Crucial FEWSION Episode 4: The Last Mile & the Role of Citizen Scientists by Diane Hope

Photo: ‘Water Consumption in One Lifetime’ by Daniel Saldivar.

FEWSION project data provides an averaging, total picture of your county or city’s food-energy-water supplies. But the important protections afforded by US data privacy laws mean that researchers don’t have access to the supply chain data from the local grocery store to your front door.

That’s where Citizen Scientists and students come in. They’re helping FEWSION researchers to collect a different type of information - finding out how personal consumption creates individual food, energy and water footprints, which contribute to the city, state and country scale FEWSION data.

In this episode of Crucial FEWSION we hear from Sean Ryan, the local coordinator for the Citizen Science component of the FEWSION project on the goals - and the rewards, of working with Citizen Scientists. Two of the first cohort of Citizen Scientists, along with some of NAU’s FEWSION students, explain what they’ve been finding out. And how those findings are radically changing their everyday behaviors. Also NAU Climate Science Master graduate highlights some simple actions that can reduce your own personal water consumption.

Credits:
Thanks to FEWSION Citizen Scientists Julia Collier, Martha Johnson and NAU students Andee Lister, Darren Bingham, Denise Stoner, Tosin Ayudeli and Valentyn Panchencho. Also to NAU Climate Science Masters graduate and host of the Eco Chic sustainability podcast, Laura Diez (www.lauraediez.com).

Music: Mango Ice Cream Truck by DOMICIDRE (Arthur Vincent), Phantom by Nctrnm and Unit by Nctrnm (remixed by Diane Hope).

Photo: Daniel Saldivar was a student in NAU’s PHO 403, Conceptual Photography course in 2018.
This podcast was produced by Diane Hope for NAU’s FEWSION project with funding from the National Science Foundation.