388 - Training Graduate Students to Conduct Interdisciplinary Work at the Food-Energy-Water Nexus in a National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT)

All too often, graduate training related to environmental and water resources employs a monodisciplinary approach that overlooks the increasingly interdisciplinary and international nature of research and practice, especially when striving for a more circular economy. Against this backdrop, a National Science Foundation Research Traineeship at the University of Kentucky (UK NRT) is training STEM professionals with the goal of enhancing graduate education by integrating research and professional skill development within a diverse, inclusive, and supportive academy. The starting point of this academy is a course on Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems (INFEWS) taught by 11 faculty of 8 different academic departments. In this course, students form multi-departmental teams and write a literature review on an INFEWS-related topic of their choice. The following semester, trainees take a course on Transferable Skills, taught by 25 guest lecturers with expertise in several skills, from teamwork and leadership to entrepreneurship and management, with different forms of communication being emphasized. In addition to these coursework-based components, students receive training through 1) summer internships at various UK departments or external institutions aligned with their career interests; 2) field trips to facilities related to INFEWS; 3) an annual research-related symposium; and 4) workshops and other professional development opportunities focused on specific skills, such as job hunting. While demographics for the 46 trainees show that the UK NRT is broadening participation most effectively, an external evaluation of the NRT (including focus group discussions with trainees) is affording a comprehensive understanding of the academy.