[Faculty] Strategic Forecasting with Thinkenomics

[Chorover, Jon - (chorover)]

Dear Colleagues,

The University of Arizona's Senior Vice President for Research Tom?s Diaz de la Rubia and Provost Patricia Prelock have identified Five "Strategic Research Initiatives<https://research.arizona.edu/strategic-research-initiatives?_gl=1*1lgcojx*_gcl_au*MTM0ODgyMDkzMS4xNzY0MDEzOTM5*_ga*ODI5MDYxMzExLjE3NjQwMTM5NDA.*_ga_7PV3540XS3*czE3NjQ5NzA3NjAkbzI2JGcxJHQxNzY0OTcwNzg1JGozNSRsMCRoMTE1MDUxNjMyOA..>" that will guide investments in the UA's research mission over at least the next five years.  As some of you may be aware, the UA has been organizing "Strategic Forecasting" sessions for each of the five initiatives, and these sessions and associated working groups have been facilitated by an external consulting team named Thinkenomics<https://www.thinkenomics.com/>.

The Thinkenomics team has already facilitated strategic forecasting sessions pertaining to the first four pillars (Fusion, Critical Minerals, AI and Health, and Space and National Security), and they have also facilitated two groups within the fifth initiative, entitled "Environmental Systems, Arid Lands Agriculture and Water", wherein one group focused on "Environment and Health" and the other on "Water".

This email pertains to an upcoming "kickoff" for a third forecasting process within the fifth initiative "Environmental Systems, Arid Lands Agriculture and Water", which will focus on "Arid Lands Agriculture".  While the upcoming process will come to identify particular areas that we will emphasize for UA going forward, at this point, we define this term broadly to include all forms of Agricultural Ecosystems in the Southwest (irrigated agriculture, rangelands, livestock production systems, forestry, etc.).

The "kickoff" workshop for the "Arid Lands Agriculture" theme will take place on Monday, March 2 from 8 am -12 noon. This workshop will provide essential input to set the stage for a smaller working group to focus on developing a written document outlining UA's strategic direction in this arena. Therefore, we would like to have an engaged group of research faculty from CALES and other colleges who have an interest in the future of this field.  Please participate to have your voice heard.

It will be best to be present in-person, as the hybrid version of these workshops does not enable engagement remotely to the same extent as in-person participation does.  We understand that some of you are based off campus, but we encourage you to make the trip to Tucson for this meeting, as it will establish a vision for working group activities in this area.

If you are interested in participating in this kickoff session on March 2, please send an email directly to chorover at arizona.edu<mailto:chorover at arizona.edu>, so that we can get a head count of participants and add you to the list.

Don't reply to this email listserv but rather send your email of interest directly to chorover at arizona.edu<mailto:chorover at arizona.edu>.

Thanks,

Jon Chorover and Stephanie Slinski

-----------------------------------
Jon Chorover
Associate Dean for Research
College of Agriculture, Life & Environmental Sciences (CALES)
Professor, Department of Environmental Science
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
Phone:  (520) 626-5635
Email:  chorover at arizona.edu<mailto:chorover at arizona.edu>

I am on ancestral lands of the
Tohono O'odham and Pascua Yaqui.


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