MEDIA ADVISORY

Mike Williams
713-348-6728
mikewilliams@rice.edu

Extreme weather panel April 5 to feature Dutch expert on water 

HOUSTON – (April 1, 2016) – Henk Ovink, the Netherlands’ special envoy for international water affairs, will take part in a roundtable on the effects extreme weather changes could have on Greater Houston Tuesday, April 5, at 7:45 a.m. at Huff House on the Rice University campus.

Joining him for the panel discussion will be Phil Bedient, the Herman Brown Professor of Engineering and director of Rice’s Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center; Jim Thompson, regional chief executive at AECOM; and moderator Sarah Whiting, the William Ward Watkin Professor of Architecture and dean of the Rice School of Architecture.

The panelists will discuss current research and resources available to help meet the climate-driven challenges that face the region’s leaders.

Ovink, who was the subject of a 2014 New York Times Magazine feature, “How To Think Like the Dutch in a Post-Sandy World,” will also deliver a public lecture April 4 at 5:30 p.m. at the university’s School of Architecture in Anderson Hall.

Ovink’s visit is being underwritten by architecture and engineering firm AECOM.

What: Roundtable on weather challenges to Greater Houston.

When: Tuesday, April 5, 7:45 a.m.

Where: Rice University, Huff House, 6100 Main St.

Members of the news media who want to attend should RSVP to Mike Williams at mikewilliams@rice.edu or 713-348-6728.

For a map of Rice University’s campus with parking information, go to www.rice.edu/maps.

-30-

Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.

Related materials:

Ovink appointed special envoy:

https://www.government.nl/latest/news/2015/03/12/henk-ovink-appointed-as-first-special-envoy-for-international-water-affairs-for-the-kingdom-of-the-netherlands 

Rice School of Architecture: http://arch.rice.edu

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,910 undergraduates and 2,809 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for best quality of life and for lots of race/class interaction by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. To read “What they’re saying about Rice,” go to http://tinyurl.com/AboutRiceUniversity.