Now in Production

Water Blues Green Solutions

An Interactive Documentary Project telling stories of communities creating green solutions for our water blues—flooding, pollution, and scarcity.

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Floods. Drought. Overloaded sewers. Acres of pavement. Pollution. We're in a water crisis. Meet the innovators who are teaching America to "soak it up."

America's deteriorating water infrastructure demands repair and expansion. Some communities are testing new solutions. Water Blues ~ Green Solutions tells the stories of visionary leaders in four cities—Philadelphia, New York, San Antonio, and Portland—who borrow strategies from nature to clean and protect water.

Water Blues ~ Green Solutions is a project of Penn State Public Media.

Follow our stories

of unlikely pioneers in an unheralded revolution.

Water Blues launches in late 2013, but our award-winning filmmakers are in the field now, pursuing stories of innovation in green infrastructure. Join them on their voyage of discovery!

Jun 18 / Participants in the Rebuilding Together Philadelphia downspout planter & community garden event filmed by PSPM team. #greensolutions

Jun 18 / We are filming Gary Flowers teaching a volunteer how to prepare soil for a planter box #greensolutions

Jun 18 / Mark Stitzer filming the construction of a community garden in a vacant lot. #greensolutions

Jun 18 / Lindsey Faussette & Cassie Caldwell building a rain planter box at a community event. #greensolutions

Jun 18 / We are filming Gary Flowers teaching a volunteer how to prepare soil for a planter box #greensolutions

Jun 18 / Mark Stitzer records images of the finished rain garden in Germantown that we filmed over the last few days

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to build a sustainable water future.

Learn More About the Locations

adopting natural solutions to our water crisis.

Portland OR

Environmental leaders are leading the nation on the path to a sustainable future.

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San Antonio, TX

City organizations are driving a movement to conserve, reuse and protect the Edwards Aquifer and restore the ecosystem of the San Antonio River.

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New York, NY

Community organizations are working together to clean-up the Bronx River and create new opportunities for the people who live in the Bronx.

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Philadelphia, PA

A water department is engaging citizens to create the most ambitious green infrastructure program in the nation.

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Think Outside the Pipes

Grants will be available to support local public radeio reporting on managing water with green infrastructure.

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Meet the Project Advisory Board

José M. Almiñana, FASLA, LEED AP

José joined Andropogon Associates in 1983 and has been a principal since 1995.

Trained as a landscape architect and architect, he excels at thinking outside the box while unearthing the realities of innovative construction techniques. With a passion for detail, José creates sustainable designs that respond directly to each site's unique environmental conditions.

Peter Binney

A professional engineer with 35+ years experience, Peter holds post-graduate degrees in civil engineering and water resources management.

He is currently is Vice President for Infrastructure Systems at Merrick & Co. in Aurora, CO. Previously, as director of a major water utility facing critical water shortages, he instituted a comprehensive water conservation program. He serves on ASCE's Committee for Sustainability.

William Carlsen

Penn State professor of science education Bill Carlsen has helped dozens of schools conduct interdisciplinary watershed research projects.

He is a coauthor of Watershed Dynamics and three other books in the Cornell Scientific Inquiry Series. Bill has a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College and a PhD from Stanford University.

Ben Grumbles

Ben Grumbles is president of Clean Water America Alliance, a DC-based educational nonprofit committed to uniting people and policies for water sustainability throughout the country.

He previously served as assistant administrator for Water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under President George Bush.

Michael Ogden

Michael Ogden is founding director and principal engineer for Natural Systems International, an ecological engineering firm that applies natural systems to the problems of water pollution. He has worked on more than 600 projects in over 40 states and internationally. A USGBC LEED Accredited Professional, he is a member of ASCE and ASLA.

Denice Wardrop

Denice Wardrop is assistant director of the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment, associate professor of Geography and Ecology at Penn State, and the associate director of Riparia (formerly the Cooperative Wetlands Center). She has a Ph.D. in Ecology from Pennsylvania State University and a B.S. in Systems Engineering from The University of Virginia.

