What We Do

The constant demand for projects to provide water in places where conventional sources — wells, rivers, pipelines, desalination — were unavailable, and the tremendous interest in the 1998 and 2001 International Conferences on Fog and Fog Collection, led to the formation of FogQuest. FogQuest was founded in 2000 by Dr. Robert Schemenauer and Sherry Bennett and became actively engaged in projects and fundraising following the second International Conference on Fog and Fog Collection in July 2001. Dr. Schemenauer chaired these first two conferences. Nine successful conferences have now been held at three-year intervals.

FogQuest builds upon the experience gained in projects conducted since 1987, which — even with limited funding — had demonstrated the viability and effectiveness of fog collectors in producing clean water for communities in the deserts of South America and Africa. Interest extends well beyond these continents, with active groups studying fog collection in California and across Europe and Asia.

FogQuest is a small, all-volunteer charity — no salaries are paid. We make every effort to minimise costs associated with administration, travel, and publications. In many cases, travel has been paid or subsidised by the volunteers working on each project. The charity operates under the direction of three board directors and an executive director responsible for day-to-day operations.

A significant portion of our staff are based in Chile. Their language skills, intimate knowledge of Latin America, and access to the region have provided major benefits to the communities served by our projects.