Staff Members

J. Carl Ganter: Co-Founder and Director

J. Carl is an award-winning photojournalist, writer and broadcast reporter. His reporting has appeared in most major magazines, newspapers and major television and radio networks. He has presented at the World Economic Forum, Aspen Ideas Festival and Clinton Global Initiative, and is a member of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars water working group, “Navigating Peace.” He received his MSJ in investigative reporting 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 enjoyed 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.

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 Society, 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 and serves as media and communications director at the US Climate Action Network. Before joining USCAN in June, he was the 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.

Eric Daigh: Senior Producer

Eric edits dynamic multi-media story packages on global water issues from Tehuacan in northern Mexico and Reign of Sand, in China to the Biggest Dry in Australia. Eric, a talented filmmaker, deploys a range of graphic, programming, and video skills to produce and post Circle of Blue’s multi-media reports on WaterNews, the online news desk. He is a specialist in social media and was a lead designer at a national Web and social media firm. Eric is also a nationally recognized artist who won third place in Art Prize, the world’s largest art competition; his work has been featured by CBS Sunday Morning and is collected by Ripley’s Believe it or Not, among others.

Margaret Monsour: Special Projects Manager

Margaret oversees planning and partnership development. An accomplished nonprofit organization leader, she has more than 15 years experience building organizational capacity and creating coalitions among educators, nonprofits and corporations at the state and national level. As Director of Programs at Reading Is Fundamental, she created an innovative team structure and designed internal systems to manage 50% increases in staff and programs.

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 reports on the global freshwater crisis as part of the online news desk, WaterNews. Since 2006, she has been traveling back and forth between her native Bulgaria and Chicago, where she is studying journalism and International Studies at Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University. Before joining Circle of Blue as the Medill Journalist in Residence, Nadya interned at bTV, the major national TV channel of Bulgaria. She is one of the winners of the European Young Journalist Award 2009.

Aubrey Parker: Data Analyst and News Reporter

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.

Cody T. Pope: News Reporter and Producer

Cody researches and reports on the global freshwater crisis and contributes national and international stories to the Circle of Blue online news desk, WaterNews. After graduation from the University of Michigan, with a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology and Psychology, he interned at Harvard University and worked for the Max-Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology tracking mountain gorillas in central Africa. He plans to attend graduate school this fall to study international conflict resolution at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

Forest Mullins: Executive Assistant

Forest coordinates Circle of Blue travel and logistics, manages extensive databases, schedules the calendar and supports the organization with verve and enthusiasm. She has created community outreach programs and has an extensive and successful sales background. Most recently she started Milk Maiden, a small business that works closely with farmers to deliver local food products to her customer’s doorstep.

Sarah Haughn: News Writer

With a persistent sense of curiosity and a penchant for language, Sarah uses her communications and narrative theory background to render into prose the complexities of the fresh water crisis for Circle of Blue’s WaterNews. Sarah joined the organization after her undergraduate work in Human Ecology at College of the Atlantic, where she pursued creative writing and social science research projects with communities in Europe, Asia and Africa. She embraces the wisdom of old stories, new questions and relationships forged across differences.

Hannah Nester: Graphic Designer

With her sense for slick design, Hannah creates fresh and informative graphics for Circle of Blue’s stories. Her maps and infographics cater to the audience with simplicity, depth and unconventional design that mold content and visuals into intuitive forms. Hannah is currently pursuing a BFA in graphic design at Grand Valley State University, and is a student member of the AIGA.

Connor Boals: Reporter

Connor is a reporter and researcher for Circle of Blue WaterNews. He holds a degree in English from the University of Vermont where he was managing editor of The Vermont Cynic newspaper and editorial director of phoebe.magazine. He is pursuing his master’s degree in journalism at Columbia University. Connor grew up in the Midwest along the shores of the Great Lakes.

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.

Andrea Hart: News Editor, Producer and Reporter

Andreais a graduate of Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

“For two and a half months I intensively worked on immigration issues at the Cape Times in Cape Town. In April I covered legislative issues concerning refugee rights and wrote analytical pieces on the underlying societal tensions surrounding xenophobia. I followed amendment bills through parliament and eventually spent time investigating stories related to the Zimbabwe-South Africa border. My work with immigration issues culminated in a two-week trip to the border fully paid by the newspaper to cover stories I pitched.”

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.

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.