US-China Food-Energy-Water Systems (FEWS) Research Network
Funded by the National Science Foundation EAGER program and the Natural Science Foundation of China
The FEWS Research Network will accelerate the formation of academia-industry partnerships by helping to identify cutting-edge research opportunities, team formation and proposal submission in the food, energy and water nexus arena.
The initial goals of this effort are to
- Identify transdisciplinary environmental research opportunities that address challenging global issues involving food, energy or water systems
- Develop a framework to overcome hurdles to interdisciplinary research both between and among collaborating U.S. and Chinese researchers
- Establish models for education, training, communication and efficacy evaluations of the outputs of the international cooperation
The ultimate goal of the project is to enhance the use of natural resources to meet the needs of the growing human population while maintaining resource levels that are environmentally acceptable and sustainable. The central valley of California represents a unique homegrown example of environmental stewardship and the increasing impact of the food/energy/water systems nexus on the U.S. population (see video here).