Education in the Food-Energy-Water-Nexus: A Collaborative DBER Network
Cory Forbes, Associate Professor, Director and Coordinator, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, cory.forbes@unl.eduAbstract
There is a need for a sustained, systemic, and interdisciplinary education and outreach initiative, including program evaluation and education research, focused on education in the Food-Energy-Water-Nexus (FEW-Nexus). This proposal reports on a growing network of discipline-based education researchers focused on education grounded in the FEW-Nexus. The newly-established Collaborative for Research on Food, Energy, and Water Education will serve as a nucleus for transdisciplinary efforts to 1) advance FEW education efforts; 2) foster FEW education research; and 3) enhance collaboration around FEW education and education research. This presentation provides an overarching vision a network through which to catalyze collaborative projects and comprehensive research programs that produce empirical findings, delineating baseline data to be used to ascertain the effectiveness of new FEW-Nexus education programs, develop innovative tools to aid in educational responsiveness to emergent FEW issues, and to address FEW issues worldwide through effective, research-based educational methods and interventions.