NRT-INFEWS: Preparing future leaders: Rural resource resiliency (R3)

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Rural communities in the United States and across the world are faced with the challenge of producing food for over 9 billion people by 2050. At the same time, many of these communities - including those in Western Kansas - are facing serious challenges that threaten their survival, such as water shortages, economic pressures, and a population decline. For rural communities to adapt and thrive in a more uncertain future requires the development of new technologies and practices to enable sustainable agriculture, which in turn requires leaders who can think outside the box. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to Kansas State University will prepare students to become science-based leaders and advocates for resilient rural communities by combining engineering, economics, and sociological knowledge to meet the needs of farmers, industry, and society. Students will engage with farmers, government and industry through interactive sessions and will develop relevant skills through innovative coursework and teamwork. This comprehensive program anticipates training fifty (50) master's and doctoral students, including twenty-five (25) funded trainees, from the colleges of engineering, arts and sciences, and agriculture, A resilient food, energy, and water system in Western Kansas and other semi-arid regions requires sufficient capacity to adapt to short-term shocks and long-term adverse conditions (e.g., further groundwater depletion, growing competition for water between food and energy interests, increasing resource demands for fertilizer production). The interdisciplinary research efforts funded through this project will focus on resource conservation, recovery, and reuse for sustainable agriculture, including: (1) innovations for soil, water and microbial systems in the face of drought, (2) hydrologic science and water conservation systems for efficient food production, and (3) anaerobic bioreactors to transform animal waste into usable energy, water, and fertilizer. Engineering innovations alone will not bring about more resilient rural communities; it is critical that solutions also address perceptions, barriers, and attitudes among stakeholders to meet their shorter-term needs while enabling transitions to more resilient system dynamics over longer time frames. NRT training through this program will create culturally competent, interdisciplinary problem-solvers through immersive experiences with producers and industry in Southwest Kansas, policy makers in the state capital, and interdisciplinary coursework that integrates theory, practice, and international discussions. In addition, outreach to agricultural high school teachers will develop trainee leadership skills and trainee success will be supported by team-based faculty and peer mentoring. 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 program is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary research areas through comprehensive traineeship models that are innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.