About me

I work in the mountains above a valley in the Andes, measuring how much water comes off the ice and down the streams. Most weeks I am out with a gauge, a notebook and a thermos. Most evenings I am at my kitchen table with sample bottles and a laptop, writing down what I saw.

When a headline says there is a water shortage, I am often asked what that means for the people in the valley. Is the glacier gone? Is the river low? Is it the canal, or the rain? The answer is usually a number, and the number is usually hard to picture. So I explain it: I put a glass, a bath, a canal and a glacier on one ruler, and you can see where the news fits.

I do not take sides and I do not tell you what to think. I explain how water behaves, what the words in a story mean and how to check a number for yourself.

What I sell are the things I use in the field: a glossary, a glacier field guide, explainer packs and sheets for reading river levels, plus two video courses. A letter goes out every Sunday, and it is free.