The Chesapeake Bay faces increasing human and environmental challenges, according to Michael Jacobson, professor of forest resources in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management in the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, including rapid population growth, environmental impacts from energy development and water quality deterioration.
Focusing on these challenges within the water-energy-food nexus framework, Jacobson co-led the second Collaborative Learning School, a year-round virtual networking community of faculty, students and early career professionals that culminates in a two-week summer field workshop with U.S. and African scientists and practitioners. The school, which was held in Uganda last year, is funded by a five-year, $2 million U.S. National Science Foundation grant and is an initiative of the SustainFood Network.
This year's Collaborative Learning School brought together 22 early career researchers from institutions in 14 countries on five continents - including Penn State, the University of Michigan, Texas A&M University and African and European Union institutions - who were divided into four research categories within the water-energy-food nexus: soil health, waste management, renewable fuels, and livestock and water quality. The groups met remotely from January to May to discuss their research goals before coming together in June to complete research and training at sites within the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
"The key of the Collaborative Learning School is to help train the next generation of scholars to think about the problems surrounding the water-energy-food nexus from an international perspective," said Jacobson, who also is a fellow in Ag Sciences Global. "With a wide variety of research specializations from all over the world, this year's participants were uniquely qualified to design practical solutions for the problems afflicting the bay that can then be supported by governmental policy initiatives."
During the first week of the Collaborative Learning School, participants engaged with soil, water, plant and air quality experts at the Dickinson College Farm in Carlisle and conducted research in their respective study areas. They also spent time canoeing in Yellow Breeches Creek, which eventually empties into the Chesapeake Bay.
"The Dickinson College Farm was breathtaking - a self-sustaining, student-operated farm that prioritizes sustainable agriculture, integrated resource management and circular approaches to water, energy and food," said school participant Ece Demir, a graduate student in environmental engineering at Middle East Technical University in Turkey. "We were introduced to innovative waste and manure management and intensive composting operations, as well as a biogas system that transforms cattle manure and food waste into renewable electricity, which generates income and minimizes the pollution entering local streams and the Chesapeake Bay."
