The overarching goal of National Science Foundation (NSF) funded INFEWS initiative is to catalyze well-integrated interdisciplinary and convergent research to transform scientific understanding of the FEW nexus (integrating all three components rather than addressing them separately), in order to improve system function and management, address system stress, increase resilience, and ensure sustainability.

As highlighted in the the NSF INFEWS initiative synopsis, the initiative is designed specifically to attain the following goals:

1.     Significantly advance our understanding of the food-energy-water system through quantitative, predictive and computational modeling, including support for relevant cyberinfrastructure;

2.     Develop real-time, cyber-enabled interfaces that improve understanding of the behavior of FEW systems and increase decision support capability;

3.     Enable research that will lead to innovative solutions to critical FEW systems problems; and

4.     Grow the scientific workforce capable of studying and managing the FEW system, through education and other professional development opportunities.

This initiative is designed to enable inter agency cooperation on  understanding interactions across the FEW nexus – how it is likely to affect our world, and how one can proactively plan for its consequences. It allows the partner agencies – National Science Foundation (NSF) and the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA/NIFA) and others – to combine resources to identify and fund meritorious and highest-impact projects that support their respective missions, while eliminating duplication of effort and fostering collaboration between agencies and the investigators they support.

Learn more on the so far funded projects under this initiative at : INFEWS