Staff Members

J. Carl Ganter: Co-Founder and Director

J. Carl Ganter is co-founder and director of Circle of Blue, the internationally recognized center for original frontline reporting, research, and analysis on water resource issues. Ganter is an award-winning photojournalist, reporter, and broadcaster credited with helping shape the multimedia journalism era. He serves on the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Water Security and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Navigating Peace Water Working Group. He earned his MSJ in investigative and magazine writing at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism after graduating with honors from the University’s American Studies Program.

Eileen Ganter: Co-Founder and Creative Director

Eileen nurtures the creative ethos of Circle of Blue, from cultivating the lyrical ingredients of journalism to supporting the human factor in all aspects of our work. Eileen is a writer, director and narrator who produced and hosted regional and national programming for 13 years at Interlochen Public Radio, a National Public Radio affiliate. Her association with Circle of Blue follows many years of independent multi-media journalistic projects and a life-long love of the Great Lakes. She holds an undergraduate and a masters degree (suma cum laude) in film and video from the University of Detroit.

Peter H. Gleick: Co-Founder and President of the Pacific Institute

Peter, co-founder and president of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security, serves as scientific and technical advisor to Circle of Blue. His research and writing address the critical connections between water and human health, the hydrologic impacts of climate change, sustainable water use, privatization and globalization and international conflicts over water resources. He is a leading proponent of the “soft path” for water.

Peter is an internationally recognized water expert and was named a MacArthur Fellow in October 2003 for his work. In 2001, Peter was dubbed “a visionary on the environment” by the British Broadcasting Corporation. In 1999, he was elected an Academician of the International Water Academy, in Oslo, Norway and in 2006, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C. He serves on the boards of numerous journals and organizations and is the author of many scientific papers and seven books, including the biennial water report, “The World’s Water,” published by Island Press. In 2008, Wired Magazine named him “one of 15 people the next President should listen to.”

Keith Schneider: Senior Editor

Keith manages the Circle of Blue news desk and participates in multi-media story development reporting, editing, and production. He is a nationally known journalist, online communications specialist and environmental policy expert. Keith was a New York Times national correspondent for over a decade, where he continues to report as a special writer on energy, real estate, business, and technology. Before joining Circle of Blue, Keith was media and communications director at the US Climate Action Network and communications director at the Apollo Alliance. Keith developed one of the first independent online news desks as the founder and executive director of the Michigan Land Use Institute. A sought-after public speaker on the role of original reporting and online communications in the public interest, Keith is a regular contributor to the Times, Yale Environment 360, Grist Magazine (www.grist.org), and other prominent news organizations. You can read his personal website at Modeshift.org.

Aubrey Parker: Assistant Editor

Aubrey is a data analyst at Circle of Blue, highlighting the relevancy and context of the present critical water data. She has completed a BA in Chemistry at Kalamazoo College, and is currently pursuing a BSE in Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan. Aubrey also studies Spanish and Latin America, having spent seven months at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. As a Graham Institute Scholar of 2009, Aubrey traveled to Patagonia, Chile where she studied relationships between hydroelectric development projects and aquatic ecosystems. Her past data-analysis internships have included watershed erosion control practices, as well as algae fermentation for use as a biofuel. You can visit her personal environmental blog here.

Karen Mullarkey: Director of Visuals

Karen began her career in photography at Life magazine in the mid-1960s. She has been photography director for various publications including Rolling Stone, New York magazine, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated. During the last 30 years she has been involved in editing and producing over 70 photographic books, including the popular “Day in the Life” series. In 1995, she began working on Internet projects starting with groundbreaking project 24 Hours in Cyberspace as the director of assignments and photography.

Aaron Jaffe: Video Producer and Reporter

Aaron creates original video and multimedia reports for Circle of Blue, ranging from aerial videography in Australia’s outback to interviews with internationally known thought leaders. A graduate of Interlochen Center for the Arts and student at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, he is a winner of the Panavision Young Filmmakers Grant.

Nadya Ivanova: Reporter and Producer

Nadya Ivanova is an accomplished reporter and producer specialized in covering environmental and policy issues in the United States, China and Europe, particularly the intersections between climate, water and energy. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, where she majored in Journalism and International Studies. Nadya is recipient of the European Young Journalist Award 2009, the Eric Lund Global Reporting and Research Grant, the Keyman Modern Turkish Studies Research Grant and the Géza von Molnar Essay Award 2008. Nadya has extensive experience working on international collaborative projects, having partnered, among others, with the European Commission and the the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Steve Kellman: News Reporter

An award-winning journalist with a decade of newspaper reporting experience, Steve reports on the global freshwater crisis for Circle of Blue’s online news desk, WaterNews. Previous assignments as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper and the communications specialist for a design firm with a national clientele have given him an extensive background in writing, editing, media relations and web design and development. Steve holds an English degree from Colgate University, where he served as a reporter and editor for the Colgate News.

Jordan Bates: News Producer

Jordan manages the day-to-day publishing of Circle of Blue online content. Jordan graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelors of General Studies with a focus on English and religion. His background includes newspaper publishing, search engine optimization, and e-commerce. He also runs a community calendar for Benzie County.

Brett Walton: News Writer

Brett is a news correspondent for Circle of Blue based out of Seattle. He has an MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington and a BA in English from the University of Richmond. He has worked on a NASA-affiliated research project on water data and as a member of a State Department project on climate change and water management in Central Asia. His areas of interest are transboundary management, the political economy of water and agriculture policy. When not writing, he can be found hiking in the Cascades.