NSF SRS Awardees Conference
June 7 – 8, 2023
2415 Eisenhower Ave, Alexandria, VA 22314
Participation by invitation only.

Agenda
(last updated May 30, 2023. Google Doc version viewable HERE)
Wednesday, June 7
Start Time | Session | Description & Location | Lead(s) |
8:30am | Registration Opens | – Permit 30 minutes to clear NSF security upon 1st entry – Breakfast on own, drinks available. – Poster set-up, load slides. | |
9:00am | Welcome & Overview | Call to Order Official NSF Welcome Rules of Conduct Organizing Committee Welcome Room: E2020 (Conference Room B) | Bruce Hamilton, Rayvon Fouche, Melanie Hughes, Jaishri Srinivasan, Brian Roe, |
9:15am | Seeding Reflections | Calling of Witnesses Room: E2020 (Conference Room B) | Jamie Donatuto |
9:25am | Icebreaker & Introducing the Convergence Cafe | Structured networking and discussion of convergence Room: E2020 (Conference Room B) | Lee Davis, Steffanie Espat |
9:45am | Track 1 Update | Transformation Network Room: E2020 (Conference Room B | Mindy Morgan |
10:15am | Poster Break | Poster Session 1 & Convergence Cafe Room: C2010 (Conference Room A) | Debankur Sanyal (poster coord.) |
10:45am | Track 1 Update | RECIPES Network Room: E2020 (Conference Room B) | Callie Babbitt |
11:15am | Poster Break | Poster Session 2 & Convergence Cafe Room: C2010 (Conference Room A) | Debankur Sanyal (poster coord.) |
11:45am | Lunch on own offsite | Click HERE for some suggestions NSF cafeteria closed (but you may bring outside food in and eat in cafeteria area) | |
1:15pm | Panel Session | Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion for Convergence Research Room: E2020 (Conference Room B) | Malini Ranganathan, Monica Cox, Shelbi Nahwilet Meissner, Kaitlin Meissner, Gabriela Pereyra |
2:15pm | Poster Break | Poster Session 3 & Convergence Cafe Room: C2010 (Conference Room A) | Debankur Sanyal (poster coord.) |
3:00pm | NSF/NSFC Track Update | PI’s: Grassini, Zhao, McDowel Room: E2020 (Conference Room B) | Julian Wang (coord.) |
3:45pm | Break | ||
4:00pm | NSF/NSFC Track Update | PI’s: Shobe, Wang Room: E2020 (Conference Room B) | Julian Wang (coord.) |
4:30pm | Group Activities | – Guided reflection on day – Prompts for Day 2 self-organizing sessions Room: E2020 (Conference Room B) | Brian Roe, Lee Davis |
4:55pm | Closing Instructions | Room: E2020 (Conference Room B) | Jaishri Srinivasan, Bruce Hamilton |
Thursday, June 8
Start Time | Session | Description & Location | Lead(s) |
8:45am | Room Opens | – Breakfast on own, drinks available. – Poster set-up, load slides. | |
9:00am | Welcoming Session | – Overview of the day – Self-organizing session organizing time Room: E2020 (Conference Room B) | Bruce Hamilton, Brian Roe |
9:30am | Parallel Sessions: Track 2 Brief Presentations | (by grant PI name) Room: W2160 (Conference Room) Group 1: Gilligan, Jin, Tuler, Pickett, Fay; Room: W2190 (Conference Room) Group 2: Hamin, Lewis, Sengupta, Erkoc, Overbye | Richard Rushforth (coordinator) |
10:30am | Poster Break | Poster Session 4 & Convergence Cafe Room: C2010 (Conference Room A) | Debankur Sanyal |
10:45am | Parallel Sessions: Track 2 Brief Presentations | (by grant PI name) Room: W2160 (Conference Room) Group 1: Foo, Tchen, Wooley, Theis, Chang, Donatuto Room: W2190 (Conference Room) Group 2: Barba, Jackson, Heyman, Cross, Nolin | Richard Rushforth (coordinator) |
11:45am | Lunch on own offsite – Self-organizing session leads meet in Room E2020 at 12:45 | Click HERE for some suggestions NSF cafeteria closed (but you may bring outside food in and eat in cafeteria area) | |
1:15pm | Parallel Self-organizing Sessions: | Community Engagement and Co-Creation – Elicia Ratajczyk Metrics of Convergence and Transformation – Jeni Cross Convergence Logistics (Time, Best Practices, Tips, Supportive Environments, etc.) – William McDowell Tensions between Justice and Academic and Funding Institutions – Josiah Heyman Perspectives Manuscript on Convergence Challenges – Heejun Chang Building and Navigating Relationships and Inter-Grant/Project Networking – Robin Dillon-Merrill & Convergence Cafe Room: C2010 (Conference Room A) | |
2:00pm | Moderated panel: | Sharebacks from self-organizing sessions Room: E2020 (Conference Room B) | Heejun Chang, Jaishri Srinivasan |
2:45pm | Closing Activity | Reflection on convergence Room: E2020 (Conference Room B) | Jamie Donatuto |
3:15pm | Adjourn |
Poster Sessions
(Posters should be 30” x 40” in order to work with the easel and backing boards provided in the conference room. Either portrait or landscape orientation work.)
