What is your motivation for doing research related to free-flowing rivers?
As a trained Sustainability Scientist working in the field of Global Health, I am passionate about life on our beautiful planet and everything that sustains a good quality of life. A way to free some headspace from my academic work is to spend time on the water in my whitewater or slalom kayak.
Why should we defend these wild rivers?
Rivers are, metaphorically speaking, the artery system of the planet. Blocking them by damming will cause a complex of issues affecting our health and well-being: think of the loss of ecosystem services and biodiversity which are constitutive for our health, fresh water, food, loss of sustainable jobs and livelihoods (local fishery, tourism), loss of cultures and meaning, loss of dwelling places (translocations), to just name a few examples.