A proposal submitted by CEE at Illinois professor Ximing Cai is one of six selected to receive funding for a research event that will conclude the University of Illinois’ Sesquicentennial Celebration. The three-day Research at 150 conference will highlight “Illinois strengths in interdisciplinary research, exploring issues as diverse as human health, race and justice, the arts and the humanities, agriculture and the environment, and the legacy of the land-grant institution.”
Cai and his interdisciplinary team will present a symposium at the conference titled Advancing Food-Energy-Water System Resilience in Agriculture Dominated Watersheds Through a Regional Resource Recovery Network. Cai and his colleagues — CEE at Illinois Assistant Professor Roland Cusick; Professor Vijay Singh, department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering; Associate Professor Benjamin Gramig, department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics; and Associate Professor Emeritus Gregory McIsaac, department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences — will tackle the issue of resilience in the complex interconnected food, energy and water (FEW) systems in agricultural regions. These systems are sensitive to threats relating to increasing biomass production, water quality and supply, energy supply and cost, resource conservation, economic growth and financial stability. The symposium will bring together representatives from diverse fields to develop effective partnerships, best practices and strategies for FEW resilience.
The conference will take place on April 10-12, 2018 and will include an opening reception with keynote speaker, individual symposia with topic-specific discussions (see the other proposals selected for the research symposia here), and a joint plenary session highlighting the strengths of interdisciplinary research in higher education and how the interdisciplinary environment fosters exceptional scholarship.
More information about the Sesquicentennial celebration can be found here.