Asee peer logo

Competencies for Graduate Student Training in Transdisciplinary FEWS Research

Download Paper |

Conference

2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Minneapolis, MN

Publication Date

August 23, 2022

Start Date

June 26, 2022

End Date

June 29, 2022

Conference Session

Unassigned (6 available)

Page Count

39

DOI

10.18260/1-2--40821

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/40821

Download Count

591

Paper Authors

author page

Jill Heemstra University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign

author page

Luis Rodriguez

biography

Anna-Maria Marshall University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign

visit author page

Anna-Maria Marshall is an associate professor of Sociology and Law at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She is a co-PI on the NSF-funded INFEWS-ER Virtual Resource Center supporting transdisciplinary graduate education in food-energy-water systems; a co-PI in the EngageINFEWS RCN on research on community and stakeholder engagement; and a co-PI in the Science and Technology Center, Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS).

visit author page

author page

Erin Cortus University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

author page

John Classen North Carolina State University at Raleigh

biography

Jacek Koziel Iowa State University of Science and Technology

visit author page

Jacek Koziel is serving as a Professor at Iowa State University, Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. He leads and collaborates on multidisciplinary projects on the nexus of agriculture and the environment. His team develops and tests strategies to enhance the efficiency of livestock production systems and reduce the environmental impacts of animal production. Dr. Koziel received M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Warsaw University of Technology in 1989 and M.S. in Environmental Quality Engineering from the University of Alaska in Anchorage. He earned a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Janusz Pawliszyn's team at the University of Waterloo (Chemistry) in Canada. His first faculty job was with Texas A&M University Research and Extension, where he practiced engineering and analytical chemistry research at large beef cattle feedlots and swine farms. He enjoys transdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research and teaching, communicating science, mentoring graduate and undergraduate students, team-based learning, peer-reviewing, editorship service at Biosystems Engineering, IJERPH, Atmosphere, and AgriEngineering, publishing on the nexus of Food-Energy-Water.

visit author page

author page

Alison Deviney

Download Paper |

Abstract

Transdisciplinarity is gaining traction as a research approach for developing impactful solutions by bringing together diverse sources of technical and local expertise. Many of the skills and knowledge for conducting transdisciplinary research are not currently emphasized in conventional graduate education. The objective of this paper is to present a literature-supported organization of competencies that contribute to transdisciplinary graduate education. An extensive literature review of more than 160 papers was undertaken to identify competencies needed for transdisciplinary research teams. The competencies are focused on students and early career academic professionals and especially those entering careers in FEWS fields and those teaching or mentoring these groups. The review identified competencies related to six domain areas, oriented around the individual, relationships and connections, team, process, outputs and outcomes, and growth. As academic institutions continue to recognize the role of transdisciplinary research in addressing complex societal issues, graduate education programs will have to incorporate transdisciplinary competencies into the curriculum. We offer the competencies identified by the INFEWS-ER project as a contribution to this ongoing conversation about the development of transdisciplinary professionals.

Heemstra, J., & Rodriguez, L., & Marshall, A., & Cortus, E., & Classen, J., & Koziel, J., & Deviney, A. (2022, August), Competencies for Graduate Student Training in Transdisciplinary FEWS Research Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40821

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2022 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015