Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholar, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change
Graduate Student Scholar

Brian Waters is pursuing a PhD in geography at the Faculty of Environment and Urban Change. He works at the nexus of water security, management, and governance in the informal settlements of Freetown, Sierra Leone. First (water security), he seeks to thoroughly understand the everyday "water lives" of people, what they consider and do to access water, and what barriers hold them back. Second (water management), he researches the values and decisions of those who control access to water. Third (water governance), he investigates how outside interventions affect the incentives and practices of water managers and gatherers.
Brian's research is conducted from the perspectives of Feminist Geography and Political Ecology. He strives to enhance the "user interface" of water security throughout the global south by integrating technology, mixed methods research, and political insights within a framework of human socio-design and systems thinking.
His current roles include:
- Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholar
- CITY Institute Graduate Student Representative
- OneWATER Student Chapter Coordinator
- Harriet Tubman Institute Graduate Research Associate
Themes | Global Health & Humanitarianism |
Status | Active |
Events |
5th Annual Global Health Graduate Scholars Symposium Decentralized Water Markets and Seasonality in Freetown, Sierra Leone, with Brian Waters |
Related Work |
N/A
|
Updates |
York University PhD Researcher Completes Nearly Half a Year of Water Justice Data Collection in Freetown, Sierra Leone | March 23, 2026
2025 Year in Review | December 18, 2025 Seventeen Exceptional Scholars Awarded 2025-2026 Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarships | September 2, 2025 Recap — Fifth Annual Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholars Symposium | January 23, 2025 2024 Year in Review | December 19, 2024 Nineteen Exceptional Scholars Awarded 2024-2025 Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarships | August 29, 2024 Recap – Water Resource Management in Freetown, Sierra Leone | March 7, 2024 |
You may also be interested in...
Recap — Addressing HIV/AIDS Among Women in Asia Pacific: Challenges, Progress and Strategies, with Rajnish Prasad
On February 5, 2025, Dahdaleh community scholar Rajnish Prasad delivered an insightful seminar on Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) among Women in Asia Pacific. He provided a regional overview of ...Read more about this Post
Hot off the Press – Recent Publications by Dahdaleh Institute Researchers
Research by Dahdaleh Institute Research Fellow James Stinson and his partners has been featured as a case study by the Canadian Climate Institute as part of their "Indigenous Perspectives" series, which showcases exemplary Indigenous work ...Read more about this Post
Advancing Critical Global Health Research at the Dahdaleh Institute
The Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research recently held its 3rd annual Workshop on Critical Social Science Perspectives in Global Health. Attended by researchers from York and around the world, the event showcased an exceptional ...Read more about this Post
