Upstream: Ensuring Clean Water for Future Generations

Show Notes

When you turn the faucet, you expect clean water to pour out. Baylor researchers Bryan Brooks and Thad Scott examine current and future challenges to water quality and availability, and demonstrate how Baylor has become an internationally trusted leader in water quality research.

Topics discussed on the program include:

· Water quality as a central research strength at Baylor 

· Baylor’s geographic and strategic advantage in water research 

· CRASR’s legacy and focus on reservoir ecosystems 

· The foundational role of water in sustaining life and communities 

· Immediate challenges: disaster response and disease surveillance 

· Medium-term planning: infrastructure and policy development 

· Long-term global trends: urbanization, food-water trade, and predictive modeling 

· Local and global partnerships in water research 

· Student engagement and mission-driven research culture 

· Faith-based motivation and alignment with Baylor’s mission

Transcript

Derek Smith:

Discussing an important topic today, water, something that sustains life. And we're here with two guests who are great to talk to in this case. Part of a fantastic team of water researchers here at Baylor, Bryan Brooks and Thad Scott. And gentlemen, thanks for joining us today. It's good to have you here and let's really dive right in. I think most people know that water, pretty important topic, sustains life as we said, but take us inside kind of how you look at it. Why is this a topic that motivates really your life's work?

Bryan Brooks:

Well, other than joking with my students that the first thing we start with is water runs downhill. The reality is you hit the topic right on the head. Water is life, and we all, no matter where we live, depend upon adequate supplies of clean water. The reality close to home and around the world is that we have challenges. We need water to grow food. We need water to sustain populations. And many places around the world, these populations are growing at rapid paces. We're concentrating people in cities, we're connecting energy, water, and food in these urban areas, unlike any other time in human history.

At the same time, Derek, that creates greater opportunities for disasters if we have a hurricane that hits the Gulf Coast. It creates opportunities though to be smarter in the way that we innovate, to be able to meet the water needs both here in our backyard and really around the world. The last thing I would just mention is that as we think about Baylor's unique mission, it's important for us to keep a close eye on what's happening because innovations are really important and they happen across borders, whether it's from one state to the next or from one country to the other. And we can learn a lot from different places that are experiencing the same kinds of challenges and realizing the same types of opportunities that will be important to our friends and neighbors.

Thad Scott:

Yeah. One thing I think about us here at Baylor is we're geographically located to be in a really important place for understanding the pressures on water. Central Texas is at a climatic gradient between east and west, A lot of water in the eastern part of the state, not much water in the western part of the state. We're right in the middle of that along the I-35 corridor where population growth in Texas is just skyrocketing. So the pressures on water, both municipal people, industrial, agricultural, all of it matters right here at home too.

Derek Smith:

There's a lot of ways we can think about Baylor's water research, and you all have so many great colleagues in different departments and different schools across campus that work together on this. I want to talk about how we can think about the way we address different water challenges that you alluded to, Bryan, before we do that, I think it's important we do one definition, though. We don't want people to be lost. Thad, when we talk about CRASR, what are we talking about?

Thad Scott:

Thanks. Yeah. The CRASR is the Center for Reservoir and Aquatic Systems Research reservoirs are man-made lakes and in Texas, every time you go by a lake, it's probably a man-made lake. So we have had a long history of reservoir research here at Baylor, more than 50 years. And so CRASR was a research center that was established about almost 25 years ago to focus faculty research on reservoirs and rivers and other aquatic ecosystems, particularly as it relates to water for the environment, but also for people. And so we're research center engaging and conserving this really precious natural resource.

Derek Smith:

A lot of it is, it's not just researching the water, it's that relationship between people and what's taking place around the water and the water itself. Bryan, I think people know Baylor, as Thad just mentioned, for CRASR and reservoir research is a part of that. What else would you say people really know Baylor for in that kind of water world, if you will?

Bryan Brooks:

It's water quality. We all rely upon clean water. So the old saying is, "We've got enough water in the world, but we don't have enough of it of the right quality where we need it all the time". And so one of the strategic areas that over the last two decades that Baylor has reached international levels of attention is that our ability to understand, define, and move toward more sustainable management of our water resources for the different uses, whether that be for fisheries or for agriculture, human consumption. And so really the water quality space is an area where we've accelerated and we just see the evidence of how it benefits our students left and right. We can't graduate the students fast enough. They're all getting incredible positions. And then we see many different faculty and staff partnering with different partners and local and state governments and industries around the block and even around the world.

