Water conflicts (national and international - esp. the Middle East); water policy; environmental conflicts; water security; Middle East politics and environmental politics (esp. Palestine, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan, impacts of war on water, transboundary water cooperation, water governance

Video: Winning the War for Water | Mark Zeitoun | TEDxUniversityofEastAnglia

Mark has a B.Eng in civil engineering (1990) and an M.Sc in environmental engineering (1998) from McGill University, and a PhD in human geography from King’s College London (2006).

Affiliations

UEA Water Security Research Centre – Director (intermittent since 2010)
Water International – Editorial Board (from 2012)
Frontiers in Environmental Science: Freshwater Science - Editorial Board (from 2015)

International Water Resources Association – Executive Board, 2009
GEF-Science / UNESCO Groundwater Working Group – member, 2009
UNESCO ISARM Conference 2010 – Scientific Steering Committee
Centre for the Study of Global Governance, London School of Economics, Visiting Fellow (2008-2010)
London Water Research Group – coordinator or lead (from 2006)
International Water Resources Association XIII World Water Congress, Scientific Steering Committee (2006 - 2008)
Association of American Geographers, USA (2008)
Canadian Water Resources Association, Canada (from 2005)
Registered Engineers for Disaster Relief, London (from 2004)
International Water Resources Association, USA (from 2004)
Professional Engineers Ontario, Canada (from 1996)
Centre for Developing Area Studies, Montreal (1998 – 1999)
Ingénieurs sans frontières (Engineers Without Borders), Montreal (1998 - 1999)

Mark’s research on environmental policy and politics follows three themes: a) transboundary water conflict and cooperation, at international, sub-national and trans-national levels; b) water policy and social justice issues; and c) urban water supply and treatment during and immediately following armed conflict. The topics are interpreted with theory from numerous disciplines, including political economy, political ecology, justice, law, politics, and hydrology. He has a particular interest in the role that power asymmetry plays, and a geographic focus on the Middle East and Africa.

Political economy of transboundary environmental governance in development contexts. International and sub-national transboundary water conflict and cooperation; climate vulnerability and adaption to environmental and political change; relationships between environmental conflict, and human, state and regional security. Middle East and Africa.

Research Groups: Global Environmental Justice; UEA Water Security Research Centre

Mark’s research on environmental policy and politics follows three themes: a) transboundary water conflict and cooperation, at international, sub-national and trans-national levels; b) water policy and social justice issues; and c) urban water supply and treatment during and immediately following armed conflict. The topics are interpreted with theory from numerous disciplines, including political economy, political ecology, justice, law, politics, and hydrology. He has a particular interest in the role that power asymmetry plays, and a geographic focus on the Middle East and Africa.

I teach Water Security: Theory and Concepts, which probes numerous water security challenges through the most appropriate approaches from a variety of disciplines. I also teach on Water and Conflict, Water and Globalisation, Environmental Impact Assessments, Basic Land Surveying, and Political Economy of Water Use.