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© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. Saundry, B. L. Ruddell (eds.), The Food-Energy-Water Nexus, AESS
Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies and Sciences Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29914-9_12
Chapter 12
Questions and Scales
Michael Carbajales-Dale, Emre Eftelioglu, Carey W. King,
Fernando R. Miralles-Wilhelm, Benjamin L. Ruddell, Peter Saundry,
and Shashi Shekhar
12.1 Introduction to Questions and Scales
In Chap. 1, we noted that criteria that lead us to integrate FEW systems are humancentric, and the ultimate purpose of studying the nexus of FEW systems is to guide
human decision-making. Integrated FEW systems are coupled natural-human
systems, and the scholarship of FEW is fundamentally connected to ecological
function and human use. Thus, Nexus research is an applied science.
M. Carbajales-Dale
Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA
e-mail: madale@clemson.edu
E. Eftelioglu
Engineering and Data Sciences, Cargill Inc., Wayzata, MN, USA
e-mail: emre_eftelioglu@cargill.com
C. W. King
Energy Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
e-mail: careyking@mail.utexas.edu
F. R. Miralles-Wilhelm
Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center and Global Water Team,
University of Maryland and The Nature Conservancy, College Park, MD, USA
e-mail: fwilhelm@umd.edu
B. L. Ruddell
School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems, Northern Arizona University,
Flagstaff, AZ, USA
e-mail: Benjamin.Ruddell@nau.edu