Jessica Cahail, Senior Product Manager at The Water Institute, has more than a decade of experience working with cutting-edge researchers to translate their work into applications for a wider audience. Cahail’s work helps researchers to isolate the parts of their work that can be developed into useful and usable tools by communities and other entities. Her job is to find the balance between groundbreaking science and what clients need. One such project was the development of a decision-support tool for small and mid-sized communities who didn’t have the money to hire consultants but needed to be able to complete their first-ever vulnerability assessments. Cahail brings a passion for creating user-centric applications from the best science, research, and engineering in order to help people and have a positive impact on people’s lives. Prior to joining The Water Institute, Cahail was Lead Product Manager of EarthScan at Cervest, a London-based company dedicated to providing climate intelligence to mid- and large-sized companies in order to manage physical asset risks. Prior to that, Cahail was Director of Climate Initiatives at Azavea Inc. in Philadelphia and was Director of Administration and Planning for Data Arts (formerly the Cultural Data Project of The Pew Charitable Trusts).

Cahail graduated with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from New York University and with a master’s degree in museum studies from San Francisco State University.