Derek Smith:

Let's dive in a little more in-depth to that water research that's taking place here. Let's think of it from a time standpoint. There's water challenges that are immediate that are looking off into the future, and then there's that kind of mid-range. So Bryan, let's talk about, let's call them immediate threats to water, immediate challenges. What are some of those that Baylor is really known for researching and addressing some of those problems?

Bryan Brooks:

Well, I think everybody thinks about what they hope for. You hope to turn on your faucet and you hope that clean water comes out every day. That's what we hope for, and we take it for granted oftentimes. But what happens when Hurricane Harvey hit all of our friends and neighbors along the Gulf Coast, the compromised state of the quality of our drinking water was evident. It was immediate. And we have to think about reducing the risks of disasters. We're going to see more of these unfortunately in our lifetime along the coast. Those are immediate issues related to water and sanitation hygiene

And then you think about some of the unique disease surveillance opportunities. We used to call something sewage epidemiology. Now I guess it has a more genteel name of wastewater epidemiology. But how can we understand earlier when new diseases are moving into the area, we can actually measure wastewater treatment systems and give local communities information to be able to prioritize resources and protect the health of their citizens. Sometimes one, two, or even three weeks in advance before the immediacy of a new disease causes impacts to our businesses and our friends and family.

Derek Smith:

Water tells the story in that case. Right?

Bryan Brooks:

Absolutely.

Derek Smith:

And I would imagine as you're talking about these challenges, I know a lot of these are within your wheelhouse. You're probably thinking of colleagues here at Baylor who these are very much within their wheelhouse.

Bryan Brooks:

Absolutely. And you think about the diversity of expertise that we have at Baylor, and this is really one of the areas where we've grown substantially over the next couple of decades. I mean, we've expanded expertise in chemistry and toxicology, exposure, science, epidemiology, hazard risk assessment. We had the strong expertise as that was talking about reservoirs reservoir ecology. But really now we even see humanities and social sciences, expertise, education. So the opportunities for partnerships have been fantastic benefiting our students and also benefiting local communities. But if I think about other colleagues, I mean, I don't know how to just name one, but look at Ryan McManamay, right? Look, we know that access to energy is so important for communities to grow out of the challenges and present new opportunities, especially for young people. Well, Ryan McManamay looks at water energy nexus questions. So how do we provide those energy supplies while maintaining the water supplies that we need for human uses and also those for ecosystems and conservation priorities that are important from everywhere, from coastal fishermen to duck hunters?

Derek Smith:

Thad, Bryan talks about some of those immediate challenges. Let's talk about what I'll call quality of life issues that municipalities or states are looking at that, but are really like, how do we get ahead and provide the best quality for our citizens? I know you do a lot of work in that area as along with your colleagues.

Thad Scott:

One thing the state does every five years is develop a water plan. The Texas Water Plan regional version of that is underway now and will culminate in a new state plan in 2027. So this planning on a sub-decadal to decadal scale is super important because it affects infrastructure. It affects how our state is spending money in terms of treating water for drinking, treating wastewater, applying the newest technologies to protect our water bodies from pollution sources, whether they be industrial, agricultural, any type. So that type of planning, it requires some forethought. And so planning at the scale of kind of multi-years is super important for identifying these risks and then planning for them in advance as opposed to reacting to them whenever they happen.

Derek Smith:

What role do you and your colleagues, what role can you play in that? What are some of the tools you provide, I guess really up the chain of policymakers?

Thad Scott:

Yeah, so speaking of our colleagues, Katelyn McKindles over in biology, she's a microbiologist working on how these cyanobacteria that Bryan mentioned, how do they make toxins? Why do they make toxins? Are they genetically programmed to do this? How are they selected for in the environment? And then what causes this sort of cascading sets of biological conditions to occur to cause this toxin production ultimately to happen? She's coordinating with water municipalities, helping them try to develop early warning signs how they might react to these conditions, but that requires investment, investment in her research program, investment in their technology for water treatment, and that's a medium-term process.

Derek Smith:

So we've talked about immediate threats, kind of midterm decadal or so as you said that. Let's talk long term when you think, you talked about Bryan earlier, world's growing people are congregating in cities. We can see what some of these challenges are going to be. How does Baylor work to address that now?

