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Applying Science to Practice

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The Food-Energy-Water Nexus

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Abstract

  Throughout this book, we note the interdisciplinary nature of nexus research: engaging the full range of physical, life, social, and engineering sciences and integrating them through sophisticated models. Because the objective of Nexus research is to support decision-making ranging from the level of an individual facility to the global Sustainable Development Goals, it is critical to precisely understand stakeholder decisions and questions before producing analysis and data. A degree of uncertainty can be tolerated, but science is not at all useful to decision-makers if the wrong questions, even slightly wrong or misframed questions are addressed. Having the participation of multiple stakeholders in decision-making processes and providing tools that are co-developed with the concerns and needs of the stakeholders are very important to making robust decisions and taking steps towards successful decisions. This chapter discusses how stakeholders can come together as Communities of Practice to utilize tools that enhance their ability to make decisions by maximizing areas of agreement and minimizing areas of conflict. Four case studies are utilized to illustrate such applications.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Engineering and Data Sciences, Cargill Inc., Wayzata, MN, USA

    Emre Eftelioglu

  2. Department of Atmospheric and Ocean Science, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences, University of Maryland (and The Nature Conservancy), College Park, MD, USA

    Fernando R. Miralles-Wilhelm

  3. Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

    Rabi Mohtar

  4. Departments of Civil Engineering and of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, WEF Nexus Initiative, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

    Rabi Mohtar

  5. School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

    Benjamin L. Ruddell

  6. Energy Policy and Climate, Advanced Academic Programs, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA

    Peter Saundry

  7. Computer Science & Engineering, College of Science & Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Shashi Shekhar

Authors
  1. Emre Eftelioglu
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  2. Fernando R. Miralles-Wilhelm
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  3. Rabi Mohtar
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  4. Benjamin L. Ruddell
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  5. Peter Saundry
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  6. Shashi Shekhar
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter Saundry .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Energy Policy and Climate, Advanced Academic Programs, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA

    Peter Saundry

  2. Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

    Benjamin L. Ruddell

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Eftelioglu, E., Miralles-Wilhelm, F.R., Mohtar, R., Ruddell, B.L., Saundry, P., Shekhar, S. (2020). Applying Science to Practice. In: Saundry, P., Ruddell, B. (eds) The Food-Energy-Water Nexus. AESS Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies and Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29914-9_17

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