Stuart Echols

A registered landscape architect, Stuart Echols is currently assistant professor of Landscape Architecture at Penn State. His research focuses on developing, implementing and evaluating better strategies for managing urban runoff as a natural resource. He holds a B.L.A and M.L.D from Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. in Environmental Design and Planning from Virginia Tech.

Raymond Najjar

Raymond Najjar is a Professor of Oceanography in the Department of Meteorology at Penn State. His research concentrates on the impact of climate change on coastal regions, with a particular interest in estuaries of the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. He also studies marine biogeochemistry, with a focus on dissolved gases.

Contact the Project Team

Penn State Public Media is a national leader in the creation of public service media—national, multimedia projects that address our nation's most pressing social issues.

Frank Christopher, Producer/Director

Frank's award-winning public television documentaries cover a range of topics including American healthcare, marine wildlife, and nuclear waste disposal.

A producer, director, writer, and editor, he has garnered the highest recognition for his work, including an Academy Award nomination for best feature-length documentary, six Emmys, and four CINE Golden Eagle Awards.

814.865.3333 / fgc3@psu.edu

Cheraine Stanford, Producer

Cheraine brings experience in journalism, independent film, and public television to our team.

Before joining Penn State Public Media she was production coordinator for the Peabody Award-winning election roadshow series at Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and worked on the documentary Muhammad and Larry for Maysles Films. She was selected as a CPB/PBS Producers Academy Fellow for 2011.

814.867.1390 / cheraine@psu.edu

Lindsey Faussette, Project Manager

With a background in Arts and Women's Studies, Faussette has been a member of the Public Service Media team for six years. She has played an integral role in developing and managing some of our most impactful national Public Service Media projects, including Liquid Assets, Geospatial Revolution, and Telling Amy's Story.

814.863.5489 / lindseyf@psu.edu

Tom Wilson, Multimedia Producer

With more than a decade of experience in web development and programming, Tom leads our multimedia team.

Increasingly, Tom's group is exploring opportunities to develop web-first projects and instructional learning objects. In 2010, the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) recognized Tom and his team for excellence in instructional design.

814.863.6236 / twilson@psu.edu

Patrick Baxter, Associate Producer

Patrick Baxter is the manager of "Penn State On Demand," a VOD service run through Comcast Xfinity and is the editor for the "Blue Robot" local music blog.

He previously worked as an assistant producer on the Vote '08 and Vote '10 projects at PSPB.

814.865.2806 / pdb145@psu.edu

Elaine J. Brzycki, Project Development Consultant

Elaine provides strategic direction to the development of large-scale engagement and education projects that include public television documentaries, interactive media, and collaborative outreach partnerships. She manages foundation and corporate relations for the unit, and she served as project manager and funding executive for Liquid Assets, Geospatial Revolution, and Explore Shale.

814.863.5604 / elaine@psu.edu

Learn more about Penn State Public Media

Help Support This Project

Funders

Lead Foundation Funder

Lead Corporate Funder

Additional Funding

We seek additional funding for this project.

Please contact Lindsey Faussette, 814.863.5489 or lindseyf@psu.edu for more details.

Funding & Project Management

Lindsey Faussette

Project Manager
814.863.5489
lindseyf@psu.edu

Now in Production

Water Blues Green Solutions

Learn More

Follow our stories

Connect with Our Outreach Collaborators

Learn More About the Locations

Portland OR

San Antonio, TX

New York, NY

Philadelphia, PA

Think Outside the Pipes

Meet the Project Advisory Board

Contact the Project Team

Frank Christopher, Producer/Director

Cheraine Stanford, Producer

Lindsey Faussette, Project Manager

Tom Wilson, Multimedia Producer

Patrick Baxter, Associate Producer

Elaine J. Brzycki, Project Development Consultant

Press

Documents

Photos

Logos

Press Contact

Bianca Barr

Help Support This Project

Funders

Lead Foundation Funder

Lead Corporate Funder

Additional Funding

Funding & Project Management

Lindsey Faussette