Numbers and data models are commonplace when it comes to the science of climate change, but adding music to the mix could be the secret to driving the message home.

This is why Dr. Madjid Mohseni, the scientific director at UBC-based RES’EAU Centre for Mobilizing Innovation, is partnering up with the Italy-based symphony Bazzini Consort in an innovative approach towards tackling climate change and its impact on water.

This World Water Day, March 22, they presented a series of four short video vignettes featuring musicians playing excerpts from Antonio Vivaldi’s masterpiece, The Four Seasons. Vivaldi had an affinity for nature, and for Dr. Mohseni and Bazzini Consort conductor Aram Khacheh, this classical music piece was the perfect vehicle for thinking about the environment in new ways.

Dr. Mohseni, an engineering professor in the faculty of applied science specializing in clean water solutions, hopes to start conversations around climate change and water. We spoke to him about the collaborative project as well as the work his team of researchers have done to bring clean water solutions to First Nations communities.

They partnered with Tl’azt’en Nation in Northern B.C., Indigenous Services Canada, First Nations Health Authorities, manufacturing firm BI Pure Water, and the engineering firm WSP Canada to develop a treatment system to combat organic contaminants in the community’s water supply, helping end a 14-year boil-water advisory.

Dr. Madjid Mohseni spoke with Pam Haasen on March 22, World Water Day.