Meisha Hunter

Meisha Hunter, FAAR, AICP, ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Water & Heritage President is an award winning historic preservationist, a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, and global leader in the conservation of historic water infrastructure.

In her professional work in New York, she serves as Director of Preservation and Planning at Li/Saltzman Architects . Her early public sector experience included working for the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission.

She also serves as the President of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Water and Heritage (ISCWater). Her career bridges the technical worlds of water management and cultural heritage to address modern environmental and climate challenges. As President of ICOMOS ISCWater, Ms. Hunter champions the recognition, protection, rehabilitation and maintenance of historic water management systems—such as aqueducts and traditional irrigation networks as living assets that sustain livelihoods. Her work focuses on:

Climate Change Risk Adaptation and Mitigation: Promoting historic water management systems and stewardship practices to aid in modern climate adaptation, sea level rise mitigation, and UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 targets.

Cross-Disciplinary Dialogue: fostering critical collaborations between water managers and historic preservation professionals.

Policy Frameworks: Contributing to global heritage policies, including working with international colleagues to propose water-related amendments to the Venice Charter; and collaborating with colleagues and partners on the New York Statement and Commitments delivered to the United Nations in 2023.

Ms. Hunter was awarded the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts Rome Prize in Historic Preservation by the American Academy in Rome. During her fellowship, she extensively researched and mapped Roman hydraulic infrastructure. She is a frequent international lecturer and has authored or contributed to foundational texts on water heritage, including:

Adaptive Strategies for Water Heritage (Springer, 2019)

Water Infrastructural Heritage: Management and Governance. The Institution of Civil Engineers' Themed Journal on Water Heritage

- “Revisiting the Venice Charter: Critical Perspectives and Contemporary Challenges”. Co-authored with Henk van Schaik and Nupur Prothi. ICOMOS Ouro Preto Ptoceedings, 2025.

- “Terraced Agriculture, Traditional Knowledge and Disaster Risk Reduction”. Co-authored with Henk van Schaik, Ning Liu, Kevin Lane and Tomeu Deya. ICOMOS Lumbini Proceedings, 2026.