The Arizona State University will convene a workshop to advance an operational, national-scale definition of food-energy-water (FEW) systems complexity and outline a portfolio of basic research questions and programs needed to improve efficiency and resilience across the components of the FEW systems on the local and national scale. The workshop will create new synthetic knowledge that will contribute to the definition of necessary research programs. Workshop activities will provide a platform for collaboration and the creation of new teams to pursue research across the food-energy-water challenge area. Participants include faculty from universities in EPSCoR states and from minority serving institutions such that workshop activities will strengthen science and technology opportunities on these campuses.

The Food-Energy-Water (FEW) nexus is a rich area for basic research in sustainability science that would harness and synthesize insights from multiple fields, including complex systems, materials science, hydrology, civil, electrical and environmental engineering, computation and social science. The nexus contains myriad components covering technology, infrastructure or institutions that need to be included in any problem resolution. The 3-day workshop on the ASU campus will host approximately 60 attendees from multiple universities, national labs, and federal/state agencies. The goal is to invite a balance of participants representing food, water and energy with expertise in a mix of subjects including infrastructure, environmental engineering and institutions. This workshop will advance an operational, national-scale definition of FEW systems and outline research challenges that contribute to improved efficiency and resilience of national and regional FEW systems.