Conference: Student and Junior Faculty Support for the International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technology (ISSST) 2024

The International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technology (ISSST) conference targets attracting participants from multiple disciplines to focus on sustainability and engineering challenges, facilitating trans- disciplinary approaches. The conference will be held June 18-20, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland. The cross-pollination of ideas among natural scientists, engineers, social scientists, industry representatives, and policy makers is necessary for developing sustainable solutions to the grand challenges facing society. ISSST 2024 will include the following themes/areas: (1) Agroecology, Industrial Ecology, and the Bioeconomy; (2) Human dimensions of sustainability (3) Sustainability and resilience of energy systems; (4) Sustainability and resilience of infrastructure systems; (5) Sustainability education; and (6) New methods and ideas that demonstrate unique partnerships, big ideas, and perspectives from non-STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) disciplines. The conference will also host special sessions to bring participants together in educational sessions, workshops, communications, and professional skills development. The conference will emphasize participation by students and young faculty members, as they are critical for developing the next generation of sustainable solutions. Funds will help expand the participation of students, underrepresented groups, and junior faculty from across the United States. The goal of the conference is to maximize impacts by building on the multidisciplinary participation. The conference will highlight the social dimensions of technological systems and proposed engineering solutions. Social equity, differential access and impacts, and environmental justice will be prominent across all six themes of the conference. A diverse group of participants will share their work in sustainability science and engineering through paper and poster presentations, as well as formal and informal discussions. The conference will also feature a variety of plenary/keynote speakers. All of these features will provide participants a venue for discussing visions, educational approaches, and challenges, as well as provide educators and students opportunities to expand research experience on sustainability in a holistic manner. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.