Cynthia Barnett is a long-time journalist who has reported on freshwater from the Suwannee River to Singapore. Her new book, "Rain: A Natural and Cultural History," will be published in April 2015. Ms. Barnett's first book, "Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S." won the gold medal for best nonfiction in the Florida Book Awards and was named by The Tampa Bay Times as one of the top 10 books that every Floridian should read. Her "Blue Revolution: Unmaking America's Water Crisis" was named by The Boston Globe as one of the top 10 science books of 2011.

The Globe describes Ms. Barnett's author persona as "part journalist, part mom, part historian, and part optimist." The Los Angeles Times writes that she "takes us back to the origins of our water in much the same way, with much the same vividness and compassion as Michael Pollan led us from our kitchens to potato fields and feed lots of modern agribusiness."

Ms. Barnett has worked for newspapers and magazines for 25 years. Her numerous journalism awards include a national Sigma Delta Chi prize for investigative magazine reporting and eight Green Eyeshades, which recognize outstanding journalism in 11 southeastern states. She earned her bachelor's degree in journalism and master's in environmental history, both from the University of Florida, and spent a year as a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan. She lives with her family in Gainesville, Florida.

For more information, please visit the author's website at www.cynthiabarnett.net.