NRT-INFEWS: Paths to Sustainable Food-Energy-Water Systems in Resource-Limited Communities

社会粮食、能源和水资源之间复杂的相互联系，以及它们与社会经济因素之间不可分割的联系，既带来了巨大的挑战，也带来了机遇，需要在解决问题和跨非传统学科合作方面建立新的范例。这一挑战在资源受限的社区最为严峻，不仅在发展中国家，而且在经常被忽视的美国农村人口和贫穷的城市中心，粮食/能源/水挑战的解决方案需要针对特定社区量身定制。这项授予爱荷华大学的国家科学基金会研究培训（NRT）奖将培养新一代的水可持续发展专业人员，专门训练他们在这些服务不足的社区促进食物、能源和水资源的可持续发展，他们不仅是研究人员和教授，而且是企业家、顾问、公民、专业和全球工程师。该项目预计将通过新的可持续水发展研究生学位和证书课程培养50名硕士和博士研究生，包括20名受资助的学员，利用大学在水可持续发展各个方面的专业知识，包括工程、经济学、政策、法律、公共卫生、地理、生态学和信息学。本研究旨在重新设想在粮食和能源资源关系中与水可持续性相关领域的STEM研究生教育。我们提出了一种新的培训模式，在这种模式下，所有学位（硕士和博士）的教育和研究活动都集中在将受训者直接与最需要帮助的弱势社区联系起来的经历上，从而满足学生所表达的从事解决因资源安全差异而产生的社会不公正问题的工作的愿望。课程、研究项目、社区服务和专业培训经历都将根据学员期望的职业道路量身定制。为了启动这一模式，我们将在爱荷华大学开设一个新的研究生学位课程，重点是在资源有限的社区（如农村和贫困社区）开发可持续水资源。可持续水发展学位将设在土木与环境工程系，同时建立在整个校园在水可持续性领域的优势，并强调水的质量和数量以及食品和能源生产的关键作用。主要的研究工作将解决这些社区的高优先级研究需求，包括：预测、减缓和适应气候变化；减少废物流和促进资源回收的创新解决方案；适合小型社区规模和相关能源需求的新水处理基础设施；管理生物地球化学循环和农业生态系统结构，促进环境质量。此外，我们将开发可持续水发展研究生证书课程，提供给整个大学的毕业生干人口，从而增加有价值的专业化，现有的学位课程在水相关的干领域（如，化学，生物，物理和数学）。美国国家科学基金会研究实习生（NRT）计划旨在鼓励开发和实施大胆的、具有潜在变革性的STEM研究生教育培训新模式。通过创新、循证、适应不断变化的劳动力和研究需求的综合培训模式，培训项目致力于在高优先级跨学科研究领域对STEM研究生进行有效培训。

The complex interconnectivity of society's food, energy and water resources, as well as their inextricable link to socioeconomic factors, present both grand challenges and opportunities that demand new paradigms in problem solving and cooperation across non-traditional disciplines. Nowhere will this challenge be greater than in resource-constrained communities, not only in the developing world but also in the often-overlooked populations of rural America and poor urban centers, where solutions to food/energy/water challenges will need to be tailored to specific communities. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to the University of Iowa will produce a new generation of water sustainability professionals specifically trained to promote sustainable development of food, energy and water resources in these underserved communities, not only as researchers and professors, but also as entrepreneurs, consultants, and civic, professional and global engineers. This project anticipates training fifty (50) MS and PhD students via new graduate degree and certificate programs in Sustainable Water Development, including twenty (20) funded trainees, by leveraging university expertise in all facets of water sustainability including engineering, economics, policy, law, public health, geography, ecology and informatics.This research aims to re-envision STEM graduate education in fields related to water sustainability at the nexus of food and energy resources. We propose a new training paradigm in which educational and research activities at all degree levels (MS and PhD) are focused on experiences that connect trainees directly to the most vulnerable communities in need, thereby satisfying students' stated desires to engage in work that addresses social injustices arising from disparities in resource security. Courses, research projects, community service, and professional training experiences will all be tailored to the trainees' desired career paths. To launch this model, we will create a new graduate degree program at the University of Iowa focused on the development of sustainable water resources in resource-limited communities (e.g., rural and poor communities). The Sustainable Water Development degree will be housed in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, while building upon strengths across the campus in the area of water sustainability and emphasizing the critical roles of both water quality and quantity as well as food and energy production. Major research efforts will address high priority research needs for such communities, including: forecasting, mitigating and adapting to climate variability; innovative solutions for minimizing waste streams and promoting resource recovery; new water treatment infrastructure suitable in scale and associated energy demand for small communities; and management of biogeochemical cycles and agro-ecosystem structure to promote environmental quality. In addition, we will develop a graduate certificate program in Sustainable Water Development available to the entire graduate STEM population at the university, thereby adding valuable specialization to existing degree programs in water-relevant STEM fields (e.g., chemistry, biology, physics and mathematics).The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The Traineeship Track is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary research areas, through the comprehensive traineeship model that is innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.