Minority Institution Research Collaborative and Mekong Basin Research Coordination Food, Energy, Water, and Ecosystems.pdf

This RCN UBE project will build a biosciences research and student training network related to: Food Security, Affordable Energy, Stable Water, and the Sustainable Use of Ecosystem Resources (FEWER). By nature, RCN FEWER requires interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary perspectives. As a coordinated research network under the UBE track, FEWER will focus on the following four central research themes or topics: (1) Aquatic Biology and Ecosystems Sciences; (2) Tribal-Use Plants and Natural Products Development; (3) Biofuel Feedstocks and Enzymes; and, (4) The Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity in the Lower Mekong River Basin (MB). The Intellectual merit for an RCN aligned with the FEWER theme rests in two national initiatives. The first is a cross-agency call for increasing the engagement of URM scientists in STEM careers. The second is a U.S. State Department effort entitled the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) to build lasting collaborations in science and technology between U.S. entities and countries of the MB. This RCN project is unequivocally responsive to both of these national (and international) efforts. Although focus will be on developing a research and training network in the biological sciences, our domestic and international collaborators represent a variety of disciplines in natural sciences, including: biology, geology, chemistry, climate and environmental sciences, as well as in computer science. The four research topics map into the broader project theme of FEWER and are identified areas of research and student training that are of shared interest within our domestic and international network. They also encompass currently-funded individual projects that will support development of this FEWER RCN. Moreover, the international component is squarely aligned with goals of the U.S. State Department's LMI. This RCN also serves in part to fulfill commitments to enhance research engagement between the U.S. and MB nations based in diversity and inclusivity.