DAy 1, Session 1 (Wednesday, June 7 | 10:15am)
- Mallory: Transformation Network
- Gilligan: Connecting Rural and Urban Environments for Equitable Access to Transportation, Telecommunications and Energy (CREEATTE)
- Lewis: Hybrid Water Infrastructure and Regional Sustainability – Planning a Convergence Science Approach in Greater New Orleans
- Sengupta: Integrated Food, Energy, Water Units for Disaster Resilient Sustainable Regional Systems
- Wooley: Reimagining the Chemical Heartland: Closing the loop on the oil-plastics-recycling nexus to forge a resilient circular economy
- Theis: Convergent Innovations in Regional CirCULAR Economies (CIRCULAR)
DAy 1, Session 2 (Wednesday, June 7 | 11:15am)
- Babbitt: RECIPES Network
- Fay: Integrating Land and Sea: Building Coastal Resilience and Ecosystem Services for Sustainable Urban-Rural Systems
- Cross: Planning for a Network to Address Pressures, Responses and Sustainability Intersections across a Growing, Innovative, and Dry State
- Tuler: Land Use in Regional Sustainability Transitions: Establishing a Network of Research and Practice to Support Governance in Linked Urban and Rural Systems of Massachusetts
- Barba: Regional Transition to Sustainability Beginning with Food and Water
- Jackson: Sustainable and Equitable Urban Stream Corridors: Improving aesthetic, social, water quality, and ecological values of urban watersheds to achieve downstream rural benefits
DAy 1, Session 3 (Wednesday, June 7 | 2:15pm)
- Foo: To be truly regenerative, we must be reparative: a BIPOC agenda for regional sustainable systems
- Nolin: Nevada Water: A Science-With-Society Research and Education Network
- Heyman: Shared destinies: Hydro-social infrastructures for community involvement and sustainability in fragmented border regions
- Hamin: Preparing for Just and Sustainable Climate Migration
- Erkoc: Planning Grant: Integrated and Convergent Sea Level Adaptation for Urban and Rural Systems in the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Regions
- Pickett: The Continuum of Urbanity as an Organizing Concept to Promote Sustainability in the Mid-Hudson Region
- Tchen: Aligning upstream and downstream: increasing equity in watershed management with and for underrepresented communities
DAy 2, Session 4 (Thursday, June 8 | 10:30Am)
- Jin: People-Centric Integrated Assessment Model for Regional Sustainability (PIAMRS): Focusing on the Central Appalachian Region
- Chang: MACRO-SETS: Microplastics Across the Columbia River basin to the Ocean – Social-Ecological-Technological System
- Overbye: Sustainable Transportation Electrification for an Equitable and Resilient Society (STEERS)
- Zhao: Infrastructure-Driven Decision Making for Sustainable & Equitable Urban –Rural Development
- Shobe: Shobe Regionalized Integrated Assessment Modeling of Carbon Dioxideremoval Pathways in USA and China
Track 2 Presentation Instructions
The schedule for update presentations from each Track 2 awardee is tight! We have 21 presenters scheduled for two hour-long concurrent sessions (four sessions in total) at 9:30-10:30 and 10:45-11:45 on Thursday (6/8).
- Please prepare 4 slides. One possibility: 1) Bio Slide, 2) Overview of Proposed SRS-RN; 3) Convergence Research Approach; and 4) Approach to Capacity Building/Goals of the Track 2 project, but feel free to do what works best for your project.
Given the tight timelines, each speaker will have 10 minutes inclusive of the presentation and questions
- Prepare to present for 6-8 minutes to allow time for questions.
- This format will allow time for a group discussion after everyone has presented.
- There is one group with 6 presenters (Foo, Tchen, Wooley, Theis, Chang & Donatuto), so unfortunately that group will not have time for an open discussion.
We have a small organizing group, so we are asking each Track 2 concurrent session to self-moderate.
- In practice, what this means is that if your project’s PI is listed last on the program for your Track 2 concurrent session you will be asked to moderate the session to ensure timeliness
- Moderators will be from projects with PI’s: Fay, Overbye, Donatuto & Nolin
Conference Planning Committee Members
- Heejun Chang – Portland State University
- Lee Davis – Maryland Institute College of Art
- Jamie Donatuto – Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
- Steffanie Espat – Maryland Institute College of Art
- Brian E. Roe – Ohio State University (co-chair)
- Richard Rushforth – Northern Arizona University
- Debankur Sanyal – University of Arizona
- Jaishri Srinivasan – University of New Mexico (co-chair)
- Camille Stevens-Rumann – Colorado State University
- Julian Wang – Pennsylvania State University
- Bruce Hamilton – National Science Foundation
- Melanie Hughes – National Science Foundation
- Ashley Pierce – National Science Foundation
- Brandi Schottel – National Science Foundation
Invitation Letter
If you require an invitation letter to justify travel to your institution/organization, please look for an attachment to a March 10, 2023 email sent to each PI. The content of that letter is duplicated here.
Building Entry Notes
We are pleased that you will be joining us at the National Science Foundation, located at 2415 Eisenhower Avenue in Alexandria, Virginia. Please be aware that when you arrive, you and your belongings will go through a federal security screening. You may be required to take off your coat, remove your belt and shoes, and unpack your laptop. Additional screening may be required in special circumstances.
For directions and additional information, including any COVID related requirements visit NSF on the web at www.nsf.gov/about/visit.
Before arriving, we ask that you keep in mind a few security requirements:
- Plan to arrive 30 minutes early for meetings before 10 AM. Arriving at least 30 minutes prior to your scheduled visit gives us time to process you through our Visitor Center located to the right as you enter from the Eisenhower Avenue entrance.
- Know what is permitted at federal facilities. Please keep in mind what items are permitted and prohibited on government property. Remember, you and your belongings will be required to pass through a metal detector and x-ray machine so understand what can and cannot be brought into the building.
- Bring valid ID. NSF follows the REAL ID Act and requires all visitors to bring valid and current identification with an expiration date. Photocopies and pictures of IDs will not be accepted. Visit the Department of Homeland Security website for questions or examples of valid ID. NSF also provides a list of alternative forms of identification accepted. Please let your sponsor know if you do not have a valid ID. Global visitors who do not have a US government-issued form of identification will need to bring a valid passport from their country of origin.
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