The Green Graduate series is a collective of interviews and conversations with environmentally-minded and eco-conscious NYU graduates. As these students move on to the workforce, graduate programs, and other opportunities, we are struck with how different the world seems today than it did a few months ago. Our hope with this series is to inspire, motivate and most importantly, honor the class of 2020.
Josi Riederer, like many of us, is currently home with her family in Ashland, Virginia. When I spoke to Josi, she had just finished her thesis for Global Liberal Studies on the topic of rural-urban water inequality in Mumbai and Chennai. Through her research, Josi explores what she describes as “the rural-urban water inequality nexus.” Essentially, rural water is brought to upper- and upper-middle class urban residents and industries because those groups are made out as more economically valuable. Conversely, poor, rural communities are not seen to use water “beneficially,” which is used as justification for the diversion of water from rural to urban areas. For Josi, caring about water equality isn’t a choice, but a duty.