Bryan Brooks:

It's got to be through partnerships and we can develop models that are predictive models. We can test those models that are based upon good empirical information to support. And that support system is so important. But our partnerships, whether it's around the block or around the world, we see the reciprocal benefits obviously, to our local community, whether it's a professor or student team. But if you think about global megatrends, these are palpable. And we think about places that trade water all the time, maybe in the form of grain. We think about, go to your local grocery store. I tell my students, "Go to your grocery store in the middle of winter. Where do your blueberries come from? They're not coming from North America, but they're coming from somewhere else where the growing season might be better." So we're connected in ways and water is the foundation of everything, including our food supplies. And so we think longer term we have to think about spatial disconnections between resources where they're actually resulting in benefits around the world. And that's actually fraught with uncertainties, but it's also presenting tremendous opportunities for businesses to be more innovative, to sustain the quality of life for people.

Derek Smith:

You talk about these partnerships, and I know that if we try to start naming, there's no way we get through all of them. But I'm curious, what does a global partnership look like and what does one closer to home look like?

Bryan Brooks:

Well, I'll just give you an example. One of our PhD students working with us, he's just landed this morning in London, England, and he's going to be presenting some of his work on water quality across 14 estuaries in the Gulf here in Texas. And that's part of a larger program called the Global Estuaries Monitoring Program, which is a part of the ocean decade for sustainable development of ocean systems. And we have partners with people from 50 different countries. So what we've found is that, look, we have individual expertise, but when we're willing to think together and work together and learn together, we're able to understand more acutely, perhaps, some of our short-term needs. And then we're able to project to that longer term visioning because people from different backgrounds, they have different perspectives, and that's really the human talent that we need to be able to define and ultimately manage the pressing challenges facing our world.

Derek Smith:

What about closer to home, whether that be here in Texas or even across the US, Thad?

Thad Scott:

Yeah, I mean, right here at home in Texas, we're collaborating with other major universities in the state. There are some water research centers at our other universities where we're focused more on water quality here, those institutions are more focused on water quantity. So they want to model how much water there is, when it will change, how much it will change, where we're focused on what's the content of that water, what's the biological condition, what's the chemical condition of that water, and how does it affect supply? So those are places like the Texas Water Resources Institute down at Texas A&M.

We partner with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, a state agency, that funds our research and helps us, where we answer some questions that they need to understand so they can move forward with regulatory practices. Right here at home, we partner with the city of Waco. We're working on some new partnerships with them regarding monitoring in the watersheds for Lake Waco. So those are things that we do where they provide sort of critical infrastructure and needs to us, and we provide them with students and post-docs and expertise that they may not have otherwise.

Derek Smith:

Those of us who are really proud of the work, Baylor does in a lot of different ways. If we look at a map, has Baylor done work on water research in some form or fashion on every continent, maybe other than Antarctica or including Antarctica?

Bryan Brooks:

I suspect as much. I just think about, like Thad was saying, the benefits of working with local communities and learning. Gosh, we're in over two dozen cities right now. We're so grateful to be able to work with folks here in the state of Texas. But then if you think about the researchers that are working in these different areas, whether it be more the physical or biological sciences or health or different types of dimensions of policy or ethics or education, the footprint's actually quite broad. I mean, I know folks that will be on five of those continents personally just in the next few months.

Why is that important? Well, we're not necessarily going on vacation here, right? We're going to actually engage colleagues substantively. And we found that when you co-locate with others, whether it be a student I mentioned that's just landed in England, or whether it's a faculty member going or receiving us. Last three years, we've hosted Fulbright Scholars from different countries who've come to Baylor to work with us, to be able to understand water quality challenges, whether that be in Africa or Latin America and the Caribbean or in Europe. And so these provide reciprocal benefits, and they also build bridges for future partnerships.

Thad Scott:

It's not even limited to our graduate students and postdocs, though. Our undergraduates get to experience that. I co-led an undergraduate research-based experience for undergrads last year in Brazil. And so we went to a university in sort of north central Brazil and studied water quality in that location, and along with Brazilian students, and we're working on a paper related to that topic now.

Derek Smith:

I think you really have, we will call them a group of understudies, your coaching tree, if you will, of what really mission-minded young people and now some who aren't as young anymore. Because you've both been doing this a little while, mission-minded people who are just really hyper-focused on serving through the work that they do.

Thad Scott:

For sure. I mean, I think people come here for a reason, and I think it's different for different levels of why people come to Baylor, but certainly everyone comes with this attitude of service. They get into this discipline, not because they are selfish or looking for something individually. They want to make a difference in the world. And this university is great for that because we are putting our feelers out as far as we can.

