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Published March 23, 2023                                                                              By Darlene Muguiro                                                                                        ³ÉÈËÍ·Ìõ College of Health Sciences

Approximately two years after receiving a prestigious $96,000 NSF Convergence Accelerator grant, an interdisciplinary team of researchers, including Dr. Gregory Schober, assistant professor of Rehabilitation Sciences, has been informed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that their work has spurred a new funding track at NSF.

This spring, 16 teams began working on projects totaling $11 million in the first of two phases of the National Science Foundation’s newly created Food and Nutrition Security Track (J), with a specific focus on advancing regenerative agricultural practices and providing equitable and nutritious food options. An additional $5 million is expected to become available in the second phase.

The Food and Nutrition Security Track topic was selected based on the results of an international workshop focused on food security in extreme environments and food deserts, led by project PI Dr. Deidra Hodges, associate professor and chair of electrical and computer engineering at Florida International University, and Schober, project co-PI. Additional team members included Dr. Sreenath Chalil Madathil (Binghamton University), Dr. Mark Engle (³ÉÈËÍ·Ìõ), Dr. Malynda Cappelle (US Bureau of Reclamation), Dr. Ximing Cai (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Brendan O’Connor (North Carolina State University), Dr. Victoria Finkenstadt (USDA), and Dr. Janie McClurkin Moore (Texas A&M University). Hodges credits the particular expertise of each of the team members, which was critical in creating a comprehensive approach for analyzing potential solutions to food and nutrition insecurity.

“It was a pleasure to work with and learn from an excellent team on the NSF Convergence Accelerator project,” she said.

The group delivered the workshop virtually in May 2021 to an audience of over 1,000 registrants from academia, industry, government and nongovernmental organizations, featuring 24 world-renowned expert speakers in the field. Based on statistics that projected a 60% increase in global food demands, 55% increase in water demands, and 80% increase in energy needs by 2050, the team organized breakout/brainstorming sessions in areas including assessing and predicting food deserts in extreme environments; development of sustainable food production systems suitable in extreme environments and food deserts; and development of models for food optimization and minimization of waste. The team’s findings, which included tangible solutions in areas across all major themes, were later presented in a publication developed for NSF: “Sustainable Systems Enabling Food Security in Extreme Environments and Food Deserts Employing a Convergence of Food, Energy, Water and Systems for Societal Impact.”

Schober says that he is particularly proud that the team’s work has led to a new investment by the NSF in a critical area of research with national and community implications.

“One of the most exciting outcomes is that our team didn’t just receive an NSF grant – which is in itself very rewarding – but that we actually changed the funding priorities of the NSF. There are new funding opportunities at the NSF of up to $16 million. Other teams can have their innovative ideas supported as well, and we can begin to address the very urgent problem of food and nutrition insecurity.”

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