Nik Kowsar is an award-winning Iranian-American journalist, cartoonist, environmental analyst, and television producer based in the Washington, DC area. With a background in geology and sedimentology, he developed a deep understanding of groundwater recharge, floodwater spreading, and aquifer management through the work of his father, Professor Sayyed Ahang Kowsar, a pioneering scientist in artificial groundwater recharge and sustainable water management.
 

Kowsar was once one of Iran’s best-known political cartoonists and among the few who openly ridiculed powerful clerics and senior officials. The Washington Post described his work as one of the world’s most dangerous jobs. After years of harassment by security forces, censorship, and a death threat, he left Iran for Canada in 2003 and later moved to the United States.
 

As an environmental journalist and analyst, Kowsar warned about Iran’s emerging water crisis as early as 2001. He later briefed former President Mohammad Khatami on the consequences of his administration’s damaging water policies and mismanagement. His criticism of the water sector and its political economy led to censorship and a ban on writing about water-related issues inside Iran.
 

Over the past two decades, Kowsar has become one of the most persistent voices on Iran’s water, environmental, and governance crises. He has produced more than 600 episodes of his weekly program, “Let’s Talk About Water” and "Abangan," explaining Iran’s worsening water crisis, exposing official mismanagement, and introducing practical lessons from other countries. His work connects environmental collapse to corruption, public accountability, food security, and political stability.
 

Kowsar has written and contributed analysis for TIME, Foreign Policy, and the Atlantic Council, and frequently appears as a commentator on Iran’s environmental and political challenges. He currently works with Zagros 24 TV and Channel One TV in Los Angeles, and regularly appears on BBC Persian as an expert on water, environment, and Iran’s governance crisis.

He is also vice president and a member of the board of directors of Cartoonists Rights Network International. For years, his cartoons were published internationally through the New York Times Cartoon Syndicate.