episode of the Make Water Work / Catalyst Collab, Isaac Pellerin and Chelsea Boozer (Executive Director, Rogue Water Lab) sit down with Sarah Bucci, Director of Strategic Communications at The Water Hub, to unpack why water coverage gets stuck in silos, jargon, and crisis-only headlines, and what it a...

Most water networks feel like a tight-knit community. The data says otherwise.

In this episode of the Make Water Work Catalyst Collab, host Isaac Pellerin sits down with George Schuler — co-founder of Connecting for Change, systems strategist, and Catalyst 2026 guide — to explore what's actually happening inside the water sector's most critical relationships, networks, and institutions. George has spent nearly three dec...

In this episode of the Make Water Work & Catalyst Collab, Isaac sits down with Lily Lopez, Director of External Affairs and Sustainability at Walnut Valley Water District and founder of Latinas in Water, a growing professional community built to connect and empower Latina women across the water sector. Lily is also a co-host of Catalyst 2026, where Walnut Valley Water District joins as a presenting partner.

In this episode, ...

Most water conferences are built to inform. Catalyst was built to make you feel something.

In this first episode of the Catalyst Collab, a new mini-series exploring what makes water communication work, host Isaac Pellerin sits down with Chelsea Boozer (Executive Director, Rogue Water Lab) and Greg Wukasch (External Affairs Manager, San Antonio Water System) to unpack the experience design behind Catalyst, the immersive event resha...

The water sector is one of the most operationally resilient industries on the planet.

Systems delivering clean water 24/7 under aging infrastructure, workforce shortages, and increasing regulatory pressure — and for the most part, they work.

So why doesn't anyone know that?

Travis Kennedy has had a front-row seat to this industry for over 20 years — not as an operator or regulator, but as Chief Industry Officer, ...

One data center operator hired over 100 people just to solve their water problem. Another operator of equal size hired two.

That gap tells you everything about where this industry is right now.

Data centers are the hottest topic in water. And over the past several months, we've collected five perspectives from guests who are thinking about this differently — from community planners to state regulators to investors to infr...

This week's episode is a special on-location field report from the SWAN Conference — the Smart Water Networks Forum — held in Tampa, Florida. SWAN is a global annual event bringing together utility leaders, engineers, practitioners, and innovators to push the conversation on how the water sector adopts new technology.

I had the chance to facilitate a two-hour roundtable with Anthony DeRosa of ASDWA, exploring one of t...

The water industry doesn't want to be disrupted. And that's not a problem — it's the whole point.

In this episode, Isaac sits down with Adam Tank, co-founder and Chief Communications Officer at Transcend, to talk about what it actually takes to build and sell technology in one of the most risk-averse industries in the world. Adam has spent his career at the intersection of water, startups, and design thinking — from G...

85% of water systems in the United States operate with three or fewer employees.

They manage treatment, distribution, compliance, reporting, and public communication — often while also handling parks, snow removal, and everything else a small community needs. They are rarely celebrated. And when everything is working, they are almost invisible.

This episode is for them.

Make Water Work is launching a new series dedicated enti...

75% of the world's population lives in water-insecure countries. The amount of fresh water on the planet is fixed. And we are spending it faster than nature can replenish it.

The UN calls it global water bankruptcy. And according to Rodney Clemente, Senior Vice President of Water at Energy Recovery, the bill is coming due.

In this episode, Rodney breaks down what desalination actually is, why it costs 5-10x more to build a plant...

Water is the one infrastructure you cannot live without — and it got a D-minus rating from the American Society of Civil Engineers. In this episode, we sit down with Damian Georgino, Partner at global law firm Dentons and a 30-year veteran of the water industry, to talk about why everything you think you know about water is wrong — starting with the tap.

Damian shares his journey from selling water businesses for Alco...

In this episode of Make Water Work, Isaac Pellerin and Megan Glover sit down with Anne Mushow, CEO of Subeca, to explore how smart metering, IoT, and new business models are transforming water utilities.

Anne shares her journey from electrical engineering to leading one of the most innovative startups in water tech, and breaks down how Subeca is helping utilities modernize without massive capital investment. The conversation dive...

What does it take to actually scale innovation in water?

In this episode of Make Water Work, Isaac Pellerin and Megan Glover sit down with Simon Olivier, leader of Cycle H2O, an impact fund focused on accelerating water technology.

Simon shares the personal moment that pulled him into the water space...and how it led to building a venture fund designed to solve one of the industry’s biggest challenges: getting real solutions ...

In this episode of Make Water Work, Isaac Pellerin and Megan Glover sit down with Glenn Barnes to unpack one of the biggest challenges facing the water industry today: affordability.

Glenn brings deep expertise from his work helping utilities navigate funding, rates, and long-term infrastructure planning. This conversation goes beyond the headlines to explain why water rates are rising, why small communities face outsized challen...

In this episode of Make Water Work, Isaac Pellerin and Megan Glover sit down with Chris Miller, Vice President of Digital Services at USALCO and founder of Fontus Blue, to unpack the journey from academic research to startup success and acquisition.

Chris shares how a job in a university water lab led to a PhD, a company, and ultimately a platform helping utilities navigate one of the toughest challenges in water: balancing compli...