Abstract:
The Future Earth Water-Energy-Food (W-E-F) cluster project and the Texas AM University System (TAMUS) collaborated to hold a workshop in Washington, DC on June 1-3, 2015. The workshop, entitled “Research gaps in the integrated observations and improved governance for the W-E-F Nexus,” constituted the first of four regional workshops planned as part of the Future Earth W-E-F cluster. The workshop included more than 75 experts representing a broad spectrum of education, government, international, and industrial groups that work in the water, energy, and food sectors, and their connections to science, policy, and society. Attendees included experts from the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the US Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); participants affiliated with US universities in Texas, Maryland, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania; international experts from Germany, Japan, Switzerland, and Canada; and private sector representation from Abengoa, RAND, and the Battelle Memorial Institute. Among these participants were representatives from Future Earth programs such as the Global Energy and Water Exchanges, the Sustainable Water Future, and the Global Land Projects. Through these connections, the workshop facilitated outreach by the W-E-F Research Group at TAMUS to government departments, universities, and stakeholders in the United States and abroad. It also provided Future Earth with a North American perspective on W-E-F Nexus issues and activities.