Bryan Brooks:

Yeah, I agree. I mean, most humbling thing about our job is having a small role and seeing how someone develops. And so it's the passion, it's the awareness. Sometimes I joke with my students as they almost become afflicted by knowing a little bit too much, but with that comes more responsibility to be able to engage and make a difference. And for me, I've got hooked on water. My grandfather was a missionary, and I think about the stories I heard when I was growing up of drilling wells to try to provide clean water to people in the countries I couldn't even appreciate at that time. And so I think that's right on target. I mean, what sets us apart is that the average Baylor student really wants to make a difference. They want to serve others, and that's palpable, and it adds to the fabric of what really makes, I think water work here quite special.

Derek Smith:

As you describe all that, I can't help but think of Jesus's words, "When I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink". You think of the Baylor mission, I think what you just described undergirds, that message undergirds what you just described.

Bryan Brooks:

Well, I just follow up and say, Thad made a very important comment about how oftentimes we can complement and partner with folks even around the block. I mean, it's not just how much water we have. It's can we use it for what's needed? And look, I mean, clean water is biblical, right? And I would argue that maybe there's no better topic that aligns with Baylor's unique and distinctive mission than water research. I mean, everybody knows somebody that's went on vacation or maybe on a mission trip and came back with a bug. Well, chances are that might've been a parasite, or it could have been norovirus. And we call that the stomach flu. But in fact, some places it reached epidemic proportions and the loss of not, I mean, life and young children around the world is palpable from these types of diseases. But the reality is it can also affect just the ability of somebody to go to work, think about the impacts on a business or economies local communities. And so for us, we see the work that we do as natural extensions of the Baylor mission, and it's the most humble and fulfilling role that we can have. Think

Derek Smith:

Thad, when you think about what Bryan's saying, the people getting upstream of problems so that people can benefit, how much does that motivate the work that you and your colleagues across these many different divisions of Baylor? How does that motivate you?

Thad Scott:

Yeah. Well, I think that people are, why we do this, right? I mean, we're interested in preserving the environment. We're interested in preserving species, protecting creation, but we also, ultimately, it comes down to people. And so one thing we're always looking toward is how can our research leverage the best condition, the best outcome, the most applicable point that we're trying to make? I think we're always want to help people. That's what we're trying to do.

Derek Smith:

As we wind down. I want to ask you, obviously you both could do this water research a lot of places, but you chose to do it here at Baylor. When you think about the challenges and opportunities, Thad, I'll start with you, what most excites you? It's the proverbial what gets you out of bed in the morning. What is it the most excites you about doing this research here?

Thad Scott:

Well, I mean, the diversity of experience. Being a faculty member at a university is such a fun life. Meet new people all the time. You're always resetting, addressing new problems, that never gets old. But at the same time, we've been talking about working on something that matters, working on something that really matters for people around the world. And right here at home, water is just a critical resource that most people take for granted. When they turn their tap on, they just know it's going to be there. That's not the case for everyone in the world. And so doing things that allow people to take that for granted sure feels nice.

Bryan Brooks:

Yeah, I think that's exactly right. We live here too. We have families here too. We're just normal human beings as well. And I graduated from a small school in North Mississippi, and Thad graduated from high school from a small community just west of here. Right. And we've talked about how similar it is. Well, local communities, I think are, again, the motivation, whether it's in our backyard or around the world. I also find that we learn so much from working with the leaders, the practitioners in these local settings, whether they're be in health or engineering or lake management or whatever it happens to be.

And Derek, oftentimes we think about research that matters, right? Research with purpose. To me, the most direct example is when we're working and learning from a local community. Give an example. We are working on a topic right now related to what we call decentralized wastewater, septic tanks, and distributed water reuse. We were able to bring together people from across the United States thinking about these rural intersections with cities to be able to identify whether they were in business or a local or state or federal government, different types of academic disciplines, non for profits. What are the key research needs we need to advance the innovation to address the needs across this gradient from the urban to the rural parts of America? And what are the things that we can do to save money to ultimately realize benefits for the communities like where Thad and I grew up and graduated high school.

Derek Smith:

Well, it's exciting to see those continue to develop. I know when I think of when we all first started talking, I know these efforts here at Baylor and Water Research have grown substantially, will continue to. It's exciting to see. Thanks so much for taking the time to paint that picture for us today.

Thad Scott:

Thank you.

Bryan Brooks:

Thank you.

Derek Smith:

Great to have you both here, Bryan Brooks and Thad Scott talking water research here on Baylor Connections. Thanks so much for joining us here on the program today.