To improve climate and food futures, we need more incentives for connected manufacturers
Image: World Food Prize Foundation
I was thrilled when Cynthia Rosenzweig was a NASA and Columbia University researcher who has long worked on climate change and the food interface. Named this year’s World Food Prize winner. Presented annually since 1987, the award recognizes individuals who contribute to human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food.
Nobel Prizes and other scientific accolades at this level tend to reward discoveries — specific research directions that lead to breakthrough moments — CRISPR, the bacterial cause of ulcers, LED lights available.
Rosenzweig is a senior research scientist and leader of the Climate Impacts Group at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Research, and her food award is honoring her work as a system builder. Over the past four decades, she has conceived and fostered a network that continually refines models of how human-influenced climate systems and food systems relate to each other, and increases the utility of insights that maximize risk and opportunity.
Combining a deep understanding of mathematics, climate and crop science, and a lifelong passion for agriculture, she is the lead author of many influential papers shedding light on how climate change affects food availability through modeling.
But these achievements are not at the heart of Rosenzweig’s acclaim. Her superskill was and remains a passion for seeking and driving connectivity and interdisciplinary fluidity in pursuit of improved climate and crop forecasting. When you have time, see how she methodically arranges it all, one beat, in a wonderful 2016″Madman Lecture” For other NASA staff:
Humans need more of this skill, given the urgency to accelerate progress amid increasing climate pressures on food, water, ecosystems and communities.
It is my hope that the example of this award will inspire wider action, particularly among academia and public and private funders, to recognize and support those who put connection-building and systems-building ahead of fast-turnaround research outcomes.
Too often, strict norms and institutions hinder rather than nurture the next generation of Cynthia Rosenzweigs.
Don’t take my word for it.read This Nature Sustainability Review Academic norms developed by eight early-career postdoctoral researchers (“supporting interdisciplinary careers for sustainable development”) push young researchers to publish papers quickly and limit their time involved in risky communities or other fields.
Read the rest of the post and watch an interview with Cynthia Rosenzweig on the Sustain What